THOMAS W. BABCOCK. ––“Through struggles to triumph” seems to be the maxim which holds sway for the majority of our citizens and, though undeniably true that many a one falls exhausted in the conflict, a few by their inherent force of character and strong mentality rise above their environments and all which seems to hinder them until they reach the plane of affluence.  Such has been the history of Thomas W. Babcock, and in his life record many useful lessons may be gleaned.  Mr. Babcock resides at Marengo, Morrow county, Ohio, where he is recognized as a representative and influential business man of the most insistent order.
     Thomas W. Babcock was born in Bennington township, Morrow county, on the 6th of December, 1882, a son of I. A. and Mary E. (Wheeler) Babcock.  The parents are both living and maintain their home at Marengo.  They became the parents of six children, namely: Ora, who is the wife of William Blair, of Mansfield, Ohio; Grace, who wedded H. S. Cruikshank, of Mount Gilead, Ohio; Lydia, who remains at the parental home; Robert D., who is a resident of Sunbury, Ohio; Josephine, of Mount Gilead; and Thomas W., who is the immediate subject of this review.  Mr. Babcock was reared to adult age on the home farm in Bennington township and after completing the curriculum of the district schools he attended and was graduated in the high school at Marengo as a member of the class of 1897.  For one year thereafter he was engaged in teaching school and in 1899 he turned his attention to the hay and grain business.  In the latter enterprise he initiated operations with a team and wagon and a capital of fifteen dollars.  With borrowed money he launched into the business world buying and selling hay and grain, and with the passage of years he built up a large and enterprising industry.  At the present time, in 1911, he has offices and conducts business at Marengo, Ashley, Sunbury, Johnstown and Peerless, and his annual volume of business amounts to about two hundred thousand dollars.
     In the year 1907, at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Babcock to Miss Bessie Groff, who was born and reared in the city of Dayton, Ohio, and who is a daughter of Michael and Minerva Groff.  Mrs. Babcock was reared and educated in her native city and she is a woman of most pleasing personality and gracious refinement.  To Mr. and Mrs. Babcock has been born one daughter, whose birth occurred on the 18th of January, 1908.  Mrs. Babcock is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to which institution Mr. Babcock gives a loyal support.
     In politics Mr. Babcock is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party, and while he has never manifested aught of ambition for the honors or emoluments of public office of any description he gives most freely of his aid and influence in support of all measures and enterprises projected for the good of the general welfare.  In 1910 he was appointed guardian of the John C. Lewis estate, one of the largest estates ever taken through the probate court, the bond required of him being one hundred and twelve thousand dollars.  In addition to his other interests Mr. Babcock is a stockholder in the Ohio State Life Insurance Company, of Columbus, Ohio.  In a fraternal way he is affiliated with Marengo Lodge, No. 216, Knights of Pythias, and with other organizations of a local character.  In view of the phenomenal success attained in just a few years by this representative business man it is interesting to note that he started life with practically nothing except a spirit of pluck and a set determination to succeed.  He has led an upright life, guided by honorable principles, and his fidelity to duty is unquestioned.  He is a decidedly progressive business man, a genial and considerate friend and an honorable Christian gentleman, who in the community where he makes his home commands the unqualified confidence and good will of all those with whom he has come in contact.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 885-886
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

DEXTER J. BABSON. ––Among the various profitable industries of our country that of the poultry fancier, raiser and dealer is fast forging to the front, the breeding of fine blooded birds having become both a science and an art.  Acquiring by observation and experience a practical knowledge of this business, Dexter J. Babson, whose name we have placed at the head of this brief sketch, is carrying it on successfully in Cardington, Morrow county, where he has a model chicken farm, which he devotes to the breeding and raising of pure blooded White Plymouth Rock and Langshan chickens.  A native of Ohio, he was born March 3, 1869, in Washington county, where the birth of his father, Hezelton Babson, occurred in 1841.
     Hezelton Babson has been engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout his active career, and has met with a fair share of success, being an extensive landholder in Washington county, one of his farms containing seventy-five acres of choice land, while his home estate is still larger and more valuable.  He is a citizen of worth, highly esteemed as a man, and is an active member of the Republican party and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.  He married Diantha Johnson, who was born in the same county as himself and in the same year.  She is a woman of refinement and a valued member of the Universalist church.  Of the seven children born of their union six are living, namely: Daniel T., engaged in the insurance and loan business in Kansas; Dexter J.; Nora, the wife of John E. Pfaff, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Ashley, Ohio; Sylvester, a prosperous manufacturer in New York city; Clark, of New York city, manager of an extensive manufacturing business; and Ellen, of Washington county, Ohio.
     Reared on the home farm, Dexter J. Babson obtained the rudiments of his education in the district schools, after which he was graduated from the Normal School at Lower Salem and from the R. M. Bartlett Business College in Cincinnati.  For two years after his graduation Mr. Babson was engaged in professional work, teaching in Washington county.  Turning his attention then to mercantile pursuits, he spent two years as a grocer in Marietta, Ohio.  In 1894 he embarked in a new line of business in Cleveland, for ten years being a dealer in poultry food, in his venture making quite a sum of money.  On November 4, 1904, Mr. Babson located in Cardington, Morrow county, and having purchased ten acres of land within the corporate limits of the village has since built up a fine business as a poultry fancier, breeder and raiser.  He takes great pride as well as much pleasure in his operations, and as breeder of fancy stock has made fine exhibits at various state fairs and winter shows.  In January, 1909, at the poultry show in Cleveland, Mr. Babson carried off three first prizes on three different birds of the Langshan breed, of which he makes a specialty, another of his favorite breeds being the White Plymouth Rocks, both of which are good all-around birds, well worthy of a place in any modernly equipped poultry yard.
     Mr. Babson is likewise identified with an industry which has made rapid strides in regard to its development within the past few years, and has to a large extent changed the mode of life in both city and country, the automobiles having made their mark in agricultural as well as in manufacturing and commercial circles.  Interested in motor cars from the time of their introduction, Mr. Babson has represented different manufacturers, and is now agent for two firms, handling successfully the Maxwell automobile and the Brush.
     Mr. Babson married, August 7, 1902, Mary I. Williams, who was born May 15, 1880, in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Harberson) Williams, neither of whom are now living.  She is a talented and accomplished musician, both in vocal and instrumental music, and is well educated, having completed her early studies at Berea College.  Four children have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Babson, namely: Hezelton, a bright and ambitious student for his age, shows especial talent in drawing; G. Alton, Helen, and Daniel.
     Mr. Babson cast his first presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison, and has since been a loyal supporter of the principles of the Republican party.  Fraternally he belongs to Cardington Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of which he was formerly master of the exchequer, and his wife belongs to the Rathbone Sisters, of Cardington, Ohio.  Religiously Mrs. Babson is a consistent member of the Congregational church, while Mr. Babson is identified by membership with the Baptist church.  Both are highly esteemed throughout the community in which they reside, and their pleasant home on Mount Gilead street is a center of social activity, its hospitable doors being ever open to their numerous friends and acquaintances.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 681-682
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Chester Twp. –
AMANDA A. BAIN, widow; P. O. Chesterville. Her father, Samuel Livingston, was born Dec. 4, 1778, in Washington Co., N. Y. Her mother, Asenath (Munson) Livingston, was born Aug. 3, 1782. They were married Oct. 22, 1801. Her grandfather Livingston, was from Ireland; her parents came to Ohio in 1837, and settled in Franklin Tp., now in this county, where her father died Sept. 8, 1847, and mother Nov. 3, 1863. They had ten children; John, born July 26, 1802; Nathaniel M., July 27, 1804; Anna N., Oct. 30, 1806; Samuel, Jan. 23, 1809; Agnes M. April 25, 1811; Sarah J., May 18, 1814; Amanda A., Sept. 15, 1816; William A., June 8, 1820; Edith A., May 1, 1823; Joseph R. Jan 22, 1826. Her parents were members of U. P. church. Mrs. Bain was married Oct. 16, 1834, to James I., a son of John and Anna (McEachron) Bain. His parents were natives of Washington Co., N. Y.  Mr. Bain was born Dec. 19, 1811, and died May 12, 1849; four children were the fruit of their union. One infant died unnamed; Jennie, born Aug. 30, 1837; married Darwin Leonard, Feb. 13, 1862; she died April 23, 1872; had two children, Lizzie M. and Emma B; Edith L. born Dec. 24, 1841; married Aug. 26, 1866, to Samuel Carson. He was born in Pennsylvania, March 14, 1839; they have one child, Cora B., born June 24, 1869. Edith L. is a member of the Presbyterian church. The last child of our subject was John, born March 3, 1844, he enlisted in Co. E. 121st, O.V. I., and was taken prisoner and confined for eighteen months in Andersonville, Danville, and Florence Prisons. He was taken from the latter to Wilmington, N. C., where he died March 13, 1865. Mrs. Bain’s husband spent the greater part of his life as a blacksmith; however his latter years were devoted to dentistry. She and her husband united with the U. P. church; she transferred to the Presbyterian in 1867. She is in good circumstances, and owns some town property. He was a Republican, and served as Justice of the Peace.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 592-593
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Canaan Twp. –
MRS. NANCY BAIRD, farmer; P. O., Caledonia; was born in Morris Co., New Jersey, Sept. 3, 1816, and was married to Peter Baird, who was born Dec. 7, 1814, in Morris Co., New Jersey; he was a son of William Baird. Mr. and Mrs. Baird came to this State in 1839, spending the first winter in Mt. Gilead; then moving to Shaw's Creek, and purchased 80 acres one mile north of Denmark, remaining there three years then rented out their land and moved to Gilead, where they lived one year; during their sojour [sic] here Mr. Baird was engaged in the manufacture of brick; about the year 1848 they traded their farm north of Denmark for the one she now owns. Aug. 31, 1850, soon after their arrival at this place, Mr. Baird died; since his death she has remained on the farm, her son John carrying on the farm. Eight children were born to her, but seven are living.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 719
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Canaan Twp. –
WILLIAM BAIRD, farmer; P. O. Marits; was born Jan. 17, 1840, in this State and county; is a son of Peter and Nancy Baird, who came to this county about the year 1838. William has always been engaged in farming pursuits, living in Morrow Co. all the time, with the exception of two years, which were spent in Vermilion Co., Ill. At the age of 34 he was married to Nancy E. Christy, who was born in this township in 1848, and is a daughter of David and Nancy Christy, and grand-daughter of John Boyles, the pioneer. After their marriage they located on the farm where he now resides. They have three children: Wellington, born March, 1875; Hannah, Sept., 1877; Lillie Dale, Sept., 1878. Mr. Baird is a hard-working and industrious man.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 720
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Chester Twp. –
JAMES W. BALL, farmer; P. O. Sparta; was born December 21, 1835, in Fayette Co., Pa., and came with his parents to Ohio in 1844; his father’s name was Iden V., and his mother’s Catharine (Woods) Ball; and, at their settlement in Bloomfield Tp., they began farming and keeping hotel; the latter they continued for about twenty years. Their children were: James W., Preston, Joel, John, Iden, and Frank; the father is still living. Mr. Ball remained with his parents until twenty-seven years old; his marriage occurred January 22, 1859, to Isabel, daughter of William and Joanna (Coffing) Allen; her father was born in England and came to Pennsylvania, and there worked at shoemaking; and during his existence there was married, and came with his family, in 1836, to Licking Co., Ohio, where they bought 200 acres and, at their death, possessed over 400 acres of land. In 1839, they went to Richmond, Indiana, and worked three years on the Ohio pike; they afterward returned to the farm. The father died February 22, 1877, the mother is still living; both were Methodists. Their children were: Levina, Isabel, Mary, Joanna, William, Frank, and Sallie. Mrs. Ball was born September 25, 1836, in Fayette Co., Pa.  In 1858, James W. Ball bought fifty acres of Daniel Thomas, adding afterwards sixty-five acres. He has held some township offices; is a member of Sparta Lodge, No. 268, I. O. O. F., in which he has held all offices; he always voted the Democratic ticket; himself and wife are members of the Methodist church, in which he has been, and is now, steward; they have one child, Ellen M.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 593-594
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

ISAAC SIMON BALLIETT is closely identified with the agricultural interests of Morrow county, being pleasantly located in North Bloomfield township, where he is profitably engaged in general farming on his mother’s estate, which he is managing with ability and success.  The worthy descendant of an honored pioneer of this county, he is especially deserving of mention in this volume.  He was born March 18, 1863, in Crawford county, Ohio, a son of Enoch Balliett.  His paternal grandfather, Daniel Balliett, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Ohio in pioneer days and located in Morrow county, where he improved a farm.
     Enoch Balliett was born in North Bloomfield township, Morrow county, in October, 1830, and was reared to agricultural pursuits.  During his early manhood he resided in Crawford county a few years, but in 1867 returned to Morrow county, and having purchased land in North Bloomfield township carried on general farming until his death, March 8, 1883.  His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Klopfenstein, was born April 17, 1830, in Switzerland, a daughter of John Klopfenstein.  Seven children were born of their marriage five of whom are now living, as follows: Samuel E., of Galion, Ohio; Hannah, wife of M. J. Mackey, of Crawford county, Ohio; Sophia E., wife of Henry Muth, of North Bloomfield township; Isaac S., the subject of this brief sketch; and Amanda E., wife of William Cronowet, of North Bloomfield township.
     His parents moving from Crawford county to Morrow county when he was a child of four years, Isaac S. Balliett was here educated, attending the rural schools of North Bloomfield township until seventeen years of age, when he began doing a man’s work on the home farm.  A natural mechanic, with a liking for machinery of all kinds, he became interested in threshing machines when young, and for thirty-one years has handled a threshing outfit, doing much of the threshing in his locality and having now one of the best and latest improved threshing machines in this part of the county.  Mr. Balliett has charge of his mother’s farm, which contains one hundred and fifty-one acres of productive land, and constitutes with its improvements one of the best pieces of property in the neighborhood.  Mr. Balliett owns one and one-half acres of valuable land in Galion, and has other property interests of value.  He is a stanch supporter of the principles of the Democratic party, and for many years has been an active member of the local school board.
     On April 15, 1883, Mr. Balliett was united in marriage with Mrs. Sirrilley Howard, who was born on a farm in Morrow county, in April, 1862, being a daughter of John Park.  Into their pleasant household eight children have been born, seven of whom are living, namely: Grover, living in Crawford county, Ohio, married Lettie Bohl; Daisy M., who married Alva Walker, of Mahoning county, has one child, Lester; Lloyd R.; John C.; Alda D.; Hannah V.; and Dewey.  All of these children were educated in North Bloomfield township, acquiring their knowledge of books in the same school that their father attended when a boy.  Since 1879 Mr. Balliett has been a member of the German Reformed church at Galion, to which his wife also belongs.  He is a member of Galion Lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 215, of which he is noble grand, and both Mr. and Mrs. Balliett belong to the Rebekah Lodge, No. 284.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 739-740
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

A. L. BANKER, Probate Judge, Mount Gilead, Morrow county, Ohio, was born in Peru township, this county, October 29, 1860, and, although comparatively a young man, has attained prominence.
     Judge Banker is of German descent, and traces his ancestry back to the early settlers of New York State.  His father, William Banker, a native of New York and a carpenter by trade, came to Morrow county, Ohio, in 1850, and located in Peru township, on a farm.  Subsequently he went West, and died in Kansas.  He married in Ohio, Miss Elizabeth James, a native of Virginia, who came with her parents to Peru township, this county, when she was eight years of age, and they had two children, a daughter and a son, the elder, Dora, being deceased.  Mrs. Banker is still living, and makes her home with her son.  She is of English descent.
     A. L. Banker received his early education in the district schools of Lincoln township, and then for one term was a student at Cardington.  When he was sixteen he began teaching, securing a position in Oxford township, Delaware county, where he taught two terms, following that with four terms in Lincoln township, this county.  Afterward he taught at Westfield, Eden and other district schools.  In the meantime he kept up his studies, took a high-school course at Cardington, and a classical course in the Ohio Wesleyan University, graduating in the latter institution in 1886.  In the spring of 1886 he was elected Superintendent of the Cardington schools, which position he filled most acceptably until 1891.  For four years he was also County Examiner.  In 1891 he engaged in the clothing and furniture business at Cardington, which he sold after conducting the same for a year and four months.  About this time he became a candidate for the office of Probate Judge, was nominated and duly elected, and is now serving in this position.  He has always been a Republican.
     In 1889 Judge Banker married Miss Clara Kreis, a native of Cardington, daughter of Hon. George Kreis, and they have had two children, ––Helen E. and Ruth V.  The former died at the age of three years.
     Socially the Judge is identified with the Masonic order, having taken the Royal Arch degrees.  Thus in social, political and educational circles he is well known, and is justly entitled to the high esteem in which he is held.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 370-371
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Franklin Twp. -
HEROD BARNHARD, farmer; P. O., Chesterville; son of Jonathan Barnhard; was born March 16, 1820, in Baltimore Co., Md.; he came with his parents to Knox Co., O., when he was six years old. He was sent to an old log school house of the rudest kind for a short time in winter; sometimes not longer than two weeks; his first outfit of books was a Testament, an Elementary spelling-book and two sheets of paper; in this way he gained a knowledge of the common branches, and became very proficient in spelling -- he could spell every word in the old "Elementary." He worked on the farm with his father until 21 years old, when he married Lucinda Love, Nov. 4, 1841; she is a daughter of Young and Ann Love, both natives of Ireland. After marriage he tilled his father's farm eight years; then rented different farms near Fredericktown, O., until 1872, when he came to the present place, where he owns four acres near Franklin Center. At the age of 15 Mr. Barnhard united with the Methodist Episcopal Church. He soon began exhorting others to live a Christian life, and in due time he was licensed by the church to work in the local ministry, where his labors have been continuous for over thirty years; he has also taken a profound interest in the Sabbath-school work, of which school he was many times chosen superintendent. They have raised a family of four children, and he has supported his aged mother for thirty-six years. He has three sons and one daughter -- William L. H., a rising young attorney-at-law of this township, Hugh John Wesley, and Sarah A. are living. Two daughters, Jane and Amanda, are dead. Jonathan Bernhard was first married to Rebecca Price, in Maryland, by whom he raised one son -- Nehemiah. Then his wife dying, he married Catherine Walker, by whom he raised three children -- Eliza, John and Herod. He emigrated from Baltimore Co., Md., to Knox Co., O., in 1826, settling four miles east of Fredericktown, where he lived until 1845. He was a blacksmith, but being crippled by a falling log at a raising, he taught school, and was elected for many years Justice of the Peace.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 774

STEPHEN S. BARRE. ––The enterprising business man and popular citizen whose name introduces this article needs no formal introduction to the people of Morrow county.  For some years past he has been quite prominently identified with the financial and industrial interests of the town in which he lives, and, always manifesting an active interest in the public welfare, he has risen to a high place in business and social circles and earned an honorable reputation among the leading men of affairs in this section of the county.
      Stephen S. Barre, undertaker and furniture dealer at Sparta, was born in Green county, Ohio, on the 24th day of December, 1850, a son of John and Mary A. (Shafer) Barre.  The father was a native of Hagerstown, Pennsylvania, where his birth occurred on the 1st of April, 1791, and the mother was born in the state of Virginia, on the 12th day of May, 1818.  John Barre continued to reside under the parental roof until the inception of the war of 1812, in which he immediately enlisted, continuing to give service as a most gallant soldier in that struggle until its close.  Thereafter he was engaged in sailing for several years and about 1836 he came west to Ohio, locating in the vicinity of Mount Vernon, in which place he owned one of the first frame buildings there erected.  He was fifty-four years of age at the time of his marriage, in 1847, to Miss Mary A. Shafer, who was twenty-eight years his junior.  She was a daughter of Daniel and Betsy Shafer, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, whence they removed to Virginia, where Mrs. Barre was born.  Daniel Shafer was a millwright by trade and he came west to Ohio about the year 1830.  He settled near Springfield, where he built several mills on the Miami river.  John Barre was summoned to the life eternal in 1871 and Mrs. Barre passed away in September, 1905.
       Of the five children of John and Mary Barre, Stephen S. Barre, of this review, was the second in order of birth.  He was a student in the district schools of his native place until he had attained to the age of seventeen years, at which, time he entered upon an apprenticeship at the carriage trimming trade in Dayton, Ohio, becoming an expert journeyman after a period of, four years.  He first located at Cardington, where he remained for a short time, at the expiration of which he came to Sparta, where he was identified with the work of his trade for a number of years.  In 1885 his business headquarters were destroyed by fire and he then embarked in the undertaking and furniture business, in which line of enterprise he has been actively engaged during the long intervening years to the present time, in 1911.  In connection with his other business he also runs a carriage shop.
     On the 1st of October, 1876, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Barre to Miss Emma E. Bockoven, who was born in Morrow county on the 6th of November, 1859, a daughter of James and Mary (Salisbury) Bockoven, both of whom were likewise born and reared in Ohio.  James Bockoven was born on the 31st of July, 1834, and his wife on the 9th of May, 1830.  He was identified with agricultural pursuits during his active business career and he is now living in virtual retirement at Sparta.  Mr. S. S. Barre was interested in the building of the school house and church in Sparta, Ohio, and he and his wife are popular and highly respected citizens in this section of the county.  To them have been born two children, namely, Harry H. and Mary M.  Harry H. was born on 7th of September, 1881, was graduated in the Sparta high school and is now engaged with the Van Scoy Chemical Company, at Mt. Gilead.  He married Miss Myrtle M. Meiser, of Sparta, Ohio.  Mary M., born January 16, 1885, graduated in the Sparta high school with the class of 1901, and she attended the musical department of Delaware College, at Delaware.  She resides at home with her parents and is considered one of the best musicians and music teachers in Sparta.  Mr. and Mrs. Barre are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the various departments of whose work they have been most prominent factors; Mr. Barre was one of the three who built the beautiful Methodist church in this town.  Mrs. Barre’s great-grandfather, William Evans, was one of the first settlers at Chester, Morrow county, Ohio.  He was of Welsh extraction and was instrumental in building the first church at Chester, the same being of the Baptist denomination, in which he was a deacon.  Her maternal grandfather, Emness Salisbury, was a relative of Lord Salisbury, of England, and her grandfather Bockoven, held the office of magistrate in Sussex county, New Jersey, prior to his immigration to Ohio, where he settled on a farm in Chester township, Morrow county, being identified with the trade of blacksmith in addition to his agricultural pursuits:
     In politics Mr. Barre endorses the cause of the Democratic party, and he has been incumbent of many offices of public trust in Sparta.  For fourteen years he was a member of the school board and he has given efficient service in the offices of mayor, justice of the peace and post master of this town.  In the time-honored Masonic Order he has long been prominent in Ohio and he and his wife and daughter are all valued and appreciative members of the adjunct organization, the Order of the Eastern Star, at Chesterville.  He is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, the latter of which he represented in the Grand Lodge of the state at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1896.  Mr. Barre is a thoroughly practical business man and because of his courteous manners, genial disposition and genuine worth he has won and retains a host of warm personal friends.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 498-500
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

South Bloomfield Twp. –
WESLEY CLARK BARR, A. M. B. L., Bloomfield; was born in South Bloomfield Tp., in 1834; his early years were passed on his father’s farm; he attended district school until 17, and then, having obtained a certificate, taught his first term at “Rich Hill;” he received $50 for the term of three months; in 1852, he attended the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, and the following winter, 1852-3, taught school on Clark street, near home; while teaching he kept up his studies and returned to College in the summer of 1853, passing up the winter’s studies, and in the fall was taken sick with lung fever and had to be taken home; he continued to teach during the winter, having one of the most systematic schools in the county.  In the autumn of 1857, he again returned to Delaware, and contiued [sic] there until he graduated, in 1861; he would teach during summer vacations, to get means to support him the following year.  These schools were select, and at one time Mr. Barr had for pupils twenty teachers.  This was an excellent school.  In the fall of 1861, he went to Ann Arbor, Mich., and entered the law department of the Michigan University, and at the expiration of two years received the degree of B. L.; in July, 1863, he journeyed west to Missouri, stopping at Macon; Missouri at that time was wild with war and secession, but the intrepid Wesley “hung out his shingle” and began the practice of law.  Not proving a very lucrative business at that time, in the spring of 1864 he began teaching a select school in the M. E. Church at Macon; at this time he was also connected with a paper as associate editor, the paper being called “The Macon Argus;”  Thomas Proctor, of Ironton, Ohio, was editor-in-chief; his wife was his assistant in the school, and both had 125 scholars, and received $1.50 from each for the term; he taught two terms and was then made one of the militia-men raised to prevent Price from coming north to Macon with his army.  In the fall of 1864 he was elected Prosecuting Attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit, and served in that capacity four years.  He had an extensive business, sending eighty-nine men to the penitentiary -- one for murder.  He was the first man to introduce colored testimony in the courts.  After reaching Missouri, he organized the first Union League, in Northern Missouri.  He began as Circuit Attorney, January, 1865.  He was appointed District Clerk in 1869, and served for one year; after this he served two years as Road Commissioner, and Deputy Surveyor of Macon Co.  In the spring of 1873 he moved with his family to Unionville, Putnam Co., Mo.; here he became one of the proprietors and owners of a newspaper, entitled the “Putnam Ledger.”  In July, 1874, he returned to Ohio, and ever since has been farming his father’s place.  He teaches his home school every winter, and receives higher wages than any other country teacher in the county.  On the 11th of June, 1863, Mr. Barr married the daughter of William and Cordelia (Maley) Harris, and by her has the following children: Ella Lena, born Sept. 9, 1865; Mary Cordelia, born July 12, 1868; Roy Walter, born Dec. 1, 1875; John, who died in his infancy, and Wesley Clay, born Aug. 3, 1878.  Mrs. Barr was with her husband in the West; she taught five years at Macon, taking the same class each successive year, and graduating them at last.  Mrs. Barr received her education at the Utica Union School.  It is needless to say that Mr. Barr is one of the most influential men in the township.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 662-663
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

South Bloomfield Twp. –
WILBUR F. BARR, stock-raiser; P. O., Bloomfield.  John S. and Eliza (Clark) Barr were united in marriage in 1821, to whom was born four children -- Wesley C., Philena M., Wilber F. and Sylvia S.  The oldest son is a farmer and married; the two daughters are single and living at home with their parents.  Wilbur F. was born in South Bloomfield Tp., Sept. 12, 1840, his youth was spent attending the district schools and assisting in clearing up the place; afterward he worked for his father until he was 27 years old; he was then married to Mary A., daughter of George and Susannah (Tucker) Wolfe.  Roswell Clark, the grandfather of Wilber, deeded him forty acres of land with the understanding that Wilber was to pay three per cent interest on its valuation ($1200) as long as Roswell lived.  In 1871 as Roswell thought he would not live long he was asked what he would take for a receipt in full for the land; he said $200, which was agreed to; but the other heirs of Roswell not liking the bargain, it was afterward annulled.  After the death of Roswell’s wife, this property fell to Wilber’s mother, and she finally gave it to him.  Thus it was he got his first land.  He has added 140 acres to this by purchase, and his wife at her marriage received from her father 100 acres more; thus the family own about 300 acres of land.  Wilber Barr is a Republican, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Bloomfield.  In 1862 he enlisted in Company “C,” 96th Regiment O. V. I., and was with it until he was mustered out of service.  At different times he served in the capacity of fifer and bugler.  He took the typhoid fever, and as he was recovering was taken with a relapse and became very low; through the kindness and sympathy of Dr. Newlin he recovered; he was sent north by Dr. N., and by help of alcoholic stimulants reached home alive, and with the care of his friends there recovered; he was mustered out of service in 1864.  Mr. Barr’s present occupation is stock-raising, dealing in sheep, cattle and hogs almost exclusively; he has a family of three children -- George A., born Oct. 15, 1868, Orie Clio, Aug. 29, 1870 and John A., July 21, 1874.  During the war Mr. Barr went west to Missouri to see his brother, Wesley; when the train he was on reached St. Charles he took a lay off, which act saved his life; for when the train loaded with passengers reached Centralia it was attacked by Anderson’s guerrillas and every soul butchered.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 660-661
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

HON. JOHN W. BARRY, Prosecuting Attorney, Mount Gilead, Morrow county, Ohio, was born in Cardington township, this county, December 17, 1852.
     His father, Yalvesten P. Barry, was born near Utica, Licking county, Ohio, March 12, 1832, and, when six years of age, went with his parents to Westfield township, Morrow county, this State.  His father, Captain Elisha Barry, was born in Anne Arundel county, Maryland, September 4, 1787; at the age of twenty-five married Rachel Lucas, who was born January 3, 1798; and about 1830 they emigrated to Ohio.  She died at Shawtown, Morrow county, this State, June 10, 1835, and he passed away at the same place, June 7, 1874.  He won the title of Captain in the war of 1812.  For sixty years he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for thirty years of that time was a Class Leader.  Few of the early settlers of his county were better known or more highly respected than he.  His son, Yalvesten P., received his education in the primitive log schoolhouse at Shawtown.  He was married at the age of eighteen, in Cardington township, this county, to Hannah E. Benedict, and there settled on a farm, where he resided until 1859.  That year they removed to Westfield township, and in 1880 returned to Cardington township, where they still reside.  Mrs. Barry is a daughter of Eli and Elizabeth (Shaw) Benedict, early settlers of Cardington township, where she was born in 1832.  Her people are of English descent, while the Barrys are of Irish origin.  Y. P. Barry, being a son of a veteran of the war of 1812, and the grandson of a Revolutionary soldier, was not slow to show his patriotism when the civil war came on.  In October, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, Sixty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain J. H. Van Deman, and went to the front.  He participated in numerous engagements, and in his last battle, that of Chancellorsville, he was struck in the arm by a piece of shell, and was permanently disabled, a few months later being discharged.  His brother, Joshua S., a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, and died while having his arm amputated.
      Y. P. Barry and his wife have five children, three sons and two daughters, viz.: Eli E., a farmer of Martin county. Indiana; John W., whose name heads this article; Lorinda J., wife of Elliott Breniger, of Westfield township; Charles B., a farmer of Cardington township; and Rachel E., wife of James Gillett, of Paulding county, Ohio.
     John W. Barry was reared on his father’s farm, receiving his education in the district school by attending three months each year.  After his marriage, which occurred in 1873, he was engaged in farming for six years.  Then he moved to Cardington and began the study of law in the office of Robert F. Bartlett, and after pursuing the study of law, as well as other branches of learning, for three years, he formed a partnership with Mr. Bartlett, with whom he was associated until 1891.  In the meantime, in 1881, he was elected Justice of the Peace and served six years, and in 1884 he was Mayor of Cardington.  In 1891 he was nominated by acclamation by the Republicans for the office of Prosecuting Attorney, and was elected.  The following spring he moved to Mount Gilead, where he has since resided, and in 1894, he again received the nomination for the same office, receiving it by acclamation, as before, and was on November 6 successfully re-elected.
     Mr. Barry was married October 2, 1873, to Miss Minnie Ocker, a native of Cardington township, this county, and a daughter of Thomas and Ann (Silver) Ocker.
     Fraternally he is identified with the I. O. O. F. at Cardington and the K. of P. at Mount Gilead.
     Mr. Barry has attained an enviable position at the bar.  Three years ago he formed a law partnership with Judge Andrews, under the firm name of Andrews & Barry, which still exists, and they are doing a leading business in their chosen profession.  Mr. Barry has also been quite successful in a financial way and is possessed of considerable real estate.  In all his professional, business and local relations Mr. Barry enjoys the respect and confidence of those who come in contact with him.  His home life is pure and kindly, and across his threshold we find a typical American home.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 282-284
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

LAWRENCE A. BARRY, a teacher of the Black Bird School, Franklin township, Morrow county, Ohio, is one of the promising young men of the township in which he lives, and belongs to one of its highly respected families.  He was born in Union county, Ohio, September 5, 1886, a son of E. E. and Emily J. Barry, and grandson of Y. P. and Hannah Barry, all farmers.  His grandparents lived to ripe old age, and died in the same year, 1902.
     E. E. Barry was born near Cardington, Ohio, August 28, 1851.  Until he was twenty-one years of age he worked on his father’s farm.  Then he bought forty acres of land near Cardington, where he lived eight years, after which he sold out and moved to Union county and settled on a farm two miles from Marysville.  After five years spent in Union county he went to Van Wert county, this state, which was his home for six years.  In 1892 he moved over into Indiana and purchased a farm of eighty acres in Martin county, where the family home was maintained until 1898.  Then they came back to Ohio, and for a year and a half lived within Morrow county with Mrs. Long, Mrs. Barry’s mother, after which he bought a farm in Harmony township.  His first purchase there was fifty-two and a half acres, to which in 1904 he added by an additional purchase of forty-two and a half acres, making a tract of ninety-five acres, where he and his family have since resided.
     In August, 1880, E. E. Barry and Emily J. Long, daughter of John Long, were united in marriage, and the children born of this union are as follows: Della Berringer, Marion, Ohio; Lillie Earl, Cardington; John, Rochester, New York; Lawrence A., whose name introduces this sketch; Hannah, Columbus, Ohio; and Hazel and Lottie, at home.  Mrs. Barry was born March 30, 1856.
     Lawrence A. Barry is a graduate of the Cardington High School, received a certificate to teach in 1909, and is now teaching his second school.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 611-612
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Y. P. BARRY, a farmer of Cardington township, was born in Licking county, Ohio, March 12, 1832.  His father, Elisha Barry, was born in Maryland, in 1789, was there married, and some time in the twenties located in Licking county, and soon after settled in Delaware, now Westfield township, Morrow county, where he died at the age of eighty-seven years.  He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he served as Class-leader for over sixty years.  In political matters he was first a Whig and later a Republican.  His father, Jacob Barry, was of Irish descent, and was a Revolutionary soldier.  The mother of our subject, née Rachel Lucas, was born in Maryland, in 1798, and her death occurred at the age of thirty-two years.  Mr. Barry was again married, to Sarah Allen.  By his first marriage he was the father of eleven children, namely: Eliza, deceased, Maria, widow of Philip Gattshall, of Cardington township; Martha, who resides on the old homestead in Westfield township; John L.; Mary Ann, wife of Jonathan Shaw; Mordicai, of Elkhart county, Indiana; Sarah, deceased; J. Walters, of Cardington; Joshua, who died from the effects of a wound received in the battle of Chickamauga.  All of the children grew to years of maturity but one, Rachel, who died at the age of five years.
     Y. P. Barry, the subject of this sketch, remained in Licking county until five years of age, was then a resident of Delaware, now Morrow, county until his marriage, spent a short time in the woods in Cardington township, and then built a log house and located in the woods of Westfield township, remaining there twenty-one years.  In 1861 Mr. Barry enlisted for service in the late war, entering Company K, Sixty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  He was soon promoted to Sergeant, and took part in the battles of Port Republic, Culpeper, Antietam and Chancellorsville.  At the last engagement he was wounded in the left arm by the explosion of a shell, on account of which he was honorably discharged, in 1863.  He returned to his family in Westfield township, but in 1880 sold his property there and came to his present farm of 127 acres.
     October 17, 1850, Mr. Barry was united in marriage with Hannah E. Benedict, born in Cardington township, Morrow county, December 15, 1832, a daughter of Eli and Elizabeth (Shaw) Benedict.  The father was a native of New York, as was also his father, Reuben Benedict, and the latter became one of the early settlers of Marion county, Ohio.  The mother was a sister of Jonathan Shaw.  Our subject and wife have had five children, viz.: Eli, married, and resides in Indiana; John W., Prosecuting Attorney of Morrow county; Jane, wife of Elliot Brenizer, of Westfield township; Charles B., who resides on the farm with his father; and Elizabeth, wife of James Gillett, of Paulding county, Ohio.  Charles B. was born October 29, 1856.  He was married September 23, 1880, to Francilla Emery, a daughter of A. G. Emery, of Lincoln township.  They have had five children, ––Lila, Ralph (who was killed by a shed falling upon him), Vida, Walter, and Frank.  Mr. and Mrs. Barry have also reared two orphan children, Mary C. Clark and Jennie Pharis.  In political matters Mr. Barry affiliates with the Republican party, and for three years served as Infirmary Director of Morrow county.  Socially he is a member of James St. John Post, G. A. R.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 496-497
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Westfield Twp. –
YELVERTON P. BARRY, farmer; P. O. Cardington; was born near Utica, Licking Co., Ohio, March 12, 1832, and came with his parents to Westfield Tp. at the age of 6 years; his father, Captain Elisha Barry, of the war of 1812, was born in Ann Arundel Co., Md., Sept. 4, 1787, and received a good common school education.  He married at the age of 25, Rachel Lucas, who was born Jan. 3, 1798.  About 1830 they emigrated to Ohio, where Mrs. Barry died, June 10, 1835.  Capt. Barry died at Shaw Town, June 7, 1873, having been a member of the M. E. Church over sixty years, and a class-leader over thirty.  Yelverton B. received the elements of an English education in the old log school-house at Shaw Town.  At the age of 18 he married Miss Hannah E. Benedict, daughter of Eli and Elizabeth (Shaw) Benedict.  They moved to their present home in 1859, then consisting of 55 acres, all in the woods, to which they have since added 50.  With his grandfather, a soldier of the Revolution, and his father of the second war with England, it was not surprising that when our country was again in peril that the patriotic fire should burn in the heart of Mr. Barry; he turned his back on home and family, and joined the 66th O. V. I. Co. K, under Capt. J. H. Van Deman, in Oct., 1861, and went to the Eastern army at once.  He took part in the battles of Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Dumfries and Chancellorsville.  In the last named engagement, while guarding a battery, he was struck in the arm by a piece of shell, and permanently disabled for further military duty, and was a few months afterwards discharged.  The nature of his wound was such as to preclude his ever doing hard manual labor.  His brother Joshua S., who joined the 121st O. V. I., was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, and died in the field hospital, while his arm was being amputated.  Mr. Barry has five children -- Eli E., John W., Lorinda J., Charles B. and Rachel E.  He is at present engaged in general farming and stock-raising, and is a Republican of the most pronounced order.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 634-635
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

HENRY BARTLETT. ––The name which the subject of this sketch bears is one that has been identified with the history of this section of the Buckeye State since the early pioneer days, and is one which has gained and granted honor as one generation followed another.  He was born in Westfield township, Morrow county, Ohio, August 8, 1838, being the son of Lester Bartlett, a native of the State of New York, where he grew to maturity and there married, coming to Delaware county (now Morrow county) within the year following his marriage, and entering claim to land in Westfield township, and residing there until his death.  He was one of the prominent men of the county, and at one time owned 500 acres of land within its borders.  He served for many years as Justice of the Peace, and as County Commissioner for several terms.  He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and was conspicuously identified with the Masonic order at Cardington.  He was for many years engaged in manufacturing fanning mills, and the output found a ready demand in all sections of the county, bringing to him a most extended personal acquaintanceship.  He lived to attain a venerable age, passing away in his seventy-ninth year.
     The mother of our subject was born in the State of New York, her maiden name having been Belinda Schofield.  She died at the age of forty-two years, and subsequently the father of our subject consummated a second marriage, being united to Nancy Wicks.  Of the first marriage nine children were born, namely: Hannah, who is the wife of Myron Smith, of Indiana; Loren, who is now a resident of Wyandot county, Ohio; Lorinda, wife of J. S. Peck, of Cardington; Emeline, wife of David Sherwood, of Westfield township; Henry, subject of this sketch; Louisa, wife of Henry Benson, of Colorado; Lorenzo, a resident of Westfield township; Lester, who also resides in this township; and Loretta, wife of Paul Meredith, of Colorado.  Two children were born of the second marriage: William, who is a resident of Logansport, Indiana; and Alice, wife of Lemuel Peck, of Cardington, this county.
     Our subject was reared in this township, and received his rudimentary education in the log school-houses, which were the only scholastic institutions in the vicinity at that time.  He remained at the paternal home until the time of his marriage, this important event in his career being celebrated October 9, 1859, when he joined hand and heart with Miss Caroline May, who was born in Westfield township, September 3, 1840, the daughter of Edwin May, who was a native of New York, and who was one of the early settlers in this township.  His father, Asa May, was born in the Empire State, being of English lineage, his father having been born on British soil.  The maiden name of Mrs. Bartlett’s mother was Electa Aldrich, and she was born in Westfield township, her parents having come hither from the State of New York.  Mrs. Bartlett was the third of nine children, and she was reared and educated in this township.
     After his marriage our subject engaged in the potash business, continuing this line of enterprise for two years, after which he directed his attention to fanning, locating on what is known as the Knapp farm, in this township, a property which he purchased.  He remained on the place for ten years, after which he effected the purchase of the Meredith farm, where he still retains his residence, the place comprising 200 acres.  Mr. Bartlett also owns a large interest in the old homestead.  His present fine residence was erected in 1880, at a cost of $3,000, and is one of the most attractive rural homes in the county.  The farm is under most careful and effective cultivation and is well improved in every quarter, the greater portion of this work having been accomplished by the present proprietor, who is recognized as one of the most alert and progressive farmers of the section.  In politics Mr. Bartlett does not bind himself to the supporting of any party, preferring to maintain an independent position, and to be free to vote for men and measures.
     Our subject and his wife became the parents of four children, namely: Clara, who is at home; Charles, who married Alberta Lewis and who has one son, Floyd; Cora, wife of Truman McHirk, is the mother of two children, Henry B. and Baby; May is the wild [sic] of William Schaff and has two children, Edna and Baby.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 254-255

PROFESSOR NATHAN H. BARTLETT. ––The subject of this sketch was born on a farm one and one-half miles east of Mount Gilead, Ohio, January 22, 1856.  Here he grew to the age of thirteen when his parents moved to a farm in North Bloomfield township, Morrow county, six miles south of Galion.
     He commenced to make a hand on the farm at the age of eleven years and continued to work in summer and go to school in winter for the usual four months until the fall of 1875, when he attended a term of school at Ohio Central College, at Iberia, Ohio, where he won the first honors in arithmetic and algebra.  He then returned home and taught the winter school of four months in his own district, and in the spring of 1876 went to Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio, where he spent two years in the classical course.  In the meantime he taught a winter school, in what was known as the “Colmery District” two miles south of Iberia.  The winter of 1878 and 1879 he taught the Bethel School, four miles northwest of Cardington, and in March, 1879, he went to Lebanon, Ohio, to attend the spring term at the National Normal University.
     After teaching and going to school by turns, he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science at this last named university, July 30, 1884, and on August 6th of that year was married to Miss Cora A. Bartlett, of Cincinnati, Ohio, also a graduate of the National Normal University.  He was granted a Common School Life Certificate by the Ohio State Board of Examiners in 1890, and a High School Life Certificate in 1892.
     Professor Bartlett was principal of the Germantown High School at Germantown, Ohio, from 1890 to 1892, when he was elected superintendent of schools at Mount Healthy, a suburb of Cincinnati, where he remained for nine years.  At Mt. Healthy he established the high school and maintained it on a strong basis.  In 1901 he removed to Winfield, Kansas, seeking a milder climate for his wife’s health, and for the eight years from 1903 to 1911, he was superintendent of schools at Burden, Kansas.
     At this place he changed the high school course from two to four years, and raised the school to an accredited high school which secured for his graduates admission into the State University of Kansas without examination.
     Professor Bartlett is an accomplished scholar, a successful educator, is proficient in vocal music, and is a good singer.  Perhaps his character can be well summed up in brief, by quoting what his patrons of Burden, Kansas, have said of him in a printed article: “He is a man of high ideals, laudable ambitions, and rich intellectual endowments.  His influence has always been on the side of right, which means much when the moulding of character is considered as well as mental development.”
       The children are three: Helen Genevieve, now a stenographer at Los Angeles, California; Oscar Herbert, at Beatrice, Nebraska; and Ernest Dwight at home.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 886-887
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

  ROBERT FRANKLIN BARTLETT, to whose ancestral and personal history we now direct attention, is one of the representative lawyers of Morrow county and retains a residence at Cardington.  His father, Abner Matthews Bartlett, vas born April 16, 1816, in Kingston township, Delaware county, Ohio, and was a school-boy with Gen. W. S. Rosecrans, John Hall and other natives of that township.  He was a son of Abner and Obedience (Mix) Bartlett, the former of whom was born in Catskill, Greene county, New York, November 16, 1787, and the latter at Farmington, Hartford county, Connecticut, April 24, 1785.  They were the parents of ten children, namely: Timothy Mix, born January 27, 1810, is a resident of mount Vernon, Ohio: Sarah Ann, born August 10, 1811, died in Morrow comity, Ohio, April 27. 1872; John De Mott, born September 18, 1813, died at Fredericktown, Knox county, Ohio.  Abner Matthews was the father of our subject; Polly Maria, born June 14, 1818, is the wife of John Barler, of Gilead township, this county; Wealthy, who was the wife of the late David B. Blue, died in this county; Joel Root died, in December, 1863, in McDonough county, Illinois; Mary Jane, widow of David M. Fredricks, lives at Lima, Ohio; Abel Weed is a resident of Eden, Delaware county, this State; and Loruhamah, deceased, was the wife of Alvin Kasson.
     Abner Bartlett vas a son of John and Loruhamah (Matthews) Bartlett.  The genealogy of the Bartlett family is traced back to Adam Barttelot, a follower of William the Conqueror, and of Norman extraction.  A descendent of Adam B., Sir Walter B. Barttelot, now lives on the original estate which was granted to Adam Barttelot by William the Conqueror, in 1066, for military services at the battle of Hastings, said estate being located at Stopham, in Sussex, England.  The name has undergone many changes, being now spelled “Bartlett” by all the family, both in England and America, except by Sir Walter B., afore mentioned, who retains the original orthography.
     Emigrations of the Bartletts from England to America have occurred at various times, and the following brief record touches upon this emigration: Robert Bartlett carne in 1623 and settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts; another Robert Bartlett reached America in 1632 and settled in Hartford, Connecticut; John Bartlett, 1634, located at Newbury, Massachusetts; Thomas Bartlett, 1634, located at Waterloo, same State; Richard Bartlett, 1635, located at Newbury, Massachusetts; George Bartlett, 1641, Guilford, Connecticut; Henry Bartlett, 1680, Marlborough, Massachusetts; George Bartlett, 1733, Boston, Massachusetts; Roger Bartlett, 1749, Boston; F. R. Bartlett, 1803, New York; John Sherren Bartlett, 1815, Boston; Louis Bartlett, 1880, Cleveland, Ohio.  Besides these there were some others, who settled in the vicinity of Salem and Marblehead, Massachusetts, prior to 1640, the dates of their arrival in the New World being not clearly ascertained.  One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence was Josiah Bartlett, who was born in 1720, and who died May 19, 1795.  In the pavements of an old stone church on the ancestral estates, in Sussex, England, the Bartletts may find their genealogical record for many generations.
     The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Sarah Nickols, was born January 7, 1819, in Loudoun county, Virginia, the daughter of Nathan and Sarah (Thomas) Nickols, who were Friends, the former haying been born November 30, 1780, and the latter, who was the daughter of Owen and Martha (Davis) Thomas, having been born June 13, 1782.  They came to Morrow county (then Marion county), Ohio, and settled just to the south of Mt. Gilead.  He entered a tract of 960 acres of land here in 1824.  He returned to Virginia, where he died March 21, 1827.  Before his death he gave his slaves deeds of manumission and they were afterward brought with the family to Belmont county, Ohio, where they settled.  The widow and her family came to what is now Morrow county in 1827 and settled on a quarter section of land, a part of which tract is now included in the county fair ground, the old homestead being located on the hill where the residence of Philip Wieland now stands.  Sarah Nickols died June 23, 1839.  Her children were fourteen in number, namely: John, born October 4, 1802, died in Missouri; Mahala, born July 25, 1804, died in childhood; Ruth, born November 3, 1805, married Alban Coe and died in this county; George, born May 24, 1807, died in Morrow county, in September, 1885; Albert, born June 28, 1808, died in Missouri, having been a soldier in the Mexican war, as was also his brother John; Harriet, born March 30, 1810, married Robert F. Hickman and died in Perry county, Ohio; Massey, born December 13, 1811, died in Morrow county; Margaret, born August 4, 1813, became the wife of Abraham Coe and died in this county; Martha, born April 26, 1815, married Preston Friend and died in Iowa; Ann, born July 13, 1817, married Jacob Painter and died in Morrow county; Sarah, was the mother of our subject; Mordecai, born May 22, 1820, died in Virginia; Mary E., born May 11, 1822, married Joel R. Bartlett and died in McDonough county, Illinois; Nathan, Jr., born May 11, 1826, died in the same county.  All of these children were natives of Loudoun county, Virginia, and twelve of the number grew to maturity.
     The marriage of our subject’s parents was solemnized in Marion (now Morrow) county, November 9, 1837, and they settled at Mt. Gilead where the father was engaged at his trade as a blacksmith and maker of edged tools.  In 1847 he moved out to a farm in Congress (now Gilead) township, in the vicinity of the present county infirmary; in 1868 he removed to North Bloomfield township, where he remained for ten years, after which he returned to Mt. Gilead and took up his abode in the old Hahn homestead, where he lived until his death, August 31, 1885.  His wife had passed away many years previous, ––March 27, 1856.  They were the parents of eight children, namely: Robert F., subject of this review; Wesley Clark, born September 24, 1842, died December 7, of the same year; John Oscar, born January 24, 1844, was a soldier in the late war, participating in the battles of Shiloh and Stone River, and being killed in the battle of Chickamauga, September 19, 1863: he was a member of Company D, Sixty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was Corporal of his company: after the battle in which he met his death the Union forces retreated, leaving their dead unburied for days, and his body reposes among the unknown dead in the national cemetery at Chattanooga, Tennessee; Julia E., born December 8, 1845, is the wife of John B. Gatchell, of Marysville, Kansas, a veteran of the late war: they have two children, Fred Burns and Frank Paul; Althea, born June 7, 1848, married George W. Montgomery, who is now deceased, having left one son, George H.: Mrs. Montgomery subsequently married John Bortner and now resides near Mt. Gilead, this county, having one son by her second marriage, namely, Clarence; Sarah M., born October 1, 1850, is the wife of William A. Braden, of Washington township, this county, and they have six children: Ida, Charles, Homer, Ray and Ralph (twins), and Arthur; Albert W. born February 22, 1854, married Anna, daughter of the late Thomas: Graham, of North Bloomfield township. and is a resident of .Marysville, Kansas: they have two children, Bessie and Thomas; Nathan Herbert, born January 22, 1856, married Cora Bartlett, daughter of Dwight Bartlett, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and they have three children, Helen Genevieve, Oscar, and Ernest: he is a graduate of Lebanon College, this State, is a man of scholarly attainments, and is principal of the public schools of Mt. Healthy, Hamilton county.  The parents were zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the father had held official positions in the same, being an earnest worker in the cause of religion.  Politically he supported the Democratic party until 1852, when he transferred his allegiance to the Republican party, to which he ever after gave an unqualified affirmation.  He served as Justice of the Peace in North Bloomfield township for a period of six years.  He eventually consummated a second marriage, being united to Eliza Annette Adams, January 4. 1857.  She was a native of Livingston county, New York, and her death occurred in July, 1873.  They were the parents of five children, namely: Charles Wilbur, born October 14, 1857, died February 16, 1865; Fred Willis, born May 15, 1859, married Ella, daughter of Sheridan Cox, of Canaan township, and they reside in Oketo, Kansas, having one daughter, Blanche; Elmer Ellsworth, born October 28, 1861, died October 8, 1865; Annette May, born June 20, 1863, graduated at the Mt. Gilead high school in 1882, and the Normal College at Lebanon, Ohio, in 1883, and in 1887 she graduated at the State Normal School, at Oswego, New York, and since April, 1887, she has been the principal of the Normal Mission School for young women of the Presbyterian Church in the city of Mexico: in her graduation at Oswego she bore away the highest honors of her class: at the present time, September, 1894, she is taking advantage of a year’s vacation granted her, by pursuing a course of special study in Wellesley College, Massachusetts; Alice P., born August 31, 1867, is a teacher in Marshall county, Kansas.
     Abner Matthews Bartlett married for his third wife Emily Helt, widow of J. C. Helt, this union being solemnized October 14, 1874.  By her marriage to Mr. Helt she was the mother of four children, namely: Marilla, wife of Lemuel Wright, resides near Fredericktown, Ohio; Winfield Helt, a clergyman of the Presbyterian Church; Legrand Helt, recently deceased, and Nellie, the wife of Henry R. King, resides at Miles City, Montana.
     Robert Franklin Bartlett, the immediate subject of this review, was born at Mt. Gilead, Morrow county, Ohio, April 8, 1840, receiving his preliminary education in the district schools and thereafter attending the public schools of Mt. Gilead, for two years and then the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, for two years.
     At the close of the college year of 1862 he enlisted, August 2d, as a private in Company D, Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  Upon the organization of his company he was made Second Sergeant, and January 26, 1863, he was promoted to Orderly Sergeant.  He participated in the battles mentioned below: Chickasaw Bayou; Arkansas Post, at which place he was wounded in the head by a shell; the campaign and siege of Vicksburg, having been present at the first attack, December 28, 1862, at Chickasaw Bayou, and for the six intervening months (except seven weeks in March and April when he was sick with typhoid fever at Milliken’s Bend) he was continuously with his regiment and on duty, until the surrender of Vicksburg (July 4, 1863) with its munitions of war and over 30,000 prisoners.  The regiment was present thirty-five days of the siege and was under fire almost constantly, night and day.  At Grand Coteau, Louisiana, he received a gun-shot wound in the left fore-arm and elbow and was taken prisoner.  With other wounded, both Union and Confederate, he was left at a mansion about three miles inside the Confederate lines and located about fifteen miles from La Fayette.  The lady of the house, a Mrs. Rogers, accorded the wounded of both sides a most kindly solicitude and careful attention, doing all in her power for their comfort and relief.  Within the evening of November 4, 1863, the wounded prisoners of both armies were exchanged and our subject was returned to the Union lines and was then removed to St. James’ hospital, New Orleans, where his arm vas amputated, near the shoulder joint, this operation being performed December 3, 1863.  He was discharged from the service January 25, 1864.
     After his discharge Mr. Bartlett returned home and gave his attention to reading law and teaching school.  He was Deputy Clerk of Courts until the fall of 1866, when he was elected as Clerk of the Morrow county courts, being re-elected to this office in 1869 and again in 1872, by a majority of 737, serving in this capacity until February 14, 1876.  He then resumed the study of law with Thomas H. Dalrymple, Esq., of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, and, June 24, 1878, was admitted to practice, at Mt. Gilead, where he appeared before the district court for examination.  He took up his residence in Cardington in October of the same year, and has since continued in the practice of his profession at this point.
     April 8, 1867, Mr. Bartlett was united in marriage to Miss Martha M. Miller, who was born in Mount Gilead, December 2, 1839, a daughter of Nehemiah Miller, concerning whom individual mention is made elsewhere in this volume.  Mrs. Bartlett was educated in the public schools and in the select school conducted by Mrs. Spalding in Mount Gilead.  Our subject and his wife have no children, but have a foster child, Mary F., who was born in Cincinnati September 9, 1889.  Mr. and Mrs. Bartlett are members of the Presbyterian Church and our subject is an Elder in the same.  Fraternally, he is a member of both lodge and encampment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having passed all its chairs.  He is also identified with the Knights of Pythias and is Past Chancellor of his lodge.  He also retains a membership in James St. John Post, No. 82, G. A. R., and from the same has been a delegate to several State encampments, and in 1889 to the national encampment at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He is a member of Encampment No. 89, Union Veteran Legion, of Mount Gilead.
     Politically Mr. Bartlett is an uncompromising Republican and he has been a most active party worker, having been chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Morrow county in 1893, and having been a delegate to various conventions of his party.  He has been for many years the incumbent as permanent secretary of the reunion association of his regiment. a preferment to which he was called by his old comrades in arms.
     Mr. Bartlett is a man whose life has been ever in accord with the principles of right, justice and honor, and it is needless to say that he holds a place in the confidence and respect of the people.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 49-53
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Chester Twp. –
MRS. SARAH P. BARTLETT; Chesterville; is a daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Porter) Shurr; her father was born in 1776, in Little York, Pa., and was of German descent; her mother was born in Uniontown, Pa., Nov. 6, 1785. They were married in Washington Co., Pa., and emigrated to Ohio in 1810, settling in what is now Chester Township; here the father improved 250 acres of land, which was sold to Pardon Brown. Her parents had eleven children, John, William, Eliza, Maria, Belinda, Sarah P., Phoebe A., Cyrus P., Jacob J., Samuel P. and Milton M. The father died Nov. 25, 1834, and mother Nov. 27, 1876; both were Presbyterians.  Mrs. Bartlett was born June 20, 1818.  Her attendance at school was under difficulties, walking one and one-half miles, following the Indian trails; she was married in 1841 to W. F. Bartlett, by whom she had six children, two of whom survive. Hugh M. married in 1868 Mary C., daughter of William and Mary (Williams) Bearinger, and Maggie E., who married Mr. Moore; Hugh has been engaged in railroading; Sept. 26, 1879, he met with an accident by falling under the car while making a coupling, receiving a severe injury to his ankle. Mrs. Bartlett holds a membership in the Presbyterian Church.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 590-591
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Chester Township –
   WM. F. BARTLETT, merchant; Chesterville, O. (now transiently at Upper Sandusky, O.).  This gentleman, whose portrait appears in this work, is one of the oldest merchants in the county, be having spent 50 years in commercial pursuits in the vicinity of' Chesterville.  He was born in Clinton (as it was then called), 2 miles north of Mt. Vernon, Knox Co., O., in April 1813.  His education was limited to the facilities of the old log school houses of his period -- he attending the Clinton, Plummers and Work Schools, located in the neighborhood of his birth-place.  At the age of 17 he engaged in the store of Mr. Gilman Bryant, at Mt. Vernon, and clerked for him for 3 years; he then served 1 year with T. W. Rogers & Co. of the same place.  Feb. 1, 1834, he moved to Chesterville, O., and assisted Mr. Wm. Shur in closing out a stock of auction goods.  In Sept. following he went to New York with I. Warner Miller, and purchased a stock of goods for the firm of Bartlett & Shur, who opened in Oct., 1834, at Chesterville.  Our subject’s father, Hugh Bartlett, came to Chesterville in 1835, and died in 1837.  Messrs. Shur & Bartlet [sic] took the stock in store at appraisement, under the firm name of Shur & Bartlett.  They continued until 1841 when the business was disposed of; during this year he bought a farm of R. E. Lord, and began improving same; also built a place for his mother in Chesterville.  In 1842 he again went into merchandising with his brother George, firm, W. F. Bartlett & Co.; they continued for 6 years, when it changed to Wm F. & G. V. Bartlett, Mr. Wm. F. living on his farm part of this time.  In the fall of 1845 he and his brother, C. T., occupied their new store in Chesterville, and later the firm of Bartlett & Moore was formed, and the business is continued under that name.  Few indeed are they who can boast of 50 years of commercial life.  During this long term Mr. Bartlett has seen whole generations pass away, and a vast forest turned to a productive county; the old lonesome and winding wood-road turned to well attended highways, dotted with beautiful homes and leading to cities then unknown.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 517
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.
(Portrait is on Page 297 in Chapter V at Pages 273 - 302)

Perry Twp. –
JOSIAS BAUGHMAN, farmer; P. O., Shaucks. The above named gentleman is the representative of one of the pioneer families of Perry Tp.  He is the third son of Francis W. and Mary (Beckley) Baughman, born in Perry Tp., Richland Co., Ohio, June 12, 1824.  He lived with his father until his death, October 17, 1859.  In January, 1860, the estate was settled up, and our subject purchased one hundred and sixty acres of the old homestead, where he has remained ever since, making a specialty of the raising of horses and cattle.  He supported his aged mother until her death, January 4, 1876.  His father, Francis W. Baughman, was born in York Co. Penn., Oct. 1, 1791.  He was married to Mary Beckley, March 28, 1816.  She was a native of that State, born March 23, 1794.  In two weeks after marriage they set out for Ohio in a four-horse covered wagon.  After a wearisome journey of about four weeks, they arrived where Hanawalt’s Mills stand at present.  Here the grandfather of Josias had purchased a quarter section on which at that time of arrival a grist mill stood, and some improvements had been made.  Being unwell on the journey, they tried for several miles to purchase a loaf of wheat bread but failed.  They moved into a log house near the mill, where the family lived some twelve or fourteen years and run the mill, which acquired a good reputation, and was patronized by the settlers far and near.  It was at first furnished with the characteristic “Nigger-head Burrs,” but gradually improvements were made.  The father was sick after his arrival and unable to sit up, but hearing that John Shauck, his old neighbor was coming, he walked to the window, and improved rapidly from that time until well.  John Shauck returned to Pennsylvania on a visit, and the settlers being largely from the same locality, availed themselves of an opportunity to send letters to their friends more direct and with greater safety, than the mails of that day could offer.  On the day of his return there was a “raising” at Abram Hetricks, and he pledged each man not to read his letter until the building was up.  Francis W. Baughman settled on his place in this township about 1830, where he owned 315 acres.  He had seven children -- Mary Ann died when five months old; Julian born April 27, 1818; Henry born May 5, 1820; Josias (subject).  Mary died at age of 12; Lydia died at age of 8 years and Francis died in infancy.  The father was a consistent and zealous member of the Evangelical Association.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 800
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Harmony Twp. -
THOMAS J. BEAM, farmer; P. O., Cardington; was born March 15, 1821, in Knox Co. His father, John, was born in Virginia, They had nine children -- William, Merit, Eliza, Isaac, Thomas J., John, Sarah J., Phoebe A. and James A. His father served in township offices, and took a deep interest in the county; Thomas attended school in the old log college, and early engaged in the labors of the farm; he was married about 1844, to Rebecca Lafever, and was blessed with two children -- Upton and James W.; His wife died about 1849, and he was again married to Phoebe E. Burns, by whom he was blessed with Jennie and Mary B. He settled for one year in Knox Co., after his first marriage, and then came to this county, and settled on the land now owned by Joseph Sellers, buying at that time 84 acres of B. Warner, and sold the some in 1880. He bought 42 acres where he now resides, in 1870, of Mr. Burns, and has improved the same and made it worth $90 per acre; he has been Township Trustee, and has held other offices. He has always been an active Democrat, and never voted for a man not of that political party. He takes interest in modern improvements, and always helps in any county enterprise that is of value to himself or to his neighbors.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 703
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

ROBERT A. BEATTY. ––One of the most alert and progressive elements that has entered into the makeup of our nation is that derived from stanch old Irish stock, and from such stock is descended the subject of this review, who is one of the prosperous and honored farmers of Cardington township, Morrow county.  He was born in Licking county, Ohio, September 24, 1847, being the son of Samuel Beatty, who was born at Belfast, Ireland, in 1811.  The latter left his native land at the age of eighteen years, and went to the West Indies, where he was employed on a sugar plantation for a period of one year.  He then came to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and thence to Fallsburg township, Licking county, Ohio, where he worked in a chair factory for two years.  Here his marriage occurred, and some little time later he removed to Knox county, where he located on a farm, which he cultivated for a time, after which he removed to a farm in Westfield township, Morrow county, where he remained until the time of his death, being seventy-five years of age.  In religion he was a Protestant, but was identified with no church organization.  He was a prominent member of the Masonic order, being connected with the several bodies of that order at Mt. Gilead.  In politics he was originally a Whig, but on the organization of the Republican party, he transferred his allegiance to the same.  He held preferment as Trustee of Westfield township for a number of years, and was a man well known and highly honored in the county.     The maiden name of our subject’s mother was Sarah Nichols, and it supposed that she was born in Mt. Vernon. Knox county, Ohio.  Her father, Amos Nichols, was a native of Virginia, and was one of the early settlers of Knox county.  The mother is still living, at the advanced age of seventy-three years.  She and her eldest daughter reside on the old homestead in Westfield township.
     Samuel and Sarah Beatty became the parents of two daughters and four sons, of whom we offer the following brief record: Robert A. is the subject of this review; William J. is a farmer of Delaware county, this State; Franklin L. died at the age of twenty-two years; Anna E. is unmarried and remains with her mother on the old homestead; Amos M. is a farmer of Westfield township, this county; Eva is the wife of Otto Curl, of Cardington township.
     Our subject is the eldest of the children, and he was in his fourth year when the family moved to Morrow county, and took up their abode in Westfield township.  His scholastic discipline as a boy was that which was afforded in the little log school-houses of Cardington township, and he completed his educational training in the high school at Cardington.  He remained on the old homestead, assisting in the operation of the same until the time of his marriage, which event occurred January 1, 1871, when he was united to Miss Mary J. Shaw, a native of Marion county, Ohio, her paternal homestead having been located on the line between that and Morrow county.  Her parents were Sylvester and Emily (Curl) Shaw, who were among the early settlers in this section of the Buckeye State.
     Immediately after his marriage, Mr. Beatty located on the farm where he now resides.  Our subject and his wife have three sons, namely: R. Jay, born March 13, 1879; Samuel Ray, born July t, 1883; and Clifard Guy, born March 13, 1886.
     Mr. Beatty has a fine farmstead, comprising 144 acres, and the same is under most effective cultivation, being devoted to general farming and stock-raising.  The proprietor has been an indefatigable worker, and his pronounced success is due to his own well-directed efforts.
     In politics, he was originally a Republican, but he now lends a hearty support to the Prohibition party and its principles.  For seven years he held the preferment as Trustee of Cardington township.  He is a devoted member of the United Brethren Church, and fraternally is identified with 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. 96-97
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Westfield Twp. –
SAMUEL BEATTY, retired farmer; P. O. Cardington; was born at Belfast, Ireland, in 1811; son of John and Ann (Hay) Beatty.  His father was a merchant in a small town called Ballynure, in the county of Antrim, and kept tavern and had a farm in connection with his mercantile business; the father’s family consisted of four boys -- Alexander, William, Samuel and Robert; and three girls -- Eliza, Jane and Mary.  His parents were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and gave their children a good education.  Samuel mastered the common branches, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, geography and English grammar, and at the age of 18 went to join his two older brothers in the West Indies, where they held positions as overseers of plantations.  Landing at St. Johns, on the Island of the Antigua, he found a similar situation, which he held one year, and then, with his other brother, joined the third, who, in the meantime, had come to the United States; locating at Pittsburgh, he there learned the chair-maker’s trade.  After spending a short time in Zanesville, O., and Medina, O., he went to Greersville, Knox Co., Ohio, where he spent three years in teaching school and working at his trade; from this place he went to Fallsburg Tp., Licking Co.; in Dec. 13, 1846, he married Sarah Nichols, of Howard, Knox Co.; born Sept. 22, 1822.  Her father, Amos, a native of Virginia, and her mother, Sarah (Davis) Nichols, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Ohio when the Indians roamed through that part of the State; her grandfather, a Frenchman, was killed in the Revolutionary war while on picket; her grand parents Davis were from Germany.  In 1847 Mr. Beatty bought the farm where he now lives, consisting of 132 acres, then covered by a dense forest.  After one year’s residence in Licking Co., and two years in Knox Co., he moved on his land in 1851, which now comes 155 acres.  The change wrought by Beatty is wonderful; he cleared up over 100 acres, and now has a model farm, with good buildings and a handsome residence, with delightful surroundings.  They have raised a family of six children -- Robert Alexander, a farmer, of Cardington Tp.; William John, Franklin L., who died May 8, 1874; Amos Mann, Ann Eliza and Evaline.  William John, at the age of 15, enlisted in the 40th and was transfered [sic] to the 60th O. V. I., and was in the battles of Wilderness, Nye River, Spotssylvania, North Ann, Bethesda Church, Shady Grove, Cold Harbor, Gaines’ Hill; the battles before Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Yellow House, Poplar Grove, Pegram Farm, Hatchers Run, Fort Steadman., and capture of Petersburg; passing through all these without a scratch.  Mr. Beatty’s youngest brother, Robert, succeeded to his father’s business; and in 1866 his sister, Mary, visited him with her husband, the Rev. Robt. Wallace, who was a delegate from the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in Ireland to the Centenary of Methodism in America, but who died in Cincinnati, of cholera, just ten days after his landing. Mr. Beatty is a member of Cardington Lodge No. 384, of Free Masons, and is a Republican.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 634
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Harmony Twp. -
D. M. BEBOUT, farmer; P. O. Marengo. This enterprising farmer was born July 19, 1839, in Licking Co. His father, Solomon, was born in 1811, in Pennsylvania, and his mother, Mary Arbuckle, in Knox Co., in 1815. They were married in Knox Co., and soon afterward moved to Licking Co., where they now reside and have eight children -- W. A., Sarah, Nancy E., D. M., Charlotte, Mary J., Elizabeth and Lizzie. His parents were members of the Disciples' Church. D. M. attended school some in his younger days, and remained with his father on the farm until past 24, and in May 4, 1864, was married to Julia, daughter of Levi and Ann (Maqueen) Harrod. Both of her parents are natives of Ohio, and settled where the subject now resides. They had nine children; seven grew up -- Minor, Perrah, Delilah, William, Julia A., Lewis and Sarah; Jesse B. deceased and an infant deceased. Her mother died, and her father was subsequently twice married; first to Urenah Main, and afterward to Sarah Burt, and had no children by either. Mr. and Mrs. Bebout have had seven children -- Laura, born March 15, 1865, died Nov. 15, 1874; Rosella, born Nov. 10, 1867; two (twins) died unnamed, born Nov. 17,1870; William A., born Aug. 3, 1871; an infant, born. Sept. 2, 1877, deceased; and Moy Z., born Jan. 20, 1877. They rented for one year in Licking Co., and then bought ninety-three acres of John Wright, and sold the same in 1870, and bought ninety-two acres, which is the present farm of Lewis Harrod, and they have since made this their home; it is well adapted to stock-raising, being well watered by springs. He is making some specialty in stock-raising, principally in Spanish Merino sheep; he paid off a portion to clear the township draft, and was afterward drafted, but hired a substitute; he has been a member of the Patrons of Husbandry; has been Township Trustee one term, and served several terms in other offices. He and his wife are active members of the Disciples' Church, in which he has been Superintendent of the Sunday-school; he has been prominently identified with the Democratic party.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 703-704
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

ARTHUR BECK. ––A enterprising and energetic citizen of the younger generation in Congress township, Morrow county, Ohio, is Arthur Beck, who is one of the popular and successful teachers in the public schools at Guiding Star.  Mr. Beck was born in Congress township on the 11th of May, 1890, and he is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Williams Beck).  The father was likewise born in this township, the date of his birth being June 13, 1849.  He was the youngest in order of birth in the famliy [sic] of seven children reared by Frederick and Katherine (Smith) Beck and in his youth he availed himself of the opportunities afforded in the district schools of this county.  In 1871 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Williams, whose birth occurred on the 20th of October, 1847.  She is a daughter of John and Juliana (Carr) Williams who were for a long time representative farmers in Morrow county.  In 1886 Jacob Beck moved to Galion, where for a period of twenty-two years he was actively engaged in the lumber business, moving at intervals to the country with his saw mill outfit.  In 1890 he purchased a farm of one hundred and forty acres in Congress township and later he bought an additional tract of twenty acres from his brother, Frederick Beck.  In 1901 he purchased a farm of one hundred and fifty-four acres from Clinton S. Rhodewick and Ebenezer Wood and in 1908 he purchased a strip of nine acres of land from C. M. Bowers.  In all he now owns farming land to the extent of three hundred and five acres, all of which is in a high state of cultivation, yielding him a fine profit.  To Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Beck were born seven children, concerning whom the following brief data are here recorded: Julia is the wife of Van Horn Davis and they reside at Galion, Ohio; Estella married Melville Myers, of Moline, Illinois; Catherine is now Mrs. Claude Hetrick, of Congress township; Frank is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Congress township, as are also Clyde and Charles; and Arthur is the immediate subject of this review.  In politics Mr. Beck is a stalwart in the ranks of the Democratic party and as a citizen he is prominent and influential in all matters tending to advance the general welfare of the community.  He and his wife are devout members of the German Reformed church and they hold a high place in the confidence and regard of all with whom they have come in contact.
     Arthur Beck was reared to maturity on the old homestead farm in Congress township, in the work of which he assisted his father during his vacations.  After completing the curriculum of the district schools he attended the Guiding Star High School for a time, after which he became a student in the high school at Mount Gilead, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1908.  When eighteen years of age he successfully passed the teachers’ examination in Morrow county and was immediately granted a certificate for teaching.  He initiated his work as a pedagogue in a school in Franklin township and in 1909 he procured a position as a teacher in a school at Guiding Star, where he has since been engaged in teaching.  Although very young, his alert mentality and broad information make him particularly eligible for pedagogic honors and whether he continues life as a teacher or later diverts his attention to other channels his well directed energies will make of success not an accident but a logical result.  In December, 1909, he was admitted to membership in the Pleasant Grove Disciple church, in the Sunday school department of which he was elected superintendent in 1910.  Mr. Beck takes pride in the latter honor, as he has the distinction of being superintendent one of the largest Sunday schools in Morrow county.  In politics he accords a stanch allegiance to the principles and policies for which the Demeoratic [sic] party stands sponsor and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with various organizations of representative character.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 768-770
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Congress Twp. –
CRISTLEY BECK, farmer; P. O., Whetstone; was born in Richland Co., Jan. 28, 1833; the second child of Frederic and Catharine Beck. Having no assistance pecuniarily, except his apportionment of his father’s estate, which amounted to $300 in all, he struck out boldly for himself, and made the best of his time and talents. In his 25th year, April 7, he was married to Lizzie Snyder, who was born in 1836, in Mansfield, Richland Co., daughter of J. M. Snyder of this township. Soon after their marriage they settled on Section 8, where he bought sixty-two acres of land, paying $25 per acre, which he farmed five years, and then moved to a plat of land consisting of ninety acres, purchased of J. B. Cook, which he occupied for eleven years, and in 1875 moved to his present place of residence, where he now has, in all, 127 acres, and considers himself permanently located. They have four children -- Webb, Lulu, Anna C. and Frederic; he and his wife are identified with the Lutheran Church; he, like his brother, is true to the political sentiments entertained by his paternal ancestors.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 682
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Congress Twp. –
FREDERICK BECK, farmer; P. O., Whetstone; is second of a family, of which there were eight in number; he was born Dec. 28, 1831, in Washington Co., Penn.; son of Frederick and Catharine (Smith) Beck, who were born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, and emigrated to the United States in the spring of 1831, stopping at Washington Co., Pa., where our subject was born; after two years’ residence in that county the family came to this county in 1833, and located on eighty acres of land in the Hickory Bottom, which he had entered while at Wooster, in Wayne Co.; here he remained until 1847; having sold out, he moved to Congress Tp., in the spring of 1848, and bought 110 acres in Section 8, and died five years afterwards, Sept. 3, 1853; Jan. 19, 1853, Frederick was married to Eliza Hipnar, who was born July 13, 1833, in Hesse Darmstadt, and is a daughter of John Adam and Mary M. (Smith) Hipnar. After their marriage they lived on the home farm a short time and carried on farming; the first purchase of land he made was ten acres, and went in debt for it, yet soon paid for it; he then purchased forty acres and moved to his present residence in the year 1866, where he has since lived; he has now 160 acres of land; they have had eleven children, five of them living -- Maggie Floretta, now Mrs. Wm. Batcheler, of Richland Co.; Alice J., Sarah A., Melville F., and Anna M. E.; he and wife are both members of the Reformed Church.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 683
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Congress Twp. –
PETER BECK, farmer; P. O., Whetstone; was born Jan. 13, 1843, in Bloomfield Tp., and was among the youngest of a family of twelve children, born to Frederic and Catharine (Smith) Beck, who were natives of Germany. At the age of 10 years Peter’s father died, and he was placed under the guardianship of Michael Snyder, and remained under his care until the age of 20; he then purchased fifty-five acres of land in section 17, where he now resides, and has since added to the same, having now ninety acres.  Feb. 25, 1862, he was married to Mary Anti Scolds, who was born April 26, 1845, in Pike Tp., Knox Co., the daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Shiria) Scolds. The Shirias are of Dutch, and the Scolds are of Irish extraction. In 1862 Mr. Beck was out for three months in the 87th O. V. I., Co. I, and was taken prisoner at Harper’s Ferry, but released shortly afterward. In May, 1864, he was out in the one-hundred-day service, in Co. C, 136th O. N. G. They have seven children -- Bartlett C., born Nov. 10, 1864; Craig, Dec. 30, 1866; Sarah, July 9, 1869; Ida Dell, Feb. 13, 1872; Hattie, May 13, 1874; Martha, March 4, 1876; James M., June 25, 1878. Mr. Beck had $300 left to him in the settlement of his father’s estate, which was all the assistance he has had, pecuniarily; he has a good farm, and is making a success of his business, being energetic, and attending to his farming operations with zealous care.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 681-682
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Congress Twp. –
WILLIAM BECK, farmer; P. O., Whetstone; is the third child of the family, and was born in North Bloomfield Tp., April 17, 1836, and whose parents were Frederick and Catharine Beck; at the age of 17, he went out to work by the month; two years later, himself and two brothers bought the home place.  Dec. 13, 1867, he was united in marriage to Anna Heiash, who was born Jan. 16, 1834, in Washington Co., Pa., the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Heiash, who were natives of Hesse Darmstadt, and were eighty-four days crossing the ocean, coming out the same time with J. M. Snyder; Mrs. Heiash’s uncles were in the war under Napoleon; Mr. Beck’s uncles were also engaged in those contests, and were killed; Frederick was the only one left of the family to bear the name; Frederick Beck the father of William was born in Sept., 1800; his mother, Catharine, was born in Aug., 1809.  Mr. Beck has always been a hard worker; he began life poor, but was determined to make his way in the world, and in the course of time have a good farm of his own; he began work at fifty cents per day, and he is now in possession of an excellent farm of 227 acres, and a first-class farm-house thereon, built of brick, which compares favorably with any in the township. They have five children -- Edward E., born Oct. 21, 1859; Catharine, Feb. 15, 1861; Elizabeth A., March 13, 1863; Mary A., July 21, 1868; Ella May, Dec. 25, 1873.  Edward and Catharina are teachers of promise. Mr. Beck has been identified with Democracy; he has held the office of Township Trustee for several terms.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 681
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Chester Twp. –
WILLIAM A. BEEMER, farmer: P. O., Chesterville; he is the son of William and Elizabeth (Decker) Beemer; his parents were born in New Jersey. The mother died there, and had six children, three of whom are dead; the living are John D., William A., and Harriet. The father was married to Eveline Rutan, and came to Ohio in 1838, by canal and team. By his last marriage he had nine children -- Martha J., Julia A., Hannah E., Rosilla, Emeline, Allen, and Mary, (two deceased). His father is living in Franklin Co., Iowa, with his daughters. Mr. Beemer was born Nov. 9, 1822, in Sussex Co., N. J. He remained with his father until his marriage, in 1849, to Ann Eliza, daughter of John and Margaret (Snook) Cary. Her parents are natives of New Jersey, and had ten children -- Lewis H., William S., Isabel C., John R., George C., Ann Eliza, Margaret J., Lorena E. and Charles P., (one died in infancy). Her father settled on what is now the Nye farm. Mr. Beemer bought the present farm in 1854; it now contains 115 acres of fine land. He has been afflicted with the asthma for many years, and has traveled over the greater part of the United States, made two trips to New Jersey on horseback. Active and enthusiastic worker in the Democratic party. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church; he takes deep interest in the same, reads the Bible through often; takes interest in all county enterprises. Is one of our most substantial citizens and farmers, and has always been a strong temperance man.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 593
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

GEORGE W. BELL. -- We now direct attention to the more salient points in the life history of one who stands as one of the prominent business men of Cardington, Morrow county, and as one of the old and honored residents of said county. Mr. Bell is a native of that beautiful suburb of the national capital, Georgetown, District of Columbia, where he was ushered into the world on the 17th of July, 1827. His father, Elijah Bell, was a native of Scotland, where he was born in the year 1793. He came to America when a mere boy, a large number of the Bell family having emigrated to the New World and haying settled in and effected the organization of the county of Montgomery, Maryland, -- Rockville being the official center of the county. The maiden name of our subject's mother was Mary Hart, and she was born in England in 1789.
     The name of this family of Bells was formerly spelled Beall, but our subject changed it to Bell, and the latter has been adopted by many members of this branch of the family. George W. has in his possession a copy of his grandfather's will. Samuel Beall was the possessor of a large landed estate lying between Rockville and Baltimore, Maryland. That part of the estate lying on the west side of the road, called Batchalder's Forest, was bequeathed to the father of our subject, Elijah Beall, who was also made executor of the will; one tract of land called James' Gift, was bequeathed to his son, Enoch Beall; the balance of his real estate was converted into money, and, with his personal property, divided among his heirs in a wise and discreet manner. This will was executed October to, 1825.
     The marriage of Elijah Bell and Mary Hart was consummated in Georgetown, Maryland, and there they remained until 1838. In 1825, however, Mr. Bell had come westward to Ohio, and had located a land warrant in Tuscarawas county, after which he returned home, and in 1838 came to this State with his family, and took up his abode on the claim entered more than a decade previous. His initial trip to the Buckeye State was made on horseback, across the mountains and through the densely wooded vales. His land was wild and heavily timbered, and he gave his attention to its reclamation and improvement until 1861, when he removed to Columbus, this State, and made settlement on a farm east of the city, remaining there until the hour of his death, which occurred in that year which marked the centennial anniversary of our national independence, --1876. His wife had been summoned to eternal rest in 1862.
     They were the parents of four children; and of this number only one has passed away. The following is a brief record touching the lives of the children: Salina became the wife of Edward Ricketts, and is now deceased, having left three children; Howard, a resident of Zanesville, this State, married Melissa Dermuth, and they have six children; George W. is the immediate subject of this review; and Sarah is the wife of Jared Ricketts, of Fairfield county, Ohio, having no children.
     The parents were devoted members of the Presbyterian Church, and the father was an old-line Democrat, having held preferment as Justice of the Peace. He was an active participant in the war of 1812.
     George W. Bell remained at the paternal home until he had attained the age of sixteen years, when he went to Fairfield county, Ohio, and there devoted his attention to acquiring the tanner's trade, -- a vocation which he followed until he came to Cardington in 1851, when he engaged in merchandising on a small scale, and in dealing in stock. He was ambitious, industrious and enterprising, and had an intellectual acumen which enabled him to direct his efforts according to those careful and honorable methods which ever conserve the attaining of success. His business showed a healthful and steady growth and he has not abated his labors until there has come to him the success for which he strove. He commenced with nothing in the way of financial resources or influence, and stands as the architect of his own fortune, -- a distinctive type of the self-made man. His business enterprise at the present time includes the dealing in wool, seeds, real estate, etc., and in the line takes a distinct precedence in the character and scope of operations.
     Religiously, Mr. Bell is a prominent and zealous member of the Presbyterian Church, holding preferment as one of the trustees of the local organization. Politically, he is a stalwart Democrat, and has been a prominent figure in local politics. He is one of the supervisors of elections, has been a member of the Board of Education for the past sixteen years, and has also served as a member of the Common Council. His financial interests are of considerable note, and he is a stockholder and director in the First National Bank of Cardington.
     In his fraternal relations Mr. Bell has advanced to a position of marked prominence in the noble order of Free Masonry. He was made a Master Mason at Mount Gilead in 1859, being a member of Cardington Lodge, No. 384, F. & A. M., of which he has served as Treasurer. In 1873 he took the Royal Arch degree and chapter at Mount Gilead, and is a member of Mount Gilead Chapter, No. 59, R. A. M. In 1876 he was made a Sir Knight at the Marion Commandery at Marion, Ohio; in 1884 he took the Scottish Rite degrees up to the eighteenth, at Dayton, Ohio, and in 1885 up to the thirty-second degree at Cincinnati, Ohio.
     The marriage of Mr. Bell occurred in 1858, when he was united to Miss Mary E. McMahan, a native of Kentucky, and a daughter of Asa McMahan, who was one of the earliest pioneers of Morrow county, Ohio. Mrs. Bell was born in 1832, and February 13, 1891, she rendered into the hands of death a life which had been given to cheer, to bless and render beautiful all associations therewith. Mr. and Mrs. Bell became the parents of two children: Addie and Margaret.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 179-181
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

JAMES BENDER is one of the flourishing agriculturists of Morrow county and, better yet, one of its broad minded citizens whose support has ever been given to all measures likely to result in benefit to the whole of society.  He can say what it is given to few people to say, that he was born on the very farm upon which he lives at the present day.  The date of the birth of Mr. Bender was May 15, 1851, and he is a son of George and Elizabeth (Reath) Bender.  The family came to the Buckeye state from Pennsylvania, the father of him whose name initiates this review having been born in Cumberland county of the Keystone state September 1, 1799, and he lived nearly to reach the psalmist’s allotment, his demise occurring April 19, 1868.  His father was John Bender, who took for his wife Barbara Coke.
      In glancing at the maternal ancestry of Mr. Bender we find that the Reath family is of Irish origin.  Adam Reath, the grandfather of Mr. Bender’s mother, was born in Erin and came to the United States in 1801, to seek out the bettered fortunes he hoped to find for himself and his descendants in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” He was twice married, first to Polly Door, who died in 1814, and second to Peggy Campbell.  They were well along in life when they came to Ohio, the year being 1840, but Adam was to have only a few months in the Buckeye state, for he was killed on the fallowing Christmas.  Elizabeth Reath was born April 12, 1807, in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, and was united in marriage to the subject’s father July 14, 1832.  The following children were born to them: Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Thompson; Sarah J., wife of Peter Ballmer; and James, (the above being those who survive); and those now deceased, Mary, wife of Henry Bardman; Margaret, wife of J. S. Ross; Barbara, who died at the age of fourteen years; David R., who married Anna M. Stull; and George W., who married Sarah Haldeman.
     The scenes amid which James Bender resides are very dear to him, for here he was born, here reared and here have come to him the principal events which make life significant.  He received his education in the district school and early came to the conclusion to adopt as his own the honorable calling of his fathers––agriculture.  His energy, thrift and integrity have brought him success and he owns one hundred acres advantageously situated in Troy township, the village of Steam Corners being situated on the southwest corner of his farm and ten miles southeast of Galion, Ohio.
     Mr. Bender laid the foundation of an exceptionally happy home life when on March 15, 1883, he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Yost.  To them were born five children, of whom two are living at the present time.  Clark Y, is engaged in farming, he married Edna Meckley, and they have one child, Mary Elizabeth; Maude M., is the wife of William F. Ench, and they have one child, James Edward Ench; Elena B., born May 12, 1891, died August 11, 1891; Boyd J., born July 12, 1894, died in infancy; George V., born March 14, 1897, also died in infancy.  Mr. Bender’s first wife was called to her eternal rest May 18, 1901.  On March 16, 1905, he took as his wife Jennie Coldwell, who was born in Springfield township, Richland county, January 10, 1862, the daughter of Jonas and Jane E. (Calvert Coldwell.  Jonas was the son of James and Jennie (Williams) Coldwell, and Jane E. Calvert was the daughter of Joseph and Catherine Calvert.
     Interested in all the good causes of the community, Mr. and Mrs. Bender are found as zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church and the former holds the office of steward.  They are also pupils in the Sunday School.  In politics Mr. Bender gives his heart and hand to the men and measures of the Republican party and he is not unfamiliar with the duties of public life, having served as one of the township trustees.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Bender are widely and favorably known.
     Mrs. Bender’s father, Jonas Coldwell, was born in Springfield township, Richland county, and her mother, whose maiden name was Jane E. Calvert, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1837, the date of her birth being that upon which American independence was born, namely July 4.  The Coldwells and Calverts have been men and women of high citizenship and enjoying general respect.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 784-785
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

AARON BENEDICT, of Peru township, Morrow county, is a son of William Benedict, who was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, in 1776. He was a son of Aaron and Phoebe (Knowles) Benedict, also natives of that State. Three Benedict brothers came from England to America, two having located in Connecticut, and the other was lost trace of. Aaron Benedict was the first person buried in the Friends' Cemetery in Peru township, Morrow county. William Benedict was married in New York, to Alse Hoag, a native of Grand Isle, in Lake Champlain, and a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Hoag, an old and prominent family in New York. Mr. Benedict and wife moved to Ohio in 1812, locating in what was then Brown township, Delaware county, but its name was changed to Bennington township, and still later became Peru township, Morrow county. One of his brothers, Cyrus Benedict, came to this State in 1810, and his nearest neighbor was at Sunbury, Delaware county, ten miles distant. He located on land which now belongs to Reuben Gardner.  William Benedict located here with a number of other families. He first built a little log hovel, but later a hewed-log house, located near a spring, took its place, and he afterward erected the frame dwelling which is now the home of our subject. He cleared and improved his place, and was a famous hunter in his day. Mr. and Mrs. Benedict had six children, viz.: Daniel; Phoebe Barber; Elizabeth, deceased; Aaron, the subject of this sketck [sic]; Sarah Gray, deceased, and Annie Hyde, a resident of Oregon. The parents were members of the Friends' Church, in which the father served as an Elder. He was an honest, upright man, honored and respected by all who knew him, and was greatly opposed to slavery.
     Aaron Benedict, our subject, was born on the farm where he now resides, January 21, 1817. During his youth he saw many Indians, and on one occasion a papoose, tied to a piece of bark, and set down by a tree near his residence. In 1861 Mr. Benedict began the cultivation of Italian bees, having followed that occupation ever since, and is the best posted man on that question in Central Ohio. He has shipped them to all points, and was the first to introduce Italian bees in the Sandwich Islands. He also published a work on Bee Culture several years ago. Mr. Benedict has now practically retired from the business. He is at present engaged in the wild turkey culture, and has shipped to California, Canada, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania and Louisiana.
     In 1846 our subject was united in marriage with Caroline Dague, a native of Virginia, and a daughter of John and Jane Dague. To this union were born nine children, six now living: Adessa, wife of Albert Stewart, of Michigan; Mamie Kniffen, now of Bucyrus, Ohio; Direxie, wife of Charles Wood, of Peru township; Lester, of Hancock county, Ohio; William, a resident of Michigan; and Frederick, of Bucyrus, married Dollie Kniffen. Mrs. Benedict departed this life in 1866. Three years afterward our subject married Louisa Meeker, a native of Indiana, and a daughter of Davis Meeker, an early pioneer of Morrow county. They have one son, Preston H., who married Mary Osborn, and has one child. They reside at home. Mr. and Mrs. Benedict are members of the Friends' Church. Mr. Benedict has always taken an active interest in educational matters, and has served as a School Director. He has resided on his present farm for seventy-seven years. In political matters he is a stanch Prohibitionist.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio;
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 348-349
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Peru Twp. –
AARON BENEDICT, farmer; P. O. Bennington, is the second son of William Benedict, who came from Peru Tp., Essex Co., New York, and settled in Peru Tp., (then Delaware Co.) in 1812. Aaron was born in the year 1817, and was one of the first persons born in Peru Tp. He has twice been married, his first wife being Caroline Dague, his second, Louisa M. Meeker. The children by the first marriage, are as follows: Adessa, Linton, Margaret Jane, (Wyman deceased), Direxa, Lester P., William, Frederick, and Addison, deceased. By the last marriage there is but one child -- Preston Benedict. By occupation Mr. Benedict is a farmer, uniting many and varied characteristics. For fifteen years he has applied himself assiduously to the propagation of bees, especially the Italian bee, queens of which variety he has sent to all parts of the Union, and was the first party who was able to send an Italian queen to the Sandwich Islands alive and in good condition. He has a particular penchant for the breeding and rearing of wild animals and fowls, especially the American wild turkey, and at the date of this writing, there is in his hands an order from California for a pair of these fowls, to be shipped thence. As a woodsman, Aaron has always been considered in the foremost rank, and recognized by his associates as the most expert of hunters, possessing in an eminent degree, even from boyhood, a knowledge of the habits of the game which he sought to capture. He is a member of the Society of Friends, the oldest church organization in the township.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 651
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Westfield Twp. -
CYRUS G. BENEDICT, farmer; P. O. Cardington; was born in this township, Nov. 5, 1846. His father, Alfred R., was a native of Onondaga Co., N.Y., and his mother, Cynthia (Aldrich) Benedict, a daughter of one of the first settlers in this township. When a child, Cyrus came with his parents to St. Joe Co., Mich., where he received his education. When the war broke out he had two brothers join the army; Bently joined the 43d O. V. I., and Timothy joined the 26th O. V. I. The latter was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga, taken prisoner, and starved to death in Andersonville. Notwithstanding this, the patriotic motives of Cyrus could not be repressed, so he ran away and joined the 153d Illinois Infantry, and with it took part in the battle at Nashville, in the pursuit of Hood, and also the battle of Point Rock, Tenn., where his regiment lost about thirty men. After this they, with the 47th Wisconsin, were assigned to duty in the mountains, to hunt "bushwackers;" while acting in this capacity he witnessed the surprise and killing of' a Captain and Lieutenant of a guerrilla company, the former while attempting to escape from a house which they had surrounded. He spent about two years in the army, and on his discharge, returned home, and after farming a short time, he engaged in the lumbering business about a year, and subsequently spent about five years in traveling, visiting Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Tennessee and Alabama. Returning to Ohio in 1872, he married Lettie Jones, a native of this township, whose parents, Jordan and Rachel Jones, reside here. Mr. Benedict is a Republican, and a member of the Masonic order. He is a generous and liberal man, and of patriotic stock, his grandfather having served in the Revolutionary war, and was with Washington when he crossed the Delaware.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 632
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

MARTIN BENEDICT, one of the representative farmers of Peru township, Morrow county, Ohio, is a native of the old Empire State, having been born in Clinton county, New York, June 12, 1807. Though now attained of venerable age, our subject stands somewhat as an oracle in regard to the pioneer history of Ohio, where he has maintained his abode since the early part of the present century.
     His father, Reuben Benedict, was also a native of New York, and was the son of Aaron and Elizabeth (Knowles) Benedict, who were natives of Connecticut. Aaron Benedict came to that part of Delaware county which is now included in the present county of Morrow, in 1812, and at that early period there were but three families living in Peru township, where he took up his residence. He was the first white person to be buried in the township, and the subject of this review is the only individual now living in the township that was present at said burial.
     Reuben Benedict married Anna Stevens, who was a native of the State of New York, having been born near New Milford and having been the twin sister of Aden Stevens. Her parents were born in New York, and the family was long one of prominence in that State. The parents of our subject were married in their native State and there they continued to reside for a number of years, coming to what is now Morrow county, Ohio, in 1812, in company with a party of about sixty-seven people. They located in the woods of Peru township, taking up their abode in one of the little log cabins which figured as the domiciles of all these hardy and courageous pioneer settlers. They developed a fine farm and lived to enjoy the fruits of their labor, the father dying at the age of eighty-six years and the mother at the age of eighty-three.
     Reuben and Anna (Stevens) Benedict became the parents of twelve children, namely: Phoebe, Adin, Polly, John, Ira, Elisha (who died in New York prior to the removal of the family to Ohio), Ezra, Martin, Lucy, George, Annis, and Lucy (second). Of this number only two are living at the present time, -- the subject of this review and George, who is a resident of Ida county, Iowa.
     Martin Benedict was the seventh in order of the children and was but five years of age when his parents left their Eastern home to become pioneers in the Buckeye State. His educational advantages were such as were afforded in the primitive log school-houses of the place and period, and early in life he became inured to the work incidental to clearing and improving the pioneer farm.
     In 1827 he was united in marriage to Jane Brown, who was a native of Morrow county. She became the mother of four children: Artemas, Rudolph, Almon and Sophronia, and at the time of her death, in 1838, the youngest child was but two years of age. In 1839 Mr. Benedict was united in marriage to Hannah Watters, who was born in Pennsylvania, but who came with her parents to Ohio when a child of four years. She died in 1890, leaving two children: Richard and Adin.
     Our subject has devoted his attention to general farming from his youth up, and by industry and good management has accumulated a fine property. He started in life with nothing in the way of financial resources, and the success attained has been the direct result of his own efforts. He has provided for his children with greater solicitude than does the average father, having given each of them a good home. He retains in his own home place 150 acres of as fine land as can be found in this section of the State. He had personally cleared up and improved a farm, but subsequently traded the same for the one he now owns.
     In politics Mr. Benedict is a stanch Republican, and in religion has been for many years prominently identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In his declining years he retains that honor and good will of his fellowmen that is due him after his long years of endeavor and right living.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio;
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 158-159
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Cardington Twp. -
S. V. BENEDICT, farmer and stock raiser; P. O., Cardington; Mr. Benedict was born in Morrow Co., Ohio (then Morvin [sic] Tp., Marion, Co.) Nov. 20, 1834. He is a son of Eli and Elizabeth (Shaw) Benedict, both of whom were natives of Morrow Co., and the parents of eight children. The Shaws came to this county and settled upon the creek which bears their name, in 1808. They were the first settlers in that portion of the county. The Benedicts were also early settlers of the county, having settled near the present village of Woodbury soon after the Shaws settled on Shaw creek. Eli Benedict departed this life in 1846. He settled on the farm now owned by the subject of this sketch, soon after his marriage with Miss Shaw. He was an upright Christian gentleman, respected by all who knew him. His wife survives him, and is one of the oldest living settlers of the county. There were four of the 11 “Shaw boys” in the late war. Jonathan S. was in Co. I. 3d O. V. I, and was killed at the battle of Stone River; Charles W. was also in Co. 1, 3d O. V. I, was twice captured, but managed to escape on both occasions; Levi went from Colorado; S. V. Benedict was in Co. K, 88th O. V. I.; served from July, 1864, to July, 1865. He was raised upon a farm receiving a limited education. When 14 years of age, he left home and went to Logan Co., where he was employed for some time, working by the month upon a farm. He then returned to Morrow Co., and for a number of years worked for $9 per month – “dry month” -- upon a farm. We was united in marriage with Miss Louisa Curren, Nov. 2, 1855; she was born in Morrow Co., Ohio, Feb. 7, 1836; from this union there were seven children, six of whom are now living -- Cora J., Levi E., Stephen N., William H., Roy L., and Dessie M.; the one deceased was named Eunice L.; Mr. Benedict owns 105 acres of land in Cardington Tp., and eighty acres in Westfield Tp. he has had no pecuniary assistance to speak of, and his possessions were gained entirely by his own efforts. He makes it a point to keep good stock of all kinds, and believes in and practices the old saying: “What's worth doing at all is worth doing well.” He has for a number of years been an earnest worker in, and member of, the U. B. Church. He is a member of Cardington Lodge No. 384, A. F. & A. M., and of Mt. Gilead, Chapter No. 59. He is an open-hearted, genial companion, a consistent Christian gentleman, and one of Morrow county's most respected citizens.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 567
Contributed by a Friend of Genealogy

Peru Twp. –
THEODORE K. BENEDICT, farmer; P. O. Bennington. Theodore, as were his ancestors, is a member of the Society of Friends; a man of modern ideas and notions of reform; a farmer by preference, and strongly attached to his business; he is sparing neither pains nor expense in rendering his home pleasant and attractive; he is a cattle dealer and breeder, and enjoys the business more than any other branch of stock raising; he cultivates music in his household, discourses on the questions of public policy, and allows himself a wider range for reflection than has hitherto usually been accorded to, or by, the society of which he is a member. He is a good, reliable, intelligent, and hospitable citizen a business man and useful citizen who lives in the enjoyment of his family. His parents were Ezra Benedict, born in the State of New York, June 21, 1803, and Miss Ruth Gridley, born in Saratoga, Saratoga Co., New York, July 3, 1807, and were married Oct. 4, 1827, in Peru Tp. Theodore was born June 6, 1835, in Lincoln Tp., Morrow Co. His wife, Susan H. King, was born in Franklin Co., Ohio, June 27, 1837, and on the 18th day of November, 1856, they became man and wife. Mrs. Benedict's parents were the Rev. Wm. King, and Mary Ann Eastwood, of Columbus, Mr. King being a resident of Franklinton. Theodore's family is as follows: Ruth Millicent, born Aug. 25,1858; George, Dylwin, Aug. 1, 1860, and died Aug. 30, 1865; William H., born March 28, 1863; Mary Lillian, Nov. 2, 1866; Reuben G., Sept. 29, 1870.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 651
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

THE BENNETT-ROBESON FAMILY. -- As the successful growth of vegetation depends upon certain favorable conditions of sunshine and rain, so the growth of a great country's industries depend upon those inherent principles of sturdy manhood and womanhood that the passing years have bestowed with a lavish hand, and which to the one possessing them are a priceless legacy, stamping his life with a pleasing success. Such principles have been largely shown in the honored families of Bennett and Robeson, which enjoy universal esteem in the district in which their interests are centered. A. D. Bennett, deceased, was born in Morrow county January 16, 1834, his parents being Seeley and Lydia (Cook) Bennett, the former a native of New York and the latter of New Jersey. The family consisted of ten children, whose names were: Daniel, Josiah, Townsend, Jonathan, Andrew, Phoebe, Caroline, Sener, Charlotte and A. D.  The latter lived at home, assisting his father in farming and stock-raising until the time of his marriage, which happy event occurred May 1, 1878. The lady of his choice was Miss Sarah E. Robeson, a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Roof) Robeson, who were descended from good old Virginia ancestry. Joseph Robeson and his wife emigrated from Virginia to Ohio at an early day and located in Knox county, where they reared and educated a fine family of eleven children.
     Joseph Robeson was born in Frostberg, Virginia, February 3, 1801. He was possessed of those sterling qualities which won for him the highest esteem of the community wherein he spent the greater part of his useful and active life. A man of the highest sense of honor, he was universally respected and he and his good wife exercised a careful judgment in rearing their children -- one of the most important duties of good citizenship. He loved the free, wholesome life of the open and greatly enjoyed the sport of hunting in which he was remarkably skilled and successful. His musket brought down the last bear that was ever killed in Knox county. He lived ten years longer than the psalmist's alottment [sic] of years, his demise occurring August 2, 1881. His wife, who preceded him by some years to the Great Beyond, died in March, 1863. She was born April 6, 1805, at Winchester, Virginia. Their family growing up to be honored men and women of sterling worth, filled numerous positions of trust, and always commanded the respect of the communities in which they moved. Their names were Calvin, Solomon, Thomas and Lyman, the latter dying in 1910, a retired farmer at Seattle, Washington.
     The next son of the Robeson family was Sherman, who graduated in the study of medicine and became a successful practicing physician of Canton, Ohio. The others were Fletcher, Elizabeth, Matilda and Alonzo, who was a successful horseman of Loudonville, Ohio; and Angeline, who married Jonathan Bennett, a brother of A. D. Bennett, who was considered one of the most estimable women of Morrow county.
     The remaining one was Sarah, the youngest of the Robeson family. After her marriage to A. D. Bennett they settled on the old Bennett homestead at Vail's Corners, where they spent their entire wedded life. The husband's occupation was farming and stock-raising. Being a successful business man of fine integrity of character, his judgment was often sought in matters of public and private interest, and his high sense of honor made him a friend to be relied upon. There was born to this worthy couple a son, whom they named Arthur, his natal day being November 26, 1881, and whose presence added greatly to the sunshine and joy of their home. In 1897 Mr. Bennett's health failed and on July 31, of that year his death occurred. His funeral cortege was one of the largest ever witnessed in this section, those who assembled to do honor to his memory attesting to his large circle of friends Among them were the Knights of Pythias, of Marengo, Ohio, of which he was a charter member. Representatives of the same lodge were also present from numerous other towns.
     Thus bereft, the widow removed from the home for a time with her son Arthur, but when sixteen years of age he longed for the old home, to which they returned. He assumed the management of the homestead, depending upon his mother for counsel. Their friends feared that he was too young for such a trust, but with youthful zeal and determination from year to year he grew more successful and surer of himself. He engaged principally in the handling of sheep and horses, taking especial pride in the latter and making a specialty of the buying and matching of teams. In fact, he has sold some of the finest matched teams which ever went out of this section.
     Mrs. Bennett and her son are honored members of the Vail's Corners Advent Christian church, and to their liberality the church is indebted for the fine location of ground donated by them. Mrs. Bennett is a most estimable and honored woman, public-spirited and a royal hostess, always taking an active interest in every social and religious movement that means an uplift to the community. Her rare good judgment, genial manners and pleasant smile make her one whose companionship is ever sought by those who prize association with this world's truest and best.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 861-863
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Lincoln Twp. -
JOHN BENNETT, farmer; P.O., Marengo; was born in 1811 in Perry Co.; his father was born in Virginia and his mother in Pennsylvania; they came to Licking Co., O., in about 1807, and from there went to Perry Co. in 1808, where they lived until their deaths. In the family there were ten children, three girls and seven boy [sic] -- James, George, Isaac, William, Sarah, John, Jonah, Samuel, Catharine and Abraham. John Bennett was raised on a farm and resided with his parents until of age, at which time he began business for himself. He was married Oct. 3, 1833, to Rebecca Donilson, whose parents were natives of Harrison Co., O., and in an early day moved to Perry Co., O., where she was born in 1813; her grandparents on her mother's side came from Ireland. There are six children in John's family -- Isaac, Malinda, Martha, Samuel, Mary and John L. They came to Morrow Co. in 1834 and settled in Lincoln Tp., where they have lived ever since; Mr. Bennett purchased a farm in the woods which he cleared up and improved, and where he yet lives. His family are now all married and doing business for themselves. They all live in the county where they were born. John L., the youngest of the family, was married Dec. 18, 1879, to Nina Hill, and is living with his father. Mr. Bennett had one son, S. H. Bennett, in the late war; he enlisted Aug. 27, 1864, was in the 179 regiment, Co. A., O. V.; he served until June 17, 1865, at which time he received his discharge. Mr. Bennett and wife, and most of the family, are members of the Baptist church.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 762
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Cardington Twp. -
SAMUEL BENNETT, farmer; P. O., Cardington; is a native of Jefferson Co., Ohio; he was born March 2, 1822, and lived there until they came to this vicinity in the fall of 1823. They came in a wagon, and part of the distance had to make the road. His father entered eighty acres, and through his wife got fifty acres more adjoining, he paying $50 for the place, on which was a log cabin which they occupied, and began clearing the place. In 1828 they built a hewed log cabin, in which they afterwards lived, making their own clothing of wool and flax. In 1845 Mr. Samuel Bennett and Miss Elizabeth Bovey were married; she is a native of Maryland. They had five children, four of whom are living -- John C., Hiram C., Walter C., and Amanda O. He owns 227 acres of land, located two miles northeast of Cardington, which he has earned by his own labor and management; he at first renting the place of his father-in-law, and in 1830 he bought 70 acres, and has since increased his place to the present area. His parents, James and Lydia (Hardenbrook) Bennett were natives of Pennsylvania and Virgina [sic]; they married in Jefferson Co., Ohio, and came to this county in the fall of 1823, and lived here until their death --he in 1856, she 1861. Of their eleven children seven are living -- Isaac lives in Michigan, Mrs. Edith Crawford lives in this county, Lewis lives in Illinois, Mrs. Ann Pinkley lives in Illinois, Samuel lives in this county, Mrs. Magdalene Johnson lives in Iowa, and Mrs. Lydia Hyde lives in Michigan. When the family first came to this county they had, after entering their land, one five-france [sic] piece, four cows, and one sheep. He cleared land for others and enjoyed the pleasures of pioneer life generally.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 566
Contributed by a Friend of Genealogy

SAMUEL BENNETT, who is one of the old and honored residents of Cardington township, Morrow county, and whose fine farm home is located on section No. 11, stands as the representative of families early settled in the Buckeye State, and as one particularly eligible for biographic honors.
     His father was James Bennett, who was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he was ushered into the world February 16, 1784, being the son of Isaac Bennett, who likewise was a native son of the old Keystone State, Bucks county, born November 7, 1762. He married Edith Leffert, born April 19, 1759. He was too young to be accepted for service at the time of the precipitation of the great Revolutionary conflict, but he was on his way to join the Colonial army at the time the war closed. Isaac Bennett came to Ohio, first locating in Jefferson county, then in Coshocton county, and subsequently coming to the home of his son, the father of our subject, where he died November 20, 1849.
     The maiden name of our subject's mother was Lydia Hardenbrook, and she was the daughter of Ludwig Hardenbrook, who came to Ohio in 1816, and settled in what is now Franklin township, Morrow county, then Knox, remaining in the county until the hour of his death. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and four or five of his sons bore arms in the war of 1812. The mother of our subject was born in Virginia, near the northwestern State line, the date of her birth having been June 19, 1789.
     James Bennett and Lydia Hardenbrook were married in Jefferson county, Ohio, and there remained until 1823, when they removed to what is now Morrow county and settled in Gilead township, where the father of our subject entered claim to eighty acres of land, and, in addition to this, purchased fifty acres of his father-in-law, there being at the time but few settlers in this locality. This farm now comprises 244 acres, which is in a high state of cultivation, it being one of the first places settled in this part of the county, and the fine residence and buildings have been erected by our subject, who, in his early life, assisted in clearing and improving the old homestead where he was reared. The father remained on this farm until he died, January 27, 1856, his widow passing away July 10, 1861. They were the parents of eleven children, ten of whom grew to maturity and five of whom are living at the present time, namely: Louis is a resident of North Dakota; Ann is the wife of M. L. Pinkley, of Rockford, Illinois; Magdalene H. is the widow of George Johnson, and is a resident of Warren county, Iowa; Lydia is the widow of Russell Hyde, and resides in Michigan; and Samuel is the subject of this review. The parents were devoted members of the Presbyterian Church, and were people of intelligence and spotless character.
     Samuel Bennett was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, March 2, 1822, and was but an infant when his parents removed to what is now Morrow county, and here he has virtually passed his entire life. He grew to man's estate on the old farm in the forest, while the red men yet found abode in the forest wilds of this section. Our subject had but little opportunity for acquiring an education, beginning to do hard manual labor while but a boy of seven or eight years. With devoted filial solicitude he remained on the old farm until he had attained the age of twenty-three years, caring for his parents in their declining days. In the meantime he had valiantly faced the problems of life and had assumed the responsibilities of the marital state. In the spring of 1845 he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Bovey, a native of Maryland, and a daughter of Jacob Bovey. After his marriage Mr. Bennett settled on his present farm, which he afterward purchased of Peleg and Robert Mosier. The farm was formerly the property of his father-in-law, and here he has continued to abide for a full half century, his loved and devoted wife being his constant companion and his earnest helpmeet until April 22, 1890, when she was called into eternal rest, after having played well her part in life. Mrs. Bennett was a member of the Protestant Methodist Church. They became the parents of five children, four of whom are now living, namely: John Clark Bennett, who married Sarah E. Crawford, and who lives in this township; Hiram Clinton, who married Henrietta Pugh, and who has six children; Walter, who married Belle Reed, has six children and resides at Iberia, this county; and Amanda O.
      Fraternally our subject is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, retaining a membership in both lodge and encampment. Politically he has been a stalwart Democrat from the time of attaining his majority. He has been a member of the School Board for twelve or more years, and has been ever interested in educational matters, giving his children the advantages which he was denied in his youth.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio;
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 207-208
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

WALTER C. BENNETT, M. D. -- Of all the professions that of medicine gives the widest scope for keen, scientific analysis, practical, skill, sympathy and broad judgment of human nature. Physical and soul-ills are so mingled in the mortal temperament that it requires the deepest student, the keenest diplomat and the Christian, in the truest and broadest sense of the word, to determine a course of treatment, a method of conduct, which shall effect an alleviation, to say nothing of a cure, of the sufferings which are brought to him by all sorts and conditions of men, women and children. The pioneer physician had his hardships of a rugged, wearing nature, which he met with the fortitude of the hero, but the more modern brother of the profession, in the more complex state of society, has as great difficulties with which to contend, far more varied and quite, different in character. The human ills with which he has to deal are far more difficult of diagnosis than if living were more simple, and with the great strides made in medical and surgical methods, with the rapid progress which is of almost daily movement, the physician of to-day must also be a man of iron constitution to keep abreast of the complicated theory and practice of his profession. It is generally admitted by those who have given thought to the subject that the physician who has entered active professional work any time within the last quarter of the nineteenth century and earned and retained a high standing could have grandly succeeded in any other field calling for ability and true manhood.
     Dr. Walter C. Bennett, of Mount. Gilead, Morrow county, justly falls in this honored class of American citizens, and he has the additional distinction of having achieved prominence in judicial and civic life. Born in Cardington township, that county, September 16, 1853, he is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Bovey) Bennett, his father being a sturdy Ohio farmer, than whom there are no better in the country. The son received his early education in the common schools near his home. Subsequently he pursued a course in the Cardington High School, and went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he completed his professional education in 1877, receiving his degree of M. D. in the latter year and locating for practice at Iberia. He thus continued for nearly twenty years, and in 1896 the general confidence with which he had inspired the community at large found official expression in his election to the office of probate judge. His personal popularity is strikingly evident in the fact that he is the only Democrat who ever served a second term in that position. For a time he was also a member of the United States Pension Board, an appointive position which he filled until he resigned on account of taking the office of probate judge.
     Upon retiring from the probate judgeship, in 1903, Dr. Bennett resumed the practice of medicine and surgery at Mount Gilead, to which place he had moved to discharge his official duties. Since that year he has been alone identified with the profession which he loves and in which he is a leader, and his numerous patients are all his warm and admiring friends. His professional fraternalism connects him with the County, State and American Medical Societies; in the Masonic Order he has advanced to the Mystic Shrine, being a member of Mt. Gilead Lodge, No. 206, F. and A. M., Mt. Gilead Chapter, R. A. M., Marion Council, No. 22, R. and S. M., Morrow Commandery, No. 36, K. T. and Aladdin Temple of Columbus, Ohio.
     Dr. Bennett and his family reside in a comfortable home on West High street, in which centers not only a happy domestic circle but which is the nucleus of a widely-extended and elevating sociability. His wife, formerly Miss Belle Reed, is a daughter of William Reed and a matron of charming and strong character; a faithful Christian mother to eight children. The three married daughters are: Mary E., wife of Carl Beebe; Aura, widow of George Smiley; and Helen, who married C. Q. Carlisle, of Saginaw, Michigan. Those living at home are Margaret, Reed, Elizabeth and Edith, and four of the children -- Aura, Helen, Edith and Elizabeth -- graduated from the Mt. Gilead High School. The Doctor and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 601-603
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

LEVI L. BENSON, M. D. -- One of the most highly honored citizens of Cardington township, Morrow county, Ohio, and one whose life has been devoted to good works, is he whose name initiates this review. Dr. Benson was born in Harford county, Maryland, September 17, 1829, the son of Levi Benson, who was born in Frederick county, that State, February 9, 1783, and whose death occurred February 10, 1865. He was a son of Benjamin and Hannah (Scott) Benson. Our subject's mother, Rachel (Lancaster) Benson, was a native of Harford county, Maryland, where she was born May 27, 1790, the daughter of Jesse and Mary Lancaster, both of whom were of English descent. Her demise occurred March 28, 1886. Both parents were members of the Society of Friends.
     The marriage of our subject's parents was celebrated in Harford county, Maryland, and soon after they located on a farm in that county, where they remained until 1837, when they removed to Guernsey county, Ohio, where the father died, the mother dying in Belmont county, this State.
     Levi Benson was twice married, the issue of the first union having been four daughters, namely: Hannah, deceased; Sarah, widow of William A. Harlan, resides in Chester county, Pennsylvania; Mary Ann, died early in life; Pamelia, married Caleb Harlan and both are now deceased. By the marriage to the mother of our subject there were six children, namely: Elizabeth, widow of John E. Lee, of Belmont county, this State; Emily became the wife of Knowis Doudna, of Guernsey county, and both are now deceased; Jesse is deceased; Julia is the wife of James Carter, of Cardington township, Morrow county; Rachel L. is the widow of Jesse Doudna, of Quaker City, Guernsey county; and Levi L. is the subject of this review.
     Dr. Benson, who was the youngest of the children, was but seven years of age when his parents removed from the East to Guernsey county, this State, and his first schooling was received prior to this removal, and after arriving in Ohio he attended the public schools of Guernsey county. In his twentieth year he went to Maryland and was a student in the Oakland high school for a brief period, after which he returned to Guernsey county and remained at the paternal home until the time of his marriage, in March, 1855, when he was united to Miss Elizabeth Sharp, a native of Cardington township, this county, and a daughter of Thomas and Sarah Sharp, pioneer settlers in Morrow county. The former died in Muscatine, Iowa, at the venerable age of ninety-seven years. The wife of our subject passed into eternal life June 20, 1856, leaving one son, Thomas L., who now resides at Marble Cliff, near Columbus, this State, being Postmaster of the town, where he also carries on a thriving grocery business.
     The second marriage of Dr. Benson was consummated August 1, 1862, when he was united to Minerva H. Boggs, who was born in Morrow county, February 23, 1840, the daughter of Rev. William and Frances Boggs, early settlers in the county, the father having been for mans years a prominent clergyman in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject met a second bereavement in the death of his cherished and devoted wife on the 24th of March, 1894. She was the mother of four children, of whom we make brief record as follows: Horace W., born May 16, 1863, married Nettie Hulse and they have four children; Frances M., born January 1, 1866, remains at the paternal home; Emily E., born June 29, 1868, is the wife of Henry R. Raub, a mechanic, of Bucyrus, Ohio; and Merrick L., born November 26, 1870, was drowned in Olentangy river, near Columbus, April 20, 1891.
     While in his teens our subject began the study of medicine in a somewhat desultory way, and in 1856 he took up a regular course of professional study under the preceptorship of Doctor Jones, of Loydsville, Belmont county, and he thus continued his reading for two years, after which he located near Spencer Station and there remained in practice until 1859, when he came to Morrow county, locating in Cardington township, where he was a successful and honored practitioner for a full score of years. For many years while in the practice of medicine he was also engaged in ministerial work, though not yet ordained, and for the past twelve years, being in full standing as a minister in the Society of Friends, he has devoted his entire attention to this noble cause, traveling from Illinois to New York, and his earnest and devoted efforts have been fruitful in good results and in the furtherance of the interests of the true and simple religion of which he stands as an exponent.
     Dr. Benson is a man of unassuming manners, is sympathetic and charitable, and is honored for his spotless life as well as for his marked intellectual and professional ability.
     The appending poem from the pen of our honored subject was contributed to a recent number of the United Friends, and is entitled “He Leadeth Me, Oh, Blessed Thought:”

In all this world, through all its cares,
Its fleeting hours of pain or grief,
From all life's seeming ills. O Lord,
Thy constant presence brings relief.

No labor now, no pressing fears.
No heavy laden task to bear,
To battle on with false ideas
Is now made light beneath Thy care.

Thy hand to lead, Thy Truth Divine
A standard on my pilgrim way.
Thy promised Life shall never cease
To turn all darkness into day. 

I ask no higher boon; I crave
No greater privilege than this.
To walk with God, to know, to feel
My hand. my life secure in his.

Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio;
Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 45-47
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Westfield Twp. -
T. J. BENSON, farmer; P. O. Ashley; Thomas Jefferson Benson was born Jan. 10, 1842; his father, Didymus Benson, was born in New York State, June 3, 1818, and came to Ohio in 1836; and when the Mexican war broke out, enlisted, but was soon after discharged, on the cessation of hostilities; he served about one year in the late Rebellion, when he was discharged on account of sickness, which so disabled him that he has been a cripple ever since; his wife, Amy (Foust) belonged to one of the very first families that settled in this township; they had a family of fifteen children, of whom eleven are now living, the oldest being the subject of our sketch, whose youth from his 13th to his 19th year was spent on his father's farm; at the end of this time, he having some time previous made the acquaintance of Miss Mary E. Sipe, decided to get married; to accomplish which, they both being in their minority, conceived and carried out the plan of eloping to Pennsylvania, where they were married; their married life, thus romantically begun, was soon destined to drift back to "stern realities;" on his return to Ohio, he was met with frowns instead of smiles, and found himself the possessor of $2.50, with which to begin housekeeping; setting to work with a will, by careful management and persistent industry he has secured, despite many adverse circumstances, a comfortable home, and reared a family of three children, of whom Melvina Victoria and Clinton Divillow are at home; the oldest daughter, Martha Ellienice, is married, and what is most remarkable, her son is of the fifth generation; all now living; his father, grandfather, great grandfather, and great, great grandfather are all now residing in the same vicinity. Mr. Benson has from the start had to combat adverse circumstances, and to repair the disadvantages of early life in the way of an education; it may be proper here to remark that Mrs. Benson dates her family back to the earliest pioneers, her grandfather arriving here the day that Perry's victory was gained; Mr. Benson's grandfather, Silas Benson, although over eighty years of age, is living with his son, and delights to relate his pioneer life to his grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 633
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Congress Twp. –
DANIEL BIDDLE, farmer, P. O., Andrews; was born July 24, 1812, in Bedford Co., Penn., the seventh of a family of twelve children, who were born to Jacob Biddle and wife. Jacob was born 1771 in Pa.; his wife, Rachel (Todd) Biddle, was born in the same state, Dec. 25, 1773; when Daniel was three years of age his parents moved to Beaver Co., Pa., where they lived eighteen years; Daniel’s schooling was obtained in a log school house, sitting on a slab seat, his feet resting on a puncheon floor; his writing-desk was a board fastened up against the wall by the aid of pegs; what light they had was admitted through greased paper, which answered the purpose of window-glass; during his minor years, he attended school some, and assisted his father in clearing up his land, and thus early in life learned the lesson of patience and economy, which understood, was to “labor and to wait.”  January 1, 1836, he was married to Susannah Todd, who was born in Beaver Co., Penn., Aug. 17, 1811; she is a daughter of Samuel and Lucy (Shivers) Todd; they were born in Baltimore Co., Md.; his date of birth was in 1796, his wife one year later. They were of English and Welch descent. The Biddle family are of Dutch extraction.  Mrs. Daniel Biddle was the youngest of a family of fourteen children, thirteen of whom grew to maturity, and their marriages were all witnessed by their mother. Samuel and Lucy Todd were converted under the ministrations of John Wesley, of Methodist fame. Samuel was an overseer on a plantation, and was first awakened by listening to his preaching to the slaves; from the time of his conversion to his death, which was fifty-nine years, he was a zealous worker in the church; his home was ever the resort of the ministers; Mrs. Biddle can remember seeing as many as ten at a time. From Beaver Co. the Biddle family came to Wayne Co., Ohio, remaining two years, when Daniel went back to Beaver Co., Pa., and married; they were raised together in that county; returning, they located in Wayne, where they lived fourteen years -- the two families living together -- after fourteen years residence in Wayne, they moved to Perry Tp., (what is now Morrow Co.) living at Johnsville, where they purchased 144 acres; Mrs. Biddle (the elder) died Aug. 7, 1842; Mr. Biddle, Jan. 24, 1851. In 1866 our subject moved to the place where they now live, where they have a good home and a competence for their old age, after dividing among his children a liberal amount; they are both members of the United Brethren Church; his father was one of the first members of that order in the county, and had three sons who were ministers of the same body; Mrs. Biddle has been a member of a church for 43 years.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 682-683
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Congress Twp. –
JOHN T. BIDDLE, farmer; P. O., Mt. Gilead; was born Jan. 6, 1846, in Wayne Co., Ohio, and is the youngest of a family of three children, born to Daniel and Susan (Todd) Biddle; both were natives of Pennsylvania and emigrated to this State in 1848, locating in Perry Tp., and remaining there until the year 1865, when they removed to Congress Tp., where they located permanently. John spent his minority at home and at school, and at the age of 17, he went to Galion, where he engaged as clerk, in which capacity he served one year and a half. At the age of 21 he was united in matrimony to Margaret J. Fish, daughter of Henry Fish, June 27, 1867. She was born May 5, 1830, in this township, and located in the southwest corner of the township in 1874, and bought eighty-six acres of land, where he now resides, and has a good, snug farm, well improved. Mr. Biddle is a good manager, and will in time become one of the affluent farmers in the township. They have one child -- Judson A., born March 6, 1873.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 683-684
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Franklin Twp. –
JOSEPH BIGGINS, farmer; P. O., Chesterville; son of James and Ann (Abram) Biggins; he was born in Yorkshire, England, April 22, 1831. As his father had been farmer, it was but natural that Joseph should follow in his footsteps; after receiving a liberal education, which included land surveying, at Ganford Academy, he married Jane Cole, daughter of William and Susan (Porritt) Cole; she was born in Yorkshire, May 16, 1829. Soon after the marriage, which was celebrated July 7, 1851, they began farming in “merry England,” which he followed two years, but hearing favorable reports of the United States from his father, who had emigrated to Chester Tp. in 1852, he and his family embarked in July, 1853, and after a voyage of forty-two days, reached New York and came by way of Dunkirk, Cleveland and Fredericktown, and remained one month in his father’s family; he then purchased 160 acres in Franklin Tp., and settled upon it in Oct., 1853, and lived there until 1864, when he sold out with a view to locating in the West, but changed his purpose, and purchased the present 100 acres, where he has lived since. Two sons and four daughters have been born to them -- Mary A., married to N. H. Jagger, Sept., 22, 1874; Susan, Maggie, William J., John T. and Priscilla; all the family are well educated, and Maggie and Susan are successful teachers in public schools. 
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 774
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

North Bloomfield Twp. –
JOHN BISHOP, farmer; P. O., Corsica; was born in this county, Jan. 30, 1851; his father, James Bishop, was born and reared in Merlin Co., Penn., and his mother, Elizabeth (Hinton) Bishop, was born in Michigan. His father went on the national road as a teamster when fourteen years old, and could soon handle six horses with perfect ease; he followed this for eighteen years, when he came to Ohio and settled on a farm; he bought 80 acres of land, which he cleared and improved, and at his father's death he bought the old homestead, where he lived until Feb. 1, 1879, when he died in Kansas, where he had gone to visit friends. His body was brought home for interment. John left home when only three years old, to live with his uncle, John McCool, who thought as much of him as though he were his own child, and lived with him until March 21, 1874, when he was married to Emma daughter of John and Catharine Rhinehart; then settled on his uncle's farm, a part of which he now owns. Mrs. Bishop died Jan: 12, 1875; and Jan. 20, 1877, he was again married to Mrs. Elizabeth Marshall, (widow of Samuel Marshall) her maiden name being Scrofield. By this union three children have been born -- Maude E., Jessie L., and an infant. Mr. Bishop is a member of the I. O. O. F., at Blooming Grove.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 621.
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Westfield Twp. –
JOSEPH BISHOP, farmer; P. O. Westfield; was born Oct. 8, 1809, near the Junction of the two branches of Whetstone in Delaware Co.  He was the oldest of five children of Elisha and Pherreby (Curren) Bishop, natives of Tennessee, who came to Westfield Tp. in 1811.  Being the oldest, the brunt of the work of clearing the farm and providing supplies for the family fell on Joseph.  In his 24th year he married Sallie Martha Place, a native of York state, whose parents came here about 1817.  They were both familiar with the scenes of pioneer life and have been spared to enjoy the fruit of their early work.  The Bishop family has been a patriotic one -- his father was a soldier of the war of 1812, and Mr. Bishop furnished two sons and a son-in-law for the war of the Rebellion.  Henry enlisted in the 121st O. V. I., and after taking part in the battles of Perryville and Chickamauga, died, and his remains repose in the Baptist cemetery.  Barzilla W. was a member of the same company, and after taking part with his regiment in several battles, lost his health, which he has never since fully regained.  He is now manager of the hardware store of D. Waddell & Co.  Levan Van Briminer, to whom Mr. Bishop’s daughter Lorinda, was married, lost an arm in the service.  Anson, his remaining son, is now a resident of Henry Go., and Loretta, his other daughter, is the wife of Albert Williams, of this township.  Mr. Bishop has a nice farm of 57 acres.  He is a Republican.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 632-633
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

SAMUEL BISHOP. ––A prominent and successful agriculturist of North Bloomfield township, Samuel Bishop has spent his entire life within its boundaries and holds a high position among the active and progressive men who have contributed largely towards the development of its industrial interests.  Ever interested in local affairs, he has served ably and faithfully as township trustee, and is now filling the office of township treasurer with characteristic ability.  A son of James Bishop, Jr., he was born in North Bloomfield township March 12, 1845, coming of substantial Irish ancestry.  His grandfather, James Bishop, Sr., was born, reared and married in Ireland.  Emigrating a full century ago to this country, he located first in Washington county, Pennsylvania, where all of his children were born.  Deciding to make another change of residence, he loaded all of his worldly goods into a wagon and started with his family for the Buckeye state, finding his way through the almost trackless roads by means of blazed trees.  He bought a tract of wild land in what is now North Bloomfield township, five and one-half miles from his nearest neighbor, his purchase consisting of two hundred and forty acres of timber.  Clearing a space, he began the erection of a log cabin, living in the meantime in the wagon until the cabin was completed.  In common with the few inhabitants of Morrow county, he endured all the privations of pioneer life, and on the farm which he redeemed from the wilderness spent the remainder of his years.  His wife came with him from the Emerald Isle as a bride.  She survived him, attaining the remarkable age of one hundred and one years.
     James Bishop, Jr., was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and as a boy came across the country with his parents to Morrow county, Ohio.  At the age of fourteen years he began teaming on the pike.  Industrious and thrifty, he accumulated money and embarked in farming on his own account, improving the estate now owned and occupied by his son Samuel.  On April 4, 1844, he married Elizabeth Henton, and to them eight children were born, as follows: Samuel, the special subject of this brief personal record; Mary E., wife of Craig Logan; Eliza J., wife of Hiram Keeler, of Galion; James, of Congress township, married Alice Hiskey; John, married Elizabeth Scrafield, of Kansas; William, married Ida Baldwin, of Toledo; Archibald, living in the west; and Arkenson, of Troy township, married Mollie Fultz.
     Brought up on the farm where he now lives, Samuel Bishop attended the district school regularly until eighteen years of age, since which time he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits.  His farm of one hundred and sixty-five acres is pleasantly located two and one-half miles south of Blooming Grove, and the improvements which he has placed upon it are of a good, practical and substantial character.  Mr. Bishop is a man of superior business qualifications, earnest and thorough in his work, wise in his judgments and well merits the esteem and respect accorded him by all neighbors and friends.
     On September 3, 1868, Mr. Bishop was united in marriage with Mary Schenefield, who has proved a true helpmate to him in every sense implied by the term.  She was born September 28, 1846, in Pennsylvania, and at the age of ten years came with her parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Painter) Schenefield, to Morrow county, where she was brought up and educated.  Mr. and Mrs. Bishop are the parents of nine children, namely: Irvin, born March 30, 1872, is a resident of Mansfield, Ohio; Myrtle, born August 29, 1873, is the wife of Webster Garverick; Melvin, of North Bloomfield township, was born May 9, 1875; Earl L., is a mechanical engineer in Rock Island, Illinois; Clarence, born November 1, 1879, is foreman in the Twist Drill Works, in Cleveland; Floyd, born August 5, 1881, is in the employ of the Baxter Stove Works, in Mansfield; Elizabeth, born October 24, 1882, is the wife of H. S. Kelley, of Franklin townhip [sic]; Mabel, born September 28, 1884, married J. K. Appleman, of Troy township; and Grover, born August 29, 1886, lives at home.  Politically Mr. Bishop is a straightforward Democrat, and takes an intelligent interest in local matters.  His farmstead is known as “The Pleasant View Farm.”
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 688-689
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

CHRIS BITZER. —Examine the life records of self made men and it will always be found that indefatigable industry forms the basis of their success. True, there are other elements that enter in – perseverance of purpose and keen discrimination, which enable one to recognize business opportunities – but the foundation of all achievement is earnest, persistent labor. At the outset of his career Chris Bitzer recognized this fact and did not seek to gain any short or wondrous method to the goal of prosperity. He began, however, to work earnestly and diligently in order to advance himself in the business world and though he started out as a factory hand he is now general manager of the Mount Gilead Lumber Company, a branch of the J. S. Peck & Son firm of Cardington, Ohio.
     Mr. Bitzer is a native son of Cardington, Morrow county, Ohio, the date of his birth being December 16, 1859, and his parents were Chris and Catherine (Mauch) Bitzer, both of whom were born and reared in Germany, whence they came to America in early youth, settling at Cardington, where was solemnized their marriage about the year 1855. The father was a veteran of the Civil war and he died at the Soldiers' Home, Dayton, Ohio, in November, 1898. His wife, who preceded him to the life eternal, died in 1888.
     To the public schools of Cardington Chris Bitzer, of this review, is indebted for his early educational training. When thirteen years of age he began work in the factory of J. S. Peck & Son. There, in time, be became expert as a woodwork mechanic and eventually was made foreman, a position of which he continued incumbent for a period of fifteen years. When the Mount Gilead Lumber Company, a branch of the J. S. Peck & Son business was opened up at Mt. Gilead, Mr. Bitzer was transferred to this place and made its general manager, in which capacity he has served with all of ability and success for seven years, in fact, from 1904 to the present time, in 1911. In politics Mr. Bitzer is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party and it is interesting to note here that his first presidential vote was cast in favor of President Garfield. He is not active in politics, however, and never has been, his entire time and attention being devoted to the business in which he is engaged. Fraternally he is a member of the Charles Hull Lodge, No. 195, Knights of Pythias, in which he has passed all the chairs except that of chancellor commander. He is also affiliated with Lodge No. 169, Knights of the Maccabees, at Cardington, and he and his wife are connected with the Pythian Sisters.
     On the 23rd of May, 1889, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bitzer to Miss Addie Poland, who was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on the 15th of December, 1870, and who is a daughter of Professor J. C. Poland and granddaughter of Samuel Poland, for many years representative citizens of Morrow county. Samuel Poland was the first county auditor of Morrow county. When a mere child Mrs. Bitzer's parents returned to Mt. Gilead, Ohio, where they had formerly lived, and she was reared and educated in Marion county, Ohio. She is bookkeeper for the concern of which her husband is general manager. She is a woman of rare business ability and is very prominent in the work of the Pythian Sisters. To Mr. and Mrs. Bitzer was born one child, Jesse J., whose natal day was June 10, 1890. He was possessed of an unusually bright intellect and after completing the curriculum of the public schools of Mt. Gilead he went to Cincinnati, where he began study in art and music. He was not destined to remain long in this world, however, for on the 10th of November, 1907, he died from an attack of appendicitis and resulting peritonitis.
     Jesse Bitzer had been a student in the Cincinnati Art Academy at Cincinnati for several months prior to his death. On the Monday preceding his demise he was stricken with an attack of appendicitis. Friends telegraphed his parents of his illness and his mother went to him Tuesday, scarcely leaving his side for a moment until his death. The only hope of recovery was through the chance of an operation and before the father had arrived at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati the operation had been performed. The invalid rallied nicely but peritonitis developed and he passed away with great suffering on the ensuing Sunday morning. From the first he did not expect to recover and Saturday morning he said, "Stay with me, Mamma, all the time, for this is my last day on earth." The funeral services were held at the Methodist church at Mt. Gilead and the interment was made in Cardington cemetery. Jesse Bitzer was possessed of most extraordinary talent along the lines of art and music and great things were expected of him. He was a lad of noble character and early manifested those traits which distinguish great personalities. His sudden death was a great blow to his devoted parents. "The sympathy of the Knights of King Arthur, the Sabbath school, his Sabbath school class, Trinity Aid Society, groups of close friends and many individuals was expressed in the mass of floral offerings sent to the desolated home."
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 586-587
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Franklin Twp. -
JOHN BLAIR, farmer; P. O., Levering. The above named gentleman is the first white child born in Franklin Tp., which event occurred July 3, 1812; he is therefore the oldest native resident of the township. His taste, naturally enough, ran in the same direction as his father's; accordingly, he tilled his father's farm until he was 25 years old, when he was united in marriage to Melicent Hayden, a daughter of Samuel and Parthena (Stevens) Hayden, who settled in Radnor Tp., Delaware Co., O., in 1811, being natives of Massachusetts. Her father died soon afterwards, and her mother with the family came to this township about 1817. One son blessed this union  -- Byron, who died Feb. 27, 1858; Melicent, wife of John Blair, died Sept. 29; 1839. He was married to Artamisa Stevens, Dec. 10, 1843; she was a daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth (Scribner) Stevens, and her parents came from Radnor Tp. in 1817; five children have been born to them -- Lyman B., Calvin H., Cylva M., Almon S. and Lauren A.; two of these died in youth -- Almon S. and Lauren A.  Mr. Blair's grandfather was a "Minute Man" in the war of the Revolution and in this country, pursued the calling of shoemaker; and owing to the scarcity of money, he was often obliged to accept wheat in payment for work, and as he was a lover of coffee, he often traded a bushel of wheat for a pound of coffee. His father's house burned about 1839, with an almost total loss of household goods. The neighbors assembled without invitation the very next morning, with various contributions, and in three days had another substantial building, ready for occupation. At one time, an aunt of Mr. Blair, who had been to a neighbors, came in, reporting the approach of hostile Indians, when Mrs. Blair caught John, then an infant in her arms, and sprang through a four-light window in her fright; but the persons approaching, proved to be Captain Lewis, with a party of scouts. Mr. Blair had few advantages for mental improvement in early life, but has done much in later life; and is a well posted man, taking a profound interest in the affairs of the Disciple Church, in which he holds the office of Deacon.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 774-775

WILLIAM FARIS BLAYNEY is actively identified with farming and stock-raising in Washington township, Morrow county, Ohio.  He is interested in community affairs and his well directed efforts have been a potent element in the progress and development of this section of the fine old Buckeye state of the Union.  He has with ready recognition of opportunity directed his labors into various fields wherein he has achieved success and he is recognized as one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens of this county.  He was born in Gilead township, Morrow county, Ohio, on what was long known as the Jonathan Maxter’s farm, the date of his nativity being August 29, 1852.  He is a scion of the Scotch-Irish nobility and is a son of Charles and Mary Jane (Blayney) Blayney, both of whom are now deceased.  The ancestry of the Blayney family is traced back to Lord Thomas Blayney, who was born and reared in Ireland.  John Blayney, son of Lord Thomas Blayney, became the father of four sons, namely: John, George, Edward and Charles, the youngest of whom, Charles, was the grandfather of him whose name initiates this review.  John Blayney, great-grandfather of William F. of this sketch, immigrated to the United States about the year 1870, and he located in Washington county, Pennsylvania, where he resided for a number of years and where he was identified with agricultural pursuits.  Charles Blayney, Jr., wedded Mary Jane Blayney, and they became the parents of the following children: Fulton I., Clement, George E., Mary Elizabeth, Evaline I., and William F.  Mary became the wife of M. M. Iden and they reside at Caledonia, Ohio; an Evaline I. married J. L. McAnall, of Morrow county.
     William F. Blayney was reared to the invigorating discipline of the home farm and he early became associated with his father in the work and management thereof.  As a boy he attended the district schools of his native township and when he had attained to years of discretion he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, in which he is engaged at the present time on his farm, eligibly located four miles north of Edison.  In addition to diversified farming he raises a large amount of good stock.  He is a stanch supporter of the cause of the Democratic party in his political proclivities and in religious matters is a devout member of the Presbyterian church.  He is a stockholder and director in the Peoples’ Savings Bank at Mount Gilead and has other financial interests of importance.
     On September 7, 1875, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Blayney to Miss Georgiana M. Newson, a daughter of A. B. Newson, of this county.  She was born and reared in Gilead township and the date of her birth is November 19, 1857.  To this union has been born one daughter, Jesse Belle.  The daughter was afforded a good common school education and she remains at the parental home.  The farm of Mr. and Mrs. Blayney is known as “Maple Springs” and will be known as such in Morrow county.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 770-771
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

South Bloomfield Twp. –
JOHN BLINN, farmer; P. O., Sparta; was born in South Bloomfield Tp., Dec. 10, 1820; his parents, Roger and Polly (Beard) Blinn, were among the first settlers in the township, locating there in 1817; the father died in 1827, aged 45, and the mother in 1878, aged 78.  The Blinn’s are of French descent.  Mr. Blinn’s grandmother on his mother’s side was a Porter, and was a relative of Commodore Porter, of national reputation.  Roger Blinn was a sailor until he came to Ohio, when he began to farm.  He suggested the name of Bloomfield when the township was organized and named.  John Blinn spent his youth on his father’s farm; he was the first professional cabinet-maker in Sparta, having learned that trade when a young man.  He was married to Mary Chase, Oct. 28, 1848, and has a family of six children, all of whom are living -- Elmer P., born Jan.12, 1850; Welford C., Feb. 2, 1852; Robert C., Nov. 18, 1853; John C., Oct. 7, 1855; Anna M., Oct. 24, 1865, and Ray S., June 23, 1870.  Elmer is a homœpathic physician, and practices in Marysville, Ohio; Welford C. is at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is one of the best grainers and sign writers in the state; Robert C. is a prominent, wool grower in Texas.  The other children of this family are at home.  Roger Blinn had a family of five children -- John, Henry, Clarissa, Elizabeth and Roger; all are living, except Henry, who died in California.  Mr. Blinn is a Prohibitionist; is also one of the covenant members of the Advent Church at Sparta.  He is one of the most prominent and influential men in the township.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 660
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Chester Twp. –
RANSOM BOCKOVER, farmer; P. O. Chesterville; born Dec. 8, 1846, in Morrow Co., Ohio. His father, Jonathan, was born in New Jersey, May 8, 1797, and learned the blacksmith’s trade when 19 years old; came to Ohio in 1835. Had eight children; James, Jacob, Ira, Isaac, Minerva, Ransom, Jason and Rebecca. The mother of these children was Elizabeth Adams, and was born in 1818. These old parents have enjoyed the most of their time on the farm, clearing and tilling the soil. Ransom was married June 18, 1871, to Mary, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Lanning. She was born May 12, 1851, in this county, and like her husband has enjoyed the attractions of home. They bought fifty acres of land in 1871, of Joseph Trowbridge, and have improved the same by fine buildings. This is a fine little home, the result of hard labor.  Mr. Bockover once belonged to the Patrons of Husbandry; votes the Democratic ticket; enlisted in Co. F, 136th O. N. G.; settled here in 1876. They have one child, Joseph C., born April 21, 1874.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 593
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

RANSOM T. BOCKOVER. ––It can not be other than gratifying to note that within the gracious borders of Morrow county there yet remain many of her native sons who are scions of pioneer families of the county and who have found ample scope for productive effort along normal and beneficient [sic] lines of productive enterprise.  Such a citizen is Ransom T. Bockover, who has maintained his home in Morrow county from the time of his nativity and who has here lent added prestige to a name honored in connection with the civic and material development and upbuilding of this section of the fine old Buckeye commonwealth.  To his credit stands a long and active identification with the great allied industries of agriculture and stock-growing, and he continued to reside on a fine homestead of one hundred acres, in Chester township, until impaired health rendered it imperative for him to resign the cares, labors and responsibilities that had so long been his, and he thus disposed of his farm and established his home in the village of Chesterville, where he has lived virtually retired since the opening of the twentieth century.  He was one of the loyal sons of Morrow county who went forth to aid in defense of the Union in the climacteric period of the Civil war, and in the “piping times of peace” he has shown the same loyalty that prompted him thus to enter the military service of his country when he was a mere youth.  His success in temporal affairs has been the direct result of his own energy and ability and his high sense of personal stewardship has been manifested in a life of signal integrity and honor, so that he has not been denied the fullest measure of popular confidence and esteem in his native county, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances.  In his pleasant home, surrounded by friends that are tried and true, he is now enjoying the well earned rewards of former years of earnest toil and endeavor.
     Ransom T. Bockover was born on the old homestead farm of his father, in Chester township, Morrow county, Ohio, on the 8th of December, 1846, and is a son of Jonathan And Elizabeth (Adams) Bockover, both natives of New Jersey, where the former was born in the year 1797 and the latter on the 24th of October, 1818, she having been a daughter of Una and Ritta Adams.  Jonathan Bockover and his wife were reared to maturity in their native state, where their marriage was solemnized, and they came to Ohio about the year 1835.  They numbered themselves among the pioneers of Chester township, Morrow county, where he secured a tract of fifty acres of land, two miles south of the present thriving little town of Chesterville.  He reclaimed the major portion of this tract from the forest and eventually developed the same into one of the productive farms of the county.  He was a man of energy and well directed industry, and he gained independence and measurable prosperity, the while he made the best possible provision for his children and was true to all the responsibilities devolving upon him as a citizen.  He was influential in local affairs of a public order and was a man of superior intelligence and broad views.  He continued to reside on his old homestead until death, in 1882, at the venerable age of eighty-five years, and his cherished and devoted wife survived him by twenty years.  She was summoned to the life eternal on the 17th of April, 1902, at the age of eighty-three years and six months.  The names of both merit enduring place on the roll of the honored pioneers of Morrow county, where they lived and labored to goodly ends.  They became the parents of eight children, whose names are here entered in the respective order of birth: James, Jacob, Ira, Isaac, Minerva, Rebecca and Ransom T. (twins), and Jason.  James, Jacob and Ransom T. still survive.
     Ransom T. Bockover gained his early experiences in connection with the work of the pioneer farm on which he was born, and in the meanwhile he duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period.  He has profited by the lessons gained through years of active association with men and affairs and is known as a man of broad information and well fortified opinions.  At the inception of the Civil war he was too young to be eligible for military service, but his youthful loyalty and patriotism eventually found definite manifestation.  In the month of May, 1864, when seventeen years of age, he enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred, and Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with this command he served until the close of his one hundred days’ term enlistment, his company having been commanded by Captain Meredith.  For a considerable portion of this term he was engaged in garrison service, and he was mustered out on the 31st of August, 1864, after which he duly received his honorable discharge.  In later years the government has shown recognition of his services as a soldier of the republic by according him a pension of thirty dollars a month.
     During the major portion of his military career Mr. Bockover was with his regiment in the state of Virginia and after receiving his discharge he returned to Morrow county and engaged in farming on his own responsibility, in Chester township.  Here he applied himself with all of energy and zeal, and in the course of years the tangible results of his well directed efforts were shown in his ownership of a well improved and highly productive farm of one hundred acres.  He continued there to be actively identified with farming and stock-growing until 1900, when impaired health compelled his retirement from active labors.  He met this exigency by selling his farm and he then removed to Chesterville, where he purchased the attractive residence property that has since continued to be his place of abode.
     In all ways has Mr. Bockover shown a deep interest in the material and social progress of his native county, and he has thus given his cooperation and influence in support of measures and enterprises tending to further the well being of the community.  In politics he maintains an independent attitude, by giving his support to the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment rather than by following strict partisan dictates.  He and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and both have secure place in popular confidence and esteem.  He has retained a definite interest in his old comrades of the Civil war and manifests the same by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic.
     In the year 1871 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Bockover to Miss Mary K. Lanning, who was born in Chester township, Morrow county, on the 12th of May, 1851, and who is a daughter of Richard and Elizabeth Lanning, who were well known and highly esteemed pioneers of the county, where they continued to reside until their death.  Mr. and Mrs. Bockover became the parents of four children, of whom the first-born, Artemas, died at the age of seven months; Carper, the second son, is individually mentioned in an appending paragraph; Alice is the wife of Charles Fitzgeralds, who is identified with the oil business in Wood county, this state; and Burton, who resides in Chesterville, follows the vocation of an auctioneer.
     Carper Bockover, the second in order of birth of the children of the honored subject of this review, was born on the 21st of April, 1874, and he was reared to adult age under the sturdy discipline of the home farm.  He continued to attend the district schools of Chester township at intervals until he had attained to the age of eighteen years, and he then secured employment for three months on the farm of A. L. Caton, in the same township.  He continued to be variously employed until he had attained his legal majority, and soon afterward, in the year 1896; he was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Webb, who was born in this county, on the 15th of March, 1876, and who is a daughter of Henry and Lydia (Shaffer) Webb, both of whom were born and reared in the state of Pennsylvania.  After his marriage Carper Bockover engaged in the buying and selling of horses and other live stock, and he built up an extensive and prosperous enterprise in this line, in addition to which he also conducted a well equipped meat market in Chesterville for a number of years.  He has recently been giving much attention to the investigating of the agricultural advantages of the northern part of the lower peninsula of Michigan, where he has purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land and in the year 1911 he removed to that section of the Wolverine state and established his home in Lake City, Missaukee county, where he now resides.  He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he held various official chairs in the lodge at Chesterville, and both he and his wife are members of the adjunct organization, the Order of the Eastern Star, in which Mrs. Bockover was worthy matron of the Chesterville Chapter in 1910.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 881-884
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

GEORGE W. BOLINGER, a farmer of Cardington township, Morrow county, is a son of Peter Bolinger, a native of Three Springs township, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania.  He was a son of Benjamin Bolinger, also a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent, and a soldier in the war of 1812.  The mother of our subject, née Sarah Horn, was reared in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Samuel Horn, of Irish descent.  Mr. and Mrs. Peter Bolinger were married in that State, and in 1833 located in the woods of Franklin township, Marion, now Morrow, county.  Several years later they sold that land and bought a farm in Canaan township, but again sold out and went to Van Wert county, where the father died, the mother having departed this life several years previous.  They were the parents of five sons and three daughters, five sons and two daughters still surviving: Benjamin, of Marion county, married Sarah Adams; George W., our subject; Mary, wife of Andrew Gear, of Van Wert county, and they have four children; Andrew, of Cardington township, married Matilda Lindsay, and they have four sons and one daughter; Samuel, of Illinois, married Mahala Bartlow, and also has four sons and one daughter; John, of Minnesota, married Harriet Adams, and has three sons and two daughters; and Rebecca, wife of James Miller, of Van Wert county, and they have four sons and three daughters.  Two of the sons, Andrew and Benjamin, were soldiers in the late war.  In political matters the father affiliated with the Democratic party.  Both he and his wife were members of the Methodist Protestant Church.
     George W. Bolinger, the subject of this sketch, was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, August 26, 1827.  When seven years of age he came to Ohio, where he worked for his father until twenty-one years of age, and then learned the carpenter’s trade, following the same for twenty-five years.  After his marriage he located on a farm in Cardington township, and several years later came to his present farm of 147 acres, all of which he has cleared and put under a fine state of cultivation.  He lost his residence by fire two years ago, but soon afterward built another, one of the finest in the township.
     In 1849 Mr. Bolinger was united in marriage with Mary Ann Singer, who was born in Ohio in 1829, a sister of W. H. Singer, of this county.  To this union have been born eight children, only one now living, Delora, wife of John McClenathan, of Marion county, and they have seven children.  In political matters our subject is identified with the Republican party, and has held the offices of Constable, Supervisor and School Director.  In his social relations he is a member of the Masonic order and the Encampment.  Mrs. Bolinger is a member of the Methodist Church.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 415-416

North Bloomfield Twp. –
ENOCH BOLYARD, farmer; P. O. Galion, was born in what is now Morrow Co., Oct. 8, 1830, and is the eighth of a family of ten children; his parents, Daniel and Hannah Bolyard, were born and reared in Schuylkill Co., Penn., and emigrated to this State in 1830. His father was a wagon-maker by trade, but made farming his chief occupation after coming to this State; he entered Government land, and by industry and close application to business, soon possessed a valuable farm, on which he lived until his death, which occurred in 1874. Enoch commenced for himself when of age, and soon after was married to Elizabeth Klopfenstein; she was born April 16, 1830, in Switzerland, and came to this country when only two years old. They lived on his father's farm till 1866, when they moved on the farm on which they now live. There have been born to them seven children, five of whom are living: Samuel I., Hannah E., Sophia S., Simon and Amanda. The oldest three are married and settled near home. They own over 200 acres of land, a part of which was inherited.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 621.
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Franklin Twp. –
SAMUEL BOWEN, farmer; P. O., Chesterville. The above named gentleman comes of a numerous and highly respected family, who left Monmouthshire, Wales, for the attractions of America, settling in Chester Tp., this county, in 1815. He is the fourth son of John and Elizabeth (Jenkins) Bowen, and was born April 10, 1829, in Chester Tp. Here his father purchased 160 acres of land in the woods, which he cleared up and improved, raising nine children, all living but two -- Elizabeth, John, Mary, Nancy, Enoch, Samuel and Isaac, and Henry and Emma are dead. The father was a good scholar in both Welch and English. He came here with a small capital and left a handsome property for his family; he died about 1868. Samuel passed his early life on the farm, receiving the rudiments of his education in the schools of his day until 20 years old, when he rented the home farm, which he continued to till about fourteen years, then he purchased 142 acres of the present farm in Franklin, upon which he began operations with such marked success that he now owns 255 acres, made principally by his own labor. He is a consistent member of the Baptist Church. 
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 773-774
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Canaan Twp. –
JASPER BRADFORD, farmer; P. O., Cardington; born Dec. 1, 1818, in Muskingum Co.; is the son of John and Mary (Davis) Bradford, who were married in Loudoun Co., and came West about 1812, locating in Muskingum Co. Jasper is the fifth of a family of eleven children, and was married July 1, 1841, to Mary E. Lane, a native of Muskingum Co.; she died Dec. 25, 1843, leaving two children -- Achsah, now in Oxford Tp., Delaware Co., the wife of Wm. Nelson, and George, in Muskingum Co.  Mr. Bradford was married the second time, to Elizabeth Davis, Nov. 27, 1845, the daughter of Samuel and Mary Davis, who were natives of Pennsylvania; four children crowned their union -- Harriet J., Mary E., John M. and Maranda C.  Harriet now of Edgar Co., Ill., is the wife of H. Rowland; Mary E. is Mrs. Martin Powers, of Cardington; John M. is on the farm; Maranda, deceased. His second wife died Nov. 1, 1865, in Edgar Co.  On July 30, 1870, was married to Mary Ann Miller, his present wife, who was born in Belmont Co., Sept. 12, 1818; her father, Andrew Miller, entered the land the now reside upon; his wife was Susanna Ault, both natives of Pennsylvania, and emigrated to this state in the year 1818, and to the present limits of Morrow Co. in 1835; in 1867, Mr. Bradford moved to Edgar Co., Ill., and lived there three years, returning to this county where he has since resided. Mr. Bradford and wife are members of the Methodist Church, and have been identified with the church for about thirty years. Their farm, consisting of 74 acres, affords them a handsome living, and a good home.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 718
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

DAVID BRATTON. ––One of the best known and most highly respected residents of Canaan township, Morrow county, is David Bratton, who is distinguished not only for his manliness and good citizenship but for the brave service which he rendered his country during the Civil war, taking active part in many of its most hardly contested battles, willing, if need be, to sacrifice his life to save the honor of his country’s flag.  A son of James Bratton, he was born March 22, 1843, in Delaware county, Ohio, coming on the paternal side of old Virginia stock.
     A farmer by occupation, James Bratton lived in Delaware county, Ohio, until 1853, when he removed with his family to Marion county, Ohio, where he bought land and was engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death.  He married Mary Kyle, a life-long resident of Ohio, and she proved a true help-mate, sharing with him the toils and privations incidental in those days to farm life and assisting him in training their children to habits of industry and thrift.
     Brought up on the parental homestead, David Bratton assisted on the farm during seed time and harvest, attending the long winter terms of the district school, where he acquired a practical education.  In the early part of the year 1863, although a beardless boy of eighteen years, his patriotic ardor was aroused, and he enlisted as a private in Company D, Sixty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to General Sherman’s army.  Under command of this brave general he fought in numerous engagements, being with his company in the battles of Rocky Face Ridge, Peach Tree Creek, Franklin and many others of note, fearlessly meeting the foe whenever opportunity occurred.  At the close of the conflict, being honorably discharged from the service, Mr. Bratton returned to Ohio and continued work on the home farm for about three years after being mustered out on December 3, 1865.
     Coming to Morrow county in 1868, Mr. Bratton settled in Canaan township, about six miles northwest of Mount Gilead, where he owns and occupies a finely improved and productive farm of eighty acres.  Here he is carrying on general farming with good results, his estate comparing favorably in its appointments with any in the vicinity.
     Mr. Bratton married, in 1868, Charity Reed, who was born February 28, 1852, in Morrow county, Ohio, a daughter of William and Margaret (Linder) Reed, who owned and occupied a farm in Canaan township.  Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bratton, namely: Ida, who died in 1894; Elizabeth, wife of Frank Martin; Fremont; Oscar; and Hannah L., living with her parents on the home farm.
     A stalwart Republican from his youth up, Mr. Bratton takes an intelligent interest in local and national affairs, and is a loyal supporter of the principles of his party.  He is still as true to the interests of his country as in those days when the dark clouds of war overshodawed [sic] our fair land, and is a faithful member of Hurd Post, G. A. R., of Mount Gilead, a patriotic organization whose members are every year decreasing in numbers, each season death claiming many veterans of the Civil war.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 847-848
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Canaan Twp. –
JOHN W. BRATTON, farmer; P. O., Cardington; is among Canaan’s best farmers. He is a native of Ohio, born in Radnor Tp., Delaware Co., May 18, 1831, and a son of James W. Bratton, whose wife was Mary Kyle, who was likewise reared in Delaware Co. James W. was a native of Pennsylvania. John was the second of a family of ten children, and was reared in the home circle; after his father’s death he assisted in the care and support of his mother; at the age of 25, he was married to Rosannah McBride, who was born in 1835, in Marion Co.; a daughter of Robert and Melissa (Reece) McBride. After marriage he began by renting land, which he continued to do for several years, and acquired enough means to purchase a small place near Denmark, which he sold soon after and moved to Marion Co., and purchased 43 acres, and in 1869 moved to this township, and purchased his present home, where he has since lived. They have two children -- Lillie and Ollie; Ollie is now the wife of Samuel Warden, of this township; Lillie is at Cardington, engaged in the millinery trade. Mr. Bratton is a member of the Bethel M. E. Church. Democracy runs in the family, and John is quite strongly tinctured with its principles, and votes straight.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 718-719
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Chester Twp. –
SAUL BREECE, farmer; P. O. Chesterville. Was born October 15, 1804, in Washington Co., Pa., and came with his parents to Ohio in 1810; his father Samuel and mother Elizabeth, whose maiden name was Cook, were born in New Jersey, and lived awhile in Pennsylvania before coming to Knox Co. They had the following children: George, Katy, John, Mary, Saul, Hugh, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Anna, Henry, Phineas, Ruth, Arrena and Job.  Mr. Breece attended school but little, and the greater part of his life was spent on the farm; he took a great fancy to gunning, and has become an expert hunter. He was married in 1828 to Sarah, daughter of Nathanael and Barbara (Sargeant) Kinney. Her father was born in Northumberland Co., Pa., and mother in Maryland; they came to Ohio in 1816, and her father was in the war of 1812. They had nine children: Jacob, Mary, David, Stanley, Sallie, James, George, Betsy and William.  Her father died in 1840, and mother in 1846.  Mr. Breece bought ten acres where they now live, in 1856, and now enjoys a nice little home. They have had ten children, seven living: Jackson, now in Oregon; Stanley, a mason by trade, at Mt. Vernon; Julia married Garret Rittenhouse; he died, and she was again married to John Minich; David, teacher, in La Salle Co., Ill.; Abigail married William Peril, she is deceased, and had two children, Emma D. and Sarah E.; Daniel, carpenter, in Missouri; Lydia married James Peril; Sarah E. married Henry A., son of Michael J. and Alice E. (La Bolt) Warner. His parents were both born in Germany, and came to Holmes Co., Ohio, in 1852. His father enlisted in the 102nd O. V. I., and was taken prisoner and confined in the Andersonville Prison, where he expired. His parents were Lutherans, and had six children: Catharine C., married Nathanael Wolferton; Henry, William; Emma married Ferdinand Youse; Vina.  One died on the trip across the ocean, and took a watery grave. Mrs. Breece has been a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for forty years. The pioneer hardships of their parents are too numerous to mention. A few only are necessary -- such as going barefooted in the winter, and going to mill on horseback by means of a pack-saddle; her father one time went quite a distance in this way, and when he was returning and within about six miles of his home -- and no doubt was rejoicing that he would soon arrive with the "staff of life," but unfortunately, while going down a hill the pony stumbled, and falling, broke its neck. The father took the meal on his shoulder and footed the distance, six miles, to his wilderness home. They had to carry lights fastened to their hats and bonnets to keep the mosquitoes from annoying them. The first cow her parents had, her mother paid for by making maple sugar at five cents per pound, and aggregating the cow at $19.00. Mr. Breece votes the Democratic ticket.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 591
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

WILLIAM C. BRENIZER. ––Occupying a conspicuous position among the foremost agriculturists and business men of Westfield township is William C. Brenizer, who has long been an important factor in promoting and advancing the prosperity of the community in which his entire life has been passed, and in which he is held in high repute as a man and a citizen, his straightforward course in life winning him friends everywhere.  A son of William G. Brenizer, he was born in the house which he now owns and occupies September 10, 1866.  His paternal grandfather, Jacob Brenizer, was born July 1, 1793, in Pennsylvania.  In early life he moved to Maryland, but after living there a few years he came with his family to Ohio, locating in Westfield township, Morrow county, in 1829.  Purchasing a tract of timbered land, he labored with unceasing toil to improve a homestead, performing no inconsiderable part in helping to develop the resources of this part of the state.  He married, December 6, 1821, Margaret Griffith, who was born in Pennsylvania March 4, 1803, and like him was of German descent.  They reared a family of eleven children, as follows: John C., born November 21, 1822; Adam, born June 8, 1825; William G., born February 26, 1827, father of William C.; Maria J., born August 11, 1829; Benjamin G., born July 22, 1832; Margaret A., born April 19, 1835; Henry H., born August 29, 1837; Mary C., born January 9, 1840; Cicero H., born June 25, 1842; Martha L., born March 5, 1845; and Francis M., born March 22, 1850.
     Born in Maryland, February 26, 1827, William G. Brenizer was scarce two years old when brought to Morrow county by his parents.  He grew to manhood on the homestead, but had no school advantages.  Developing his mechanical tastes by learning the trades of a carpenter and cabinet maker, he became on expert workman and acquired a goodly share of this world’s wealth, in the later years of his life being prosperously engaged in agricultural pursuits on his large and well-managed farm.  He died, an honored and respected man, December 21, 1910.  He was active in political circles, holding various township offices, and was serving, with William Brooks and Carper Swetland, as county commissioner when the county jail was erected.  He married, February 17, 1853, Beulah Dr. N. O., who was graduated from the Otterbein University, at Westerville, Ohio, and from the Cleveland Medical School, is a practicing physician in Austin, Texas; Jesse T. died in infancy; and William C.
     Brought up on the home farm, William C. Brenizer laid a substantial foundation for his future education in the district schools and the Cardington High School, and afterwards entered the Otterbein University.  Forced to leave on account of ill health, he decided to try life in the open, and returned to the old home farm, on which he has since resided.  As an agriculturist Mr. Brenizer has met with eminent success, his farm of two hundred and ten acres being now in an admirable state of culture and one of the most valuable and attractive estates in Morrow county.  Owing to his sound judgment and persistent energy, he has accumulated considerable property, owning in addition to his home estate a business block in Cardington.
     Mr. Brenizer married, September 28, 1887, D. Ella Shaw, the ceremony which united them for life being performed by Rev. A. Orr, presiding elder of the United Brethren church.  She was born in Westfield township, Morrow county, February 16, 1865, a daughter of Jonathan and Mary A. (Barry) Shaw.  Six children have made their advent in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Brenizer, namely: Iva M., who died in infancy; Laura B., born June 5, 1890, was graduated from the Cardington High School and is now a teacher in the public schools; Myra B., born June 25, 1892, was graduated from the Cardington High School, and is now a student in the Otterbein University; Anna G., born June 25, 1900; Ella M., born September 29, 1901; and Wilma E., born February 6, 1908.  In his political affiliations Mr. Brenizer is a Republican, and has served most satisfactorily to all concerned as justice of the peace for Westfield township.  Both Mr. and Mrs. Brenizer are faithful members of the Fairview United Brethren church, of which he is a trustee and the treasurer.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 771-772

Westfield Twp. –
WILLIAM G. BRENIZER, farmer, and stock-raiser; P. O., Westfield; with his parents, Jacob and Mary (Griffith) Brenizer, is a native of Maryland, and was born Feb. 26, 1827.  When two years of age his parents moved to this township and settled on a farm then owned by John Elliott, on the Whetstone river; and in 1831, moved to a farm of their own, where they spent the balance of their lives.  On arriving at his majority, William went to work in the fanning-mill business, as did many other citizens who have figured prominently in the history of this township after one year here he spent, two years in a factory in Indiana; one year in Newport, Ky., and one in Lima, O., in the same business.  He then sold lightning-rods one year.  At the age of 26 he married Miss Buly Ann Shaw, who was born Nov. 9, 1834.  She is the daughter of John Shaw, who was born July 9, 1797, and Pamelia (Messenger,) born Apr. 10, 1807; her father was for many years a prominent man in the township, holding the offices of Trustee, Clerk and Justice of the Peace, and one of the founders of the United Brethren Church; at the time of his death he was the largest land-holder in the township, owning about 600 acres.  The death of Mr. Shaw occurred June 6, 1860.  Mrs. Shaw had died Aug. 9, 1854.  Mr. and Mrs. Brenizer have raised two children -- Nelson O., born Apr. 9, 1854; graduated at the Otterbein University, Westerville, O., and the Homœopathic College of Medicine, Cleveland O, in 1877, and is now a practicing physician in Prospect, O.  William, born Sept. 10 1867, is a youth of rare promise.  Mr. Brenizer has a good, well watered farm of 100 acres, with good buildings and choice fruit; and besides the home farm another tract of 50 acres.  He is now serving the township the third term as Trustee; is a member of Cardington Grange and a Trustee in the United Brethren Church.  He enlisted during the Rebellion, and served nearly three years in the 88th O. V. I.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 633-634
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

WILLIAM GRIFFITH BRENIZER. ––A venerable and highly respected man was taken from the community, when the close to the holiday season of 1910, William Griffith Brenizer, a man long and favorably known here, passed on to the Undiscovered Country.  Although a native son of Maryland, he had passed practically his entire life here and among his other distinctions was his record of having given valiant and faithful service as a soldier in the northern army at the time of the Civil war.  Mr. Brenizer was born February 26, 1827, and thus at the time of his demise on December 21, 1910, he was thirteen years beyond the psalmist’s span of life.  He was the son of Jacob and Margaret (Griffith) Brenizer, both of whom were natives of the state of Pennsylvania.  They removed to Maryland and when the subject was an infant but two years of age they came across the intervening hills and vales as pilgrims to Morrow county, Ohio.  Mr. Brenizer was one of a family of eleven children.  The father, Jacob Brenizer, was long a representative agriculturist in Westfield township and his demise occurred October 25, 1869, his wife, Margaret surviving him for nearly a decade, or until March 31, 1879.
     William Brenizer was reared under the invigorating influences of farm life and he early became associated with his father in clearing and cultivating their farm of eighty-seven acres.  He completed the curriculum of the district schools, to which his father furnished wood in order to pay for his children’s tuition.  When a young man he worked in the fanning mill factories and he was employed in this business for two years in Indiana, one in Newport, Kentucky, and one in Lima, Ohio.  When twenty years of age he went into the cabinet business, with which he was identified for a period of five years, at the expiration of which he turned his attention to agriculture.  He purchased a tract of fifty acres of land in Westfield township, which he subsequently sold.  In 1853 he bought a tract of one hundred acres in the same township, later adding thereto until he owned an estate of two hundred very valuable acres.
     At the beginning of the Civil war Mr. Brenizer was a strong sympathizer with the cause of the Union and in 1862 he enlisted as a soldier in Company C, Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war.  For some time previous to his death he received twenty dollars a month pension as a reward for his former services, and he was a member of St. James Post, No. 82, Grand Army of the Republic.  In addition to his farm, Mr. Brenizer owned a beautiful home in Cardington where he resided from the year 1890.
     On February 17, 1853, occurred the marriage of the subject to Miss Beulah Ann Shaw, a daughter of John and Permelia (Messenger) Shaw, Reverend Deerholt performing the ceremony.  Mrs. Shaw’s parents were prominent and influential citizens of Westfield township where the father was an agriculturist. The subject and his wife became the parents of two sons: Nelson O., was born in 1854, and received his higher education in Otterbein College at Westerville, Ohio, being graduated from that institution with the class of 1878.  After two years in a medical college in Cleveland, he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine and is now engaged in the active practice of his profession in Austin, Texas.  William C., the second son, who was also afforded excellent educational advantages in his youth is now a farmer in Westfield township.  Mr. Brenizer’s wife, Beulah A., preceded him to the spirit land July 31, 1909, her death being deeply mourned by a wide circle of friends and acquaintances.
     In polities Mr. Brenizer gave his allegiance to the cause of the Republican party and he held the office of county commissioner at the time of the building of the jail at Mount Gilead, the judicial center of Morrow county.  He was converted in 1844 and baptized in June of the same year by Reverend Mr. Moon.  Three years after their marriage he and his wife joined the United Brethren church at Fairview under the pastorate of Reverend F. Clymer.  He was a constant worker in his church and he held at different times all the offices in the local church, only giving them into other hands when old age came upon him.  Although Mr. Brenizer had attained to the great old age of eighty-three years, nine months and twenty-five days, his age rested but lightly upon him and to the last he retained in much of their pristine vigor, the alert qualities of his youth.  He was a man of genial disposition and much kindliness of character and he held high place in the confidence and regard of his fellow men.  Besides his sons and daughters-in-law, he left to mourn him, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, two sisters, and a large number of relatives and friends.
     The Cardington Independent in an appreciation of his life, concluded with this paragraph: “The services were held Friday forenoon.  A short service was conducted at the home by the Grand Army of the Republic, of which post he was a member, and afterward the body was taken to the Fairview church where his pastor, Reverend J. G. Turner, conducted the service in the presence of a large and attentive audience.  The choir furnished excellent music.  The body was interred in the cemetery near by to await the resurrection.  He will be greatly missed by his children, grandchildren, friends, the church and his fellow citizens.”
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 916-917
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Congress Twp. –
DENTON BREWER, farmer; P. O., Andrews; was born Oct. 12, 1833, in Bedford Co.; is a sort of William and Mary (Peck) Brewer; there were eight children in the family -- Denton being the third. He came to this county with his parents when but 2 years of age, where they located on the farm now owned by John Synder [sic], where his father took a lease for several years. At the age of 13 he began to do for himself, and worked one year for $3 per month, and the next summer received an addition of 50 cents per month. He continued working out until he was 20 years of age, when he and his brother bought a saw-mill, which he was engaged it running for about five years.  April 7, 1839, he was married to Sarah E. Fish, who was born in this township, July 19, 1842, a daughter of Henry and Mary Ann Fish; after marriage, he located on the farm he now owns, consisting of 80 acres, which is located one and a half miles north of Williamsport; they put on all the substantial improvements that now appear on the place; they have had five children -- Mary V., who died April 12, 1870; Joanna, born June 15, 1861; Albert Franklin, April 1, 1863; Henry Loyd, Nov. 15, 1864; Ada May, Jan. 25, 1867.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 682
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

FREDERIC FANT BRIGGS, the elder son of the late William H. Briggs and wife, was born in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, September 6, 1868.  His childhood and early youth were passed in his native village with his parents and younger brother Charles.  He attended the public schools and was graduated in a class of seven in 1886, he and Dr. Frank G. Wieland, now of Chicago, being the only boys in the class.
     The paternal grandparents of Mr. Briggs were James M. Briggs, an honored physician of Morrow county, Ohio, for many years, who was a native of Washington county, New York, and Sarah Layton Briggs, a native of Erie county, New York.  The maternal ancestors were Stephen Fant, a pioneer circuit rider of the Methodist church in Ohio, and Hannah S. Fant, a native of Canada.  Our subject’s mother was Mary Fant Briggs, who was graduated from the Ohio Wesleyan Female College in the class of 1864.
    Frederic F. Briggs received many high ideals from his father and mother.  His father served nearly three years in Company D, Ninety-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in the V. R. C.  For two years, after completing the high school course, he remained at home for rest and study, taking up the study of Greek and other branches with his former instructor, Professor M. W. Spear.  In 1889 he entered the University of Michigan, completing his course and taking his degree of A. B. in June, 1893.  During his junior and senior years he became active with others in reviving interest in the “Inlander,” a literary monthly magazine established a few years previous by the higher classes of the university; during both years he was on the editorial staff.  During his senior year he was managing editor with Professors F. N. Scott and John Dewey (now of Columbia) as advisory board.  The magizine [sic] had among its regular contributors men and women who are now stars in the literary world.  I. K. Friedman, Steward Edward White, Harry Carleton Porter and George Wesley Harris, are names familiar to magazine readers.  So that, this little College Monthly came to rank among the first, as a production of high literary merit.
     Mr. Briggs was elected Professor of English and History at Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio, in 1894, and remained two years, when he resigned to accept a professorship in St. John’s College at Annapolis, Maryland, founded in 1784.  He taught at this historic old school for four years, when he resigned to go to Chicago to enter the University there, to pursue advanced study in English.  At the end of one year there he removed to Los Angeles, California, to join his father’s family.  Since going there he has been engaged constantly in educational work and has met with marked success.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 911-912
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

WILLIAM A. BROLLIER. ––Eligibly located at a point six miles northwest of Mount Gilead, in Gilead township, is the fine farmstead owned and operated by Mr. Brollier, who is known as one of the progressive agriculturists of Morrow county and whose standing in the community is such as to entitle him to representation in this historical compilation.
    William A. Brollier was born in Ashland county, Ohio, on the 13th day of July, 1856, and is a son of Levi and Mary (Rowland) Brollier, the former of whom was born in the state of Pennsylvania, and the latter in Ohio.  The father was a farmer by vocation and both he and his wife are deceased, the father dying in Allen county and the mother in Morrow county.  They were earnest and industrious folk of sterling character and ever held the esteem of all who knew them.  William A. Brollier was about four years old at the time of the family removal to Knox county, this state, where he was reared to adult age on the home farm, in the work of which he early began to lend his aid, the while he duly availed himself of the advantages of the district schools.  At the age of sixteen years he came to Morrow county, and at the age of eighteen years he initiated his independent career by securing work as a farm hand.  He was thus employed by the month for a number of years and finally he purchased his present homestead, which comprises one hundred and two and one-half acres of excellent land, nearly all of which is under effective cultivation.  Energetic and progressive in his methods, Mr. Brollier exemplifies the best modern systems and methods in the various departments of his farming industry, and he gives his attention to diversified agriculture and the raising of high grade live stock.  He has been indefatigable in his efforts and his success has been worthily won, the while his course has been so guided as to retain to him at all times the confidence and good will of his fellow men.  In politics he accords a stanch support to the cause of the Republican party and he is at the present time serving as a member of the school board of his district.  He takes a vital interest in all that conserves the industrial and social wellbeing of the community and is one of the representative exponents of the agricultural enterprise in his township.  He has made excellent improvements on his farm, including the erection of good buildings, and he avails himself of the best modern facilities in the various departments of his farm work.  Mrs. Brollier is a member of the Presbyterian church in Mount Gilead.
      On the 2nd of September, 1880, Mr. Brollier was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ada Elliott, who was born on her father’s farm in the northwest corner of Gilead township, Morrow county, on the 21st of July, 1859, and who is a daughter of the late Asa Elliott, one of the honored pioneers of the county.  Concerning the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Brollier the following brief record is given: Lester E., who married Miss Minnie Rife, resides in Bellevue, Huron county, where he is engaged in the restaurant business; Minnie E. is the wife of Rene Dailey and they reside on a farm in the vicinity of Cleveland, this state; George, who is engaged in railroad work, resides at Napoleon, Henry county; and Miss Nevada remains at the parental home.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 729-730
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

WILLIAM BROOKS.—This venerable and honored citizen of Morrow county has here maintained his home for nearly half a century and, after long years of earnest toil and endeavor in connection with agricultural pursuits, he is now retired and is enjoying well earned repose in a pleasant home in the village of Edison. He has ever been accorded that, unqualified popular confidence and respect that are the objective appreciation of sterling character, and he has been called upon to serve in various offices of local trust, including that of county commissioner and also that of township trustee of Gilead township.  His liberality, loyalty and public spirit were especially shown forth during his incumbency of the office of county commissioner, and in this connection he did much to further the material and social advancement and prosperity of the county. Further interest attaches to his career as one of the representative citizens of this section of the state by reason of the fact that he is a scion of one of the honored pioneer families of Ohio, which has been his home since the days of his infancy and in which it has been given him to attain to independence and substantial prosperity through his own well directed endeavors.
     William Brooks was born in Cayuga county, New York, on the 3rd of March, 1831, and is a son of Jonathan and Rebecca (King) Brooks, both of whom were likewise natives of the old Empire state, where the respective families settled in an early day. The parents of Mr. Brooks were reared to maturity in their native state, where they remained until 1833, when they came to Ohio and numbered themselves among the pioneers of Seneca county. The father purchased a tract of land six miles east of the present city of Tiffin, in Clinton township, and there reclaimed a productive farm from a virtual wilderness. There he and his wife continued to reside for twenty years, secure in the high regard of all who knew them, and they passed the closing years of their lives in Seneca county, Ohio. Their eight children, four sons and four daughters, reached years of maturity and of the number, two sons and three daughters are now living. In politics the father was originally a Whig and later a Republican. He was fifty-five years of age at the time of his death and his devoted wife passed to the life eternal at the age of fifty-three years.
     As already noted, William Brooks was a child of two years at the time of the family removal to Ohio, and he was reared to adult age under the discipline of the pioneer farm of his father in Seneca county. From his boyhood onward there was no paucity of work assigned to his province, and he has ever been appreciative of the lessons of consecutive industry that he thus learned and which he later applied most effectively in fighting the battle of life on his own responsibility. He recalls the old log school house in which he gained his early education and in these days of opulent prosperity and splendid educational facilities it is difficult for the younger generation to understand how primitive were the schools of that time. The puncheon floors and slab benches, the wide fire place and other appurtenances of this old-time “institution of learning” are adverted to by Mr. Brooks in pleasing reminiscence. He assisted in the reclamation and other work of the home farm until he was twenty years of age, and thereafter he worked for others at a compensation of fifty cents a day, and when working by the month as a farm hand he commanded the stipend of thirteen dollars for the month. Honesty, industry and frugality, those great cardinal virtues were much in evidence in those days, in which were solidified the stanch foundations of the great state of Ohio, and these traits were admirably exemplified by him to whom this, review is dedicated.
     Mr. Brooks was finally enabled to rent a farm in Seneca county, and under these conditions he there continued his assiduous labors as an agriculturist for a period of eight years, at the expiration of which he purchased a farm of forty acres in Eden township, that county, and thus initiated his career as an independent property holder. The land which he thus purchased was in the main covered with virgin forest, and he put forth the required labor to compass its reclamation. He finally disposed of this property and in 1863 he came to Morrow county, where he purchased a farm of eighty acres in Canaan township. As the years passed he developed this into one of the productive and valuable farmsteads of the county, making high grade improvements of a permanent order and so directing his energies as to reach the goal of generous and stable prosperity. Hard work and careful management made of success not an accident but a logical result, and the active career of Mr. Brooks stands to his perpetual credit as one of the world’s noble army of productive workers. There has been no parasitic element in his course and he has put much into life, with the result that he has gotten much out of it. Such a man and such a career discourage pessimism and offer both lesson and incentive. Mr. Brooks continued to give his active attention to the management of his farm until 1887, when he removed to the village of Edison, where he has an attractive and comfortable home and where, retired from active labors but well preserved in mental and physical faculties, he is enjoying the rewards of former years of assiduous application, the while he is surrounded by friends who are tried and true.
     Mr. Brooks rendered service as a loyal soldier of the Union during the latter part of the Civil war. On May 2, 1864, he enlisted for the one hundred days’ service as a member of Company A, One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he proceeded to the front and with which he was in active service for a period of four months, at the expiration of which he received his honorable discharge. His principal service as a soldier was in the state of Virginia, and he remained with his regiment until the long and sanguinary struggle between the North and South had reached its close. The more gracious memories and associations of his military service are perpetuated through his identification with Hurd Post, No. 14, Grand Army of the Republic, in Mt. Gilead, where both he and his wife are also zealous and valued members of the Presbyterian church, in which he is an elder.
     A man of broad mental ken and mature judgment, Mr. Brooks has naturally been called to take an active part in public affairs of local order, and no citizen has shown more civic loyalty or public spirit. He has been an active worker in behalf of the cause of the Republican party and in 1876 he was elected a member of the board of county commissioners, and by successive re-elections he continued incumbent of this office until 1882. His service was far from perfunctory, as he gave generously of his time, thought and energy to furthering the best interests of the county, the while he advocated progressive policies and due liberality in administering the affairs of the county and in the making of public improvements. His efforts did not lack for popular appreciation and he was one of the best commissioners the county has had. Within his tenure of this office the present county jail was erected and other noteworthy improvements made. He is at the present time a trustee of Gilead township, and his entire service in this office covers a period of fully sixteen years, marked by the same devotion to the general welfare as was his work as county commissioner.
     On the 18th of December, 1854, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Brooks to Miss Hannah Braden, who was born in Morrow county, Ohio, on the 17th of October, 1836, and who is a daughter of William and Susannah (Mack) Braden, who were numbered among the sterling pioneers of Morrow county, Ohio, where they continued to reside until their death. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks became the parents of three children, and concerning them the following brief data are given in conclusion of this article: Emma S., who was born on the 11th of May, 1857, is the wife of Judge Archibald W. Frater, of Seattle, Washington; Nellie, who was born on the 1st of May, 1861, became the wife of Franklin Coe and died in the state of Washington, in 1908; and Victor L. who was born November 20, 1867, and who married Miss Sarah Feigley, of Canaan township, Morrow county, resides upon and has charge of his father's old homestead farm in Gilead township.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 549-552
Contributed by a Friend of Genealogy

DANIEL W. BROWN, a merchant of Chesterville, was born in Cayuga county, New York, February 1, 1826. His father, Pardon Brown, was a native of Rhode Island, as was also his father, George Brown, and the former was a soldier in the war of 1812 and the latter a Revolutionary soldier. His father, Tobias Brown, was supposed to have been born in Rhode Island and descended from the Browns who came to America on the Mayflower. The mother of our subject, née Sophia Wilbur, was born in Rhode Island, daughter of Daniel Wilbur, also a native of that State, who was a farmer and Quaker minister. He took part in sinking the English war ship Kingfisher, during the Revolutionary war. The parents of our subject were married in Rhode Island, but about 1813 moved to New York, locating on a farm near Aurora, Cayuga county. The mother died there, and in 1853 the father came to Ohio, where he subsequently died. They were the parents of nine children, namely: Lydia; Sophia, deceased; Philena, deceased; Pardon, a resident of Tompkins county, New York; Mary, wife of George Peckham, of Rhode Island; Daniel W., the subject of this sketch; Deborah W., deceased; Elizabeth, widow of Albert Parkhill and a resident of New York; and Sarah A., wife of August Freeman, of Kansas.
     Daniel Wilbur Brown was reared to farm life at his native place, and worked on his father's farm for one year after his marriage. During the following four years he was engaged in the canal-boat business, running from Aurora and Albany to New York city on the Erie canal. He next taught school four winters in New York. In 1853 he came to Ohio, purchasing and locating on 250 acres in Chester township, Morrow county, where he was extensively engaged in buying, selling and shipping produce and in stock-dealing until 1882. In that year Mr. Brown sold his place and embarked in the grocery and butcher business in Chesterville, in which he is still engaged, and to which in 1889 he added a hotel known as Brown's Hotel. In political matters he affiliates with the Republican party, and served as Township Treasurer for many years. Socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F., No. 204.
     December 28, 1847, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Adeline M. Squires, born in Cayuga county, New York, December 29, 1825, a daughter of William H. and Anna (Duel) Squires, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Rhode Island. The paternal grandfather, Asa Squires, was a native of Connecticut. The maternal grandfather, Reuben Duel, was a native of Rhode Island. He purchased a soldier's claim in Tompkins county, New York, to which he moved his family in an early day, and is buried on the farm. Mrs. Brown is the sixth of eleven children, ten of whom grew to years of maturity, viz.: Harriet, Theodore, Phedora, William, Eliza, Adeline, Henry, Helen, Sidney, Anna and Marian. All but three are still living. Our subject and wife are the parents of three children, -- Francis A., wife of William Van Eman, for many years a traveling salesman for a wholesale house in San Francisco, California; Marian A., wife of Marshall T. Smith, a prominent dealer in horses at Mount Gilead, Ohio, and they have one daughter, Anna Maude; and Cassius Clay, who married Ollie Rogers, now deceased; they had two children, Daniel H. and Grace M.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 424-425
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

ELLERY P. BROWN, a farmer of Chester township, Morrow county, is a son of George Brown, who was born in Rhode Island in 1796. He was a son of George Brown, Sr. The mother of our subject, née Beulah Sutleff, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1802, and was a member of one of the old and prominent families of that State. The parents were married in Infield, Tompkins county, New York. They located on a farm near Ithaca, hut in 1836 came to Ohio, settling on unimproved land in Franklin township, Knox (now Morrow) county. The township at that time contained only six log cabins. The mother died there in 1868, and the father in 1870. They were the parents of seven children, five of whom reached years of maturity: Dr. William, who died at Washington, District of Columbia, while in the service of the United States Government in civil war; Edmund, deceased in October, 1894; Ellery, the subject of this sketch; Amanda, wife of James Frew; and George, deceased, was principal of the Cardington schools. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The former was an old-line Whig.
     Ellery P. Brown was born in Tompkins county, New York, September 7, 1827, and during his boyhood days assisted in clearing the farm. After reaching his majority, he purchased 190 acres of land near his home, which he farmed eighteen years, and after his marriage spent one year at Mount Gilead. He then came to his present place of 240 acres, all under a fine state of cultivation, and where, in 1882, he erected one of the finest residences in the county.
     Mr. Brown was married in May, 1853, to Phoebe E. Talmage, born in Franklin township, Morrow county, June 28, 1827, a daughter of John and Rhoda (Gardner) Talmage. They came to Ohio in 1817, and were among the pioneer settlers of Morrow county. The father was one of the prominent men of this community, and was a leading member in the Methodist Church. Our subject and wife have had four children, viz.: Alice, wife of Elmer McIntyre; Clarence, who graduated at the Ohio Wesleyan University before twenty-one years of age, and is now a minister in the First Congregational Church of Salt Lake City; George, who resides near Fulton, Morrow county; and Blanche, principal of a Chicago kindergarten.
     Ellery Brown and wife are members of the Methodist Church, in which the former has served as Trustee, Steward, and Class-leader for many years. He has taken an active interest in school work, and has served as a member of the School Board. In political matters he affiliates with the Republican party, in which he has taken a leading part. He has served as Trustee of Chester township.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 252-253
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Congress Twp. -
G. W. BROWN, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O., Shaucks [sic]; is among the young men of enterprise in the township; was born July 12, 1842; is the seventh of a family of twelve children, born to Payne G. and Elizabeth Brown, who were among the early arrivals in this township. Payne Brown was born in York State, Jan. 4, 1803, and came to this township about the year 1827, and was married April 29, 1830, to Elizabeth Vanator, who was born in Tuscarawas Co., Dec. 25, 1808; he entered 80 acres of land in 1830, built a cabin, which with its contents, burned down a few months afterwards; the second cabin was built and the first winter was spent in it without doors or windows; blankets were hung up instead; he raised no crop the first year; Mr. Brown having to go to Utica for corn to live on during the winter, at a cash of $1 per bushel; Mrs. Brown yet remains on the farm of 160 acres; Mr. Brown died Aug. 31,1871. At the age of 21 George W. launched out upon his own responsibility; in Aug., 1864, he enlisted in Company F. 179th O. V. I., and remained until the expiration of the war; in Feb., 1867, he was married to Elizabeth C. Kelker, after which he moved to Van Wert Co., where he and his brother Benjamin bought 230 acres of land; his wife died here Nov. 18, 1869; he subsequently sold his interests and returned to this township; in Dec., 1874, was married to his present wife, Mary E. Maxwell, born April 24,1849, in this township, a daughter of James and Susana Maxwell. They have two children -- Martin, born Nov. 12, '76; Orrie May, born July 13, 1878. Since 1864 Mr. Brown has been engaged in the breeding and growing of thoroughbred cattle, and has established quite a reputation in that line, as his stock is strictly first-class; his bull, Royal Duke, coming from imported Royal Duchess Second, is too well known by lovers of "Short Horns" to be mentioned here; he keeps full blooded Berkshire hogs, also, and for sale.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 683
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Harmony Twp. -
THOMAS R. BROWN, farmer; P. O., Cardington; was born May 22, 1826, in Knox Co.; his father, Jonathan, was born May 22, 1800, in New Jersey, and his mother, Mary (Larison) Brown, Jan. 3, 1803, in the same State. They emigrated to Knox Co. in 1816, and were married subsequently, and were blessed with -- Thomas R., Joel F., James S., Ann E., Jonathan H., Mary J., Phoebe S., Washington (deceased), Clarissa (deceased); the father died Nov. 16, 1879, and the mother, 1867. They were New School Baptists. Thomas R. obtained a limited education; his father being a tiller of the soil, it was quite natural that his son should follow the same pursuit. He was married in the fall of 1847, to Jane, daughter of Thomas and Mary Stiers Clark; her parents had eleven children -- Aaron, Jane, Mary, Jacob, John, Berryhill, Thomas, Hannah, Moses, Martha and George. Mrs. Brown was born June, 25, 1826. They farmed on his father's farm for four years, and then settled on 50 acres of his present farm, and has improved the same, and now possesses 113 acres of well-improved land. They have four children -- Clarissa L., married Charles E. Lewis; Charles, Jacob and Jonathan. Mr. Brown enlisted in the 88th O. V. I. and was mostly on guard duty, serving about three years. He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, in which he has taken deep interest, and has served as Deacon for eighteen years. He voted the Democratic ticket until the breaking-out of the war, and then joined the Republican party, and has since been an active worker. The farm that he now possesses was purchased from Judge T. W. Powell and Buck.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 702-703
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Washington Twp. –
ARCHIBALD BROWNLEE, farmer; P. O., Iberia.  Six feet tall, straight as a reed, hair white with the frosts of nearly seventy winters, and brushed back from a massive forehead; an eagle eye, Roman nose, mouth and chin indicative of firmness.  Such is a brief description of “Uncle Archie,” as he is familiarly called; indeed this is the nom de plume, under which he has frequently written for the local paper.  He was born in Ohio Co., W. Va., in 1811; yet in spite of early associations, was in the days of slavery a strong abolitionist.  At the age of 25, he married Miss Danley, cousin of Hon. Wilson Shannon, who was twice governor of Ohio.  In the following spring they moved to Ohio and located in Washington Tp., two miles from where he now resides; to which place he removed in the year 1852.  When he first came to Ohio, this township was a wilderness which was thought impossible to subdue; but the industry of himself and fellow pioneers has caused it to blossom as the rose.  The old family Bible tells the following story: Agnes, born Feb. 14, 1837; H. C., Oct. 9, 1838; Levenia, March 24, 1840, died Jan. 13, 1879; Martha J., born Oct. 5, 1841; Margaret, April 6, 1843, died June 3, 1869; Sarah, born Oct. 11, 1844; Elizabeth, July 30, 1846, died May 15, 1872; Josephine, born Sept. 15, 1848; Rebecca, Feb. 24, 1850; John, Dec. 17, 1851; Mary Helen, Aug. 16, 1855; Francis A., July 20, 1857.  They are all married except John and Helen, who reside with the old couple.  The others are in homes of their own, more or less distant.  “Uncle Archie” has suffered for several years with asthma, and yet in spite of his disease is a genial old gentleman, always glad to welcome and entertain his friends at his hospitable home.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 743
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Chester Twp. –
JOEL D. BRUCE, farmer, P. O. Chesterville, one of the pioneers of this county; was born March 21, 1811; his father, Elijah, was born in 1780, and his mother, Malinda W. Browning, in 1786 -- both in Culpeper Co., Va.; they were married in 1810, and in 1827 they came to Licking County, this State; the father died in Knox County, 1829; in 1831 the mother bought 190 acres of land, where Joel D. now lives; she died herein February, 1854, having blessed the world with nine children, but five of whom survive  -- J. D., G. S., Nancy, Eliza S., John A.; she and her husband were Old School Baptists; Joel D. attended school some little time, and took every advantage of obtaining an education by procuring for himself valuable literature, and turned his attention to school teaching, which he followed successfully for 72 months; he taught one term in Mt. Gilead; was married in May, 1847, to Abigail, daughter of John and Hannah (Conger) Lewis; her parents emigrated from New Jersey to Knox County in 1806, or 1808, and helped to build a block house; by this marriage he had James B., Eliza J., Mary, Malinda, John W.; his wife died February 8, 1862, and was a member of the Baptist Church. He was again married, the bride being Ann, daughter of Japheth and Charlotte (Howard) West. Her parents came to Ohio from Pennsylvania at an early day, and had 12 children, eight of whom survive -- Martha, Michael, Ann, Elizabeth, Jane, David, Dora C., Amanda.  Ann was born in 1835, in Delaware County, now Morrow; by this marriage he has four children -- George W., Frank I., Charlotte B. and Charles A. Mr. Bruce has been assessor four terms, and township trustee 10 years; he has been an active member of the Baptist Church since 1846; his wife belongs to the same denomination; he generally votes for the man in township elections, but in county and state elections he is an enthusiastic Democrat; he has represented the same in county and congressional conventions; he owns 95 acres of well improved land, which is a portion of the old homestead; he is growing a fine nursery with good success; he is confined to the inn, having been attacked some months ago with the rheumatism, which has nearly deprived him of the use of his limbs.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 594
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

WILLIAM BRUNDIGE, a farmer of Westfield township, is a son of Nathaniel Brundige, a native of Connecticut.  He moved to New York State when about fourteen years of age, locating near Newburg, on the Hudson river.  He came with his family to Ohio about 1806, and made a permanent settlement in Marlborough township, then Delaware county, where his death occurred at the age of eighty-four years.  His wife, Annie Brundige, died there at about the same age.  They were the parents of six children: Stephen, Nathaniel, Thomas, John, Annie Wyatt and Sarah Bush, all now deceased.  The mother of our subject was Elizabeth Kniffen, a native of New York.  The parents were married in that State, and came to Ohio in 1806, locating in the same township as his father.  He cleared 160 acres of land.  In political matters the father was identified with the Whig party, and was a soldier in the war of 1812.  Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Brundige were the parents of nine children, namely: Mary was the wife of Reuben Drake; Annie married James Trindle; Levina was the wife of Samuel D. Wyatt; Elizabeth was the wife of David Mitchell; Rachel was the wife of Luff S. Hull; James married Levina Bush; Sarah was the wife of Evan Norris; William is the subject of this sketch; John married Harriet Taylor.  The father died in 1825, aged fifty-four years, and the mother departed this life at the age of seventy-five years.  They were Baptists in principle, but never united with any church.
     William Brundige, the only one of his father’s family now living, was born in Delaware county, Ohio, December 3, 1808, the first male child born in that county.  After the death of the father, the three sons remained on the old homestead with the mother, and William remained there eight years after his marriage.  He then purchased and located on his present farm in Westfield township, then Delaware county.  He now owns 425 acres, most of which is under a fine state of cultivation, and is engaged in general farming and stock raising.  In an early day he was identified with the Whig party, and has since cast his vote with the Republicans.  He has spent nearly his entire life in this county, and has been an active worker in its growth and development.
     July 1, 1830, our subject was united in marriage with Philura Smith, a native of New York, and a daughter of Elijah W. Smith, one of the early pioneers of this county.  To this union were born four children, the two eldest dying in infancy.  Bennett S. married Jane McLead, resides in Delaware county, and they have two children: William, who married Mary Price, and has four children; and Josephine, wife of Andrew Hushea, and they have one son.  The second child of our subject, Harriet, is the wife of John C. Lewis, and resides in Bennington township, Morrow county.  Our subject made for his daughter, Harriet, a good provision, giving her $800 in cash, a team, three cows, and a large outfit of household goods.  They also have two children, ––Bryant and Philura Victoria.  The eldest is married and has one child.  Mrs. Brundige departed this life August 3, 1888.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 102-103
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Lincoln Twp. –
   J. T. & COLLINS BUCK; Cardington. The Buck family were among the first settlers of Lincoln Tp., in Morrow Co. Edmund Buck, the father, was born in Connecticut, April 9, 1791. At an early age he left the place of his nativity for that of Clinton Co., N. Y., where he remained until the year of 1812, when he removed to Ohio, settling on the west bank of Alum Creek, in Peru Tp., at that time Delaware Co., but has since been changed to Morrow Co., where he remained but a short time, when he moved into Lincoln Tp., in the same county, and on the same creek. Edmund Buck was married about 1815 to Anna Hubble, who was born in Seneca Co., N. Y., June 3, 1795.  About the year 1813 she left the place of her nativity and came to Morrow Co., O., being one of its earliest pioneers. In their family there were eight children, two of whom are now dead -- Israel E., Phoebe, Collins, Priscilla A., John T., Anna M., Ruth M., and Annis. The parents of these children more than passed their fifty-first anniversary together. The father died Oct. 21, 1866; his wife surviving him nearly seven years, and died March 4, 1874. There are a number of the family yet in Lincoln Tp., among whom is Collins Buck, who was born in Morrow Co., Oct. 29, 1821. He resided with his parents until of age, at which time he began business for himself. He received a common school education; he was married April 8, 1847, to Nancy Stiner, whose father, William Stiner, was born in Maryland, July 22, 1775.  He came to Fairfield Co., O. when a young man; he was married to Marion Smith in 1807, and came to Morrow Co., O., in an early day. In their family there were fourteen children -- Henry, Jerusha, Harriet, Betsey, David, Joshua, Maria, Nancy, Jacob, John, Sallie, William and Mary; one died in infancy. In Collins Buck’s family there are three sons -- Gilbert L., born Feb. 27, 1650 [sic]; Edmund W., June 30, 1851; John S., March 28, 1857. Mr. Buck has always followed farming, and owns a farm of 245 acres of well improved land in Lincoln Tp.; he also deals in fine sheep, a business in which he takes great pride, and in which he is very successful. J. T. Buck, a younger brother of Collins Buck, was born May 24, 1832; he yet lives upon the farm that his father purchased when he first came to the township; he is a surveyor by profession, and has been County Surveyor of Morrow Co. since 1859, with the exception of one term; he was educated at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio; he is among the prominent men of the county; he was married Nov. 19, 1863, to Martha A. Nichols whose parents were natives of Virginia, and came to Morrow Co. in an early day; she was born July 5, 1844. From this union there were five children, one of whom is now dead -- Thadeus E., born April 18, 1865; Arthur H., Jan. 24, 1868; Anna M., Oct. 2, 1871; Minnie, Jan. 18, 1876; Ralph W., May 30, 1879; Anna M. died Oct. 26, 1875.  J. T. Buck yet holds the office of County Surveyor, an office he has long held with honor. He owns the old homestead, a fine old farm on the banks of Alum Creek, in Lincoln Tp., where he is engaged in farming and stock-growing.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 761-762
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

JOHN T. BUCK, a civil engineer of Morrow county, is a son of Edmund Buck, born near New Milford, Connecticut, April 9, 1791.  His father, Israel Buck, was born May 7, 1762, a son of John Buck, born July 26, 1731, a son of Ezekiel Buck, born March 5, 1699, a son of Ezekiel Buck, born January 8, 1676.  The ancestry is traced to Emanuel Buck, who, with his brother, Henry Buck, came from Norfolk county, England, to America in 1647, locating in Wethersfield, Connecticut.
     Edmund Buck, father of our subject, was married September 20, 1815, to Anna Hubbell, who was born in Seneca county, New York, June 3, 1795, a daughter of Ephraim and Elizabeth (Collins) Hubbell.  She was a grandaughter [sic] of Benjamin Collins, a Quaker pioneer, who built the first cabin and became the first settler of Lincoln township, as early as 1815.  After his marriage Edmund Buck located in Peru township, then in Delaware county, and came to this township about 1812.  His wife’s people located here about one year later.  In 1817 he purchased the farm now owned by our subject, which he cleared and improved.
     Mr. Buck took an active interest in politics, having been first a Whig and afterward a Republican, served as County Commissioner of Delaware county, and as Justice of the Peace of this township for fifteen years.  His death occurred October 21, 1866, and his wife survived until March 4, 1874.  They were the parents of eight children.  The eldest, Israel E., a lawyer by profession, was born May 8, 1817, and died August 28, 1855.  He married Sarah W. Van Deman, and their son, Henry E., was Mayor of the city of Delaware, Ohio.  Phebe, born April 18, 1819, died December 22, 1883.  She married David W. Mosher, also deceased, and they had six children, ––Dr. E. B., of Columbus, Ohio; G. H., of Delaware; Annie E., wife of Theodore Blakeley, a merchant of Sunbury, Ohio; Frank, of Lincoln township; Charles H., of Fulton, this county; and Elmore, of Columbus.  Collins Buck, born October 29, 1821, was married April 8, 1847, to Nancy Stiner, and they have two children, Gilbert and John S.  Priscilla A., born July 25, 1827, is the wife of Joseph Russell.  Elma Annis, born October 27, 1829, died in infancy.  John T., the subject of this sketch, was the next in order of birth.  Annie M., born February 17, 1835, resides in this township.  Ruth M., born May 5, 1838, died March 10, 1885.  She was the wife of S. M. Smith.
     J. T. Buck was born on his present farm May 24, 1832, and received his education in the district schools, the Hesper Mount Seminary and at the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, where he took a special course of civil engineering, teaching school during the winter months, and since February, 1857, has been engaged in surveying.  He makes surveys for railway lines, roads, streets, ditches, towns, parks, cemeteries, race courses, subdivisions of real estate, conveyancing, drainage, sewerage, maps, plans, estimates and specifications.  Mr. Buck also owns a good farm, and in addition to general farming, is extensively engaged in raising Holstein cattle and standard-bred trotting horses.  In 1857 he was appointed Deputy County Surveyor under Thomas Sharp, was elected County Surveyor in 1859, serving in that position twenty-four years; is a Notary Public, and has served as a member of the School Board.  During the late war, in 1863, Mr. Buck was commissioned First Lieutenant of Company K, First Ohio Regiment, and in September, of that year, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the same regiment.  He is a leader and active worker in the Republican party.
     November 19, 1863, our subject was united in marriage to Miss Martha A. Nichols, born in Lincoln township, Morrow county, July 5, 1844, a daughter of Washington and Mary (James) Nichols.  The mother was a daughter of David James.  Mr. and Mrs. Buck have had five children, namely: Thaddeus E., born April 18, 1865, is a graduate of the high school at Cardington, also took a special course in civil engineering at the Ohio State University, taught school in this county fourteen terms, and now works with his father; Arthur H., born January 24, 1868, graduated at the Cardington high school and the Columbus Medical College, and is now engaged in the active practice of medicine; Annie L., born October 2, 1871, died October 26, 1875; Kittie M., born January 18, 1876, is attending the high school at Cardington; and Ralph W., born May 30, 1879, is a student at the same school.
     In his social relations Mr. Buck affiliates with the I. O. O. F. and is a member of the Encampment; and is a member of the Masonic order: Cardington Lodge, No. 384, F. & A. M.; Gilead Chapter, No. 59, R. A. M.; and Marion Commandery, No. 36, K. T.  He is a member of the Cardington Council, No. 180, Royal Arcanum, and the Ohio Society of Surveyors and Civil Engineers.
Memorial Record of the Counties of Delaware, Union & Morrow, Ohio; Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Co., 1895, pp. 467-468
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

            “ ‘The inner half of every cloud
            Has a bright and silver lining;
            I therefore turn my clouds about
            And always wear them inside out
            To show their pretty lining.’ ”

     “In commenting on the above quotation, she said: ‘I think it is our duty to be as cheerful as we can, and always look on the silvery side of the cloud.  I try to make my friends happy and the world better for having lived in it.’  She told her husband a short time before her death that if she should not live it would be all right, for it would be only a while until they should meet again.  The funeral was held at her residence in Mount Gilead and her remains are interred at River Cliff.  She leaves a husband, mother, father, two brothers and a host of friends and relatives who deeply mourn her seemingly untimely departure.”
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 616-622
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

WINTERS M. BUMP. ––A prominent member of the farming community of Bloomfield township, Winters M. Bump is widely and well known throughout this section of Morrow county as an upright, honest man, of sterling worth.  He is held in high respect by his fellow-men, and has a host of friends, among whom is Captain Robert F. Bartlett, editor of this volume.  A son of Hiram Bump, he was born, January 13, 1843, in Morrow county, which he has always claimed as home.
     Born in New York state, June 15, 1803, Hiram Bump came with his parents to Ohio at an early day, and for many years was successfully employed in tilling the soil in Morrow county.  He died when in the prime of life, in 1843.  His wife, whose maiden name was Sally Hultz, was born, October 12, 1801, in New Jersey, a daughter of Thomas and Leah (Weatherby) Hultz, who came to Ohio in an early period of its settlement, locating first in Knox, county, but afterwards removing to Morrow county.
     Winters M. Bump remained on the parental homestead until after the breaking out of the Civil war, when he enlisted in defence [sic] of his country, and remained in active service, taking part in many of its more important engagements, until receiving his honorable discharge from the army, June 13, 1865.  Returning then to his native county, Mr. Bump has since been profitably engaged in agricultural pursuits.  He is an excellent neighbor, a sincere friend, and a genial companion, but he has never assumed the responsibilities of married life.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – pp. 921-922
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Perry Twp. –
JACOB BURKEBILE, farmer; P. O., Woodview; only son of Peter and Frances (Downey) Burkebile; was born in Baltimore Co., Md., in September, 1824; he came with his parents to this township when five years old; he went a long distance through the woods to school, on the Johnston Road; he went but a short time each year until sixteen; then worked for his father until twenty three; he united in marriage with Susanna Green, April 20, 1848.  She is a daughter of Benjamin Green.  They lived with his father until his death, which sad event occurred May 31, 1870.  He was seventy-six years old.  Frances, his wife, died April 19, 1851, aged seventy years.  At the death of his father, our subject, being the only son and heir, became possessed of the homestead, of 100 acres.  They have reared to womanhood, two daughters -- Frances, born Nov. 1, 1851, married Orange Baker, and lives in Congress Tp.; Anna Jane, born Oct. 9, 1854, married George Burkebile, of Pennsylvania, and lives in this township.  His parents were natives of Baltimore Co., Md., where his father followed the double occupation of shoemaker and farmer.  They drove a two-horse team through in about 1828 or ’29, and at the same time there came eight other families, who settled for the most part in this township.  Mr. Burkebile left his family at Jehu Singrey’s while he erected a hewed log house on the eighty acres which he had entered here, during the winter; he cut his road to the place, which was all in woods then.  The family moved to their house in the spring of, probably, 1830, and that year he put out a small patch of corn and potatoes.  From that time forth, the father worked at clearing and farming in summer, and on his bench in winter; by this means he employed men to clear his land; he was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church; he had one son and two daughters -- Jacob, our subject; Frances, died in Maryland, and Sarah, who died here.  For the history of Mrs. Burkebile’s family, see sketch of Enos Green.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 800-801
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

Harmony Twp. -
WILLIAM R. BURNS, farmer; P. O., Chesterville; is a son of John and Elizabeth (Smith) Burns; his father was born in Pennsylvania, and his mother in the same state; they emigrated to Columbiana Co., Ohio, at an early day, and settled in the green woods; there they raised George, Daniel, Hugh, Benjamin, Mary, John, Hezekiah, Anderson, William R. and Peter R. The father was Justice of the Peace for twenty years. William was born Dec. 25, 1812, in Columbiana Co.; his mother died when he was quite young, and he helped his sisters to keep house for their father; he became quite an adept, and was considered very expert at cooking, patching and washing; he attended school in a log school-house, and there obtained the rudiments of a primary education, which formed a taste for literature, in which he takes much interest; he began working by the month after the death of his father, getting $7.00; was married Feb. 20, 1838, to Sarah, daughter of John and Mary (Peart) Howell; her father was born near Philadelphia, and came to Ohio about 1814; her mother was also born near the same place; they settled in Columbiana Co., and had the following children -- Abner, Benjamin, Mary, Sarah, Lewis, Jesse and Maria; her father was a farmer and shoemaker. Mrs. Burns was born Sept. 19, 1813, in Pennsylvania; they settled, after marriage, in Columbiana Co. for two years, and then came to their present farm of 103 acres, buying the same of his brother Hugh; it was entered by David Shaw. They have improved the same, and now enjoy a fine farm, the fruit of their own labors. They had the following children --John, deceased; Ross, born March 3, 1841, married Ann Shaw; Mary E., Feb. 17,1844, deceased; Jane, born Nov. 22, 1847; Anderson, Jan. 27, 1846; Ruth, Nov. 30,1850; Dorcas A., Mar. 22, 1853; Elizabeth, Oct. 15, 1854; Alfred, Jan. 19,1857. He has been Township Trustee, School Director and Supervisor; was once a member of the Patrons of Husbandry. Perhaps but few have witnessed the scenes that have made up the life of Mr. Burns.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, p. 703
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist

Washington Twp. –
EBENEZER BURT, retired; Iberia; was born in Washington Co. Penn., May 3d, 1811; Mr. Burt’s father was born in Fayette county of the same State about the year 1789; his mother spending her early years in the State of Maryland.  In the early part of the 18th century, three brothers came to America, two of whom engaged in the iron business, in the State of Penn.  At the breaking out of the Revolution, they sold out their interest in those works, taking their pay in Continental money, which proved almost valueless.  One of these brothers was the paternal ancestor of our subject.  Mr. Burt came to Ohio in 1830, settling in Guernsey Co., near Cambridge; he married Miss Isabella Rankin, of Janesville [sic], Muskingum Co., who died at Cambridge Dec. 1st, 1840, a little over nine years from date of their marriage.  About this time Mr. Burt commenced the study of law and was admitted to the bar, his certificate of admission dating Oct. 29, 1841.  In August, of the same year, he was married to Mary Ann Guthrie, of Cambridge, who is still living.  After practicing law for upwards of six years, he removed to Marion Co., where he engaged in farming and stock grazing.  He has ever since made a specialty of raising fine stock; sheep raising being the department he has specialized.  In April 1865, he removed to Iberia.  The family Bible tells the following story -- Silas, born Aug. 17, 1833; Mathew H., April 9, 1835; John F., June 10, 1837; Elizabeth J., Feb. 17, 1839; Joseph G., April 17, 1844; Ebenezer D., Sept. 20, 1846; Wm. W. and Thos. W. twins, July 14, 1848; Robert G., Aug. 23, 1850; Margaret A., Jan. 18, 1852; Elnora, April 11, 1855; all of these have been married, and those living are settled in the vicinity of the parental home.  Margaret married Mr. James P. Hammond, and with him went to build up a home near Edgar, Neb., where she died in 1876; Mathew joined the 96th O. V. I., and was killed at Arkansas Post on White River; John and Joseph were also in the service and went through the war, being honorably discharged at its close.  Mr. Burt is respected and honored in the community, and a member of the U. P. Church; amid pleasing surroundings, with wealth to command the luxuries of life -- the “sunset” of his days cannot but he otherwise than peaceful and bright.
Source: History of Morrow County and Ohio – Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1880, pp. 743-744
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.

MILES BYRD, of the firm of Byrd & Company, liverymen, Mt. Gilead, Ohio, was born in De Kalb county, Missouri, January 10, 1867, a son of John and Jane (Hull) Byrd.  When a babe he was brought by his mother to Morrow county, Ohio, and here, in the village of Williamsport, he grew to manhood, attending the local schools until he was eighteen years of age.  Then he obtained employment in a general store in the village, and subsequently ran a huckster wagon for Mark Cook and bought and sold produce.  Next we find him at Mt. Gilead, in charge of the livery barn of Vanatta & Weiland, with whom he remained one year, following which he spent three years in a similar business at Marion, Ohio, and was for a time in the livery business at Newark, this state.  Disposing of his business at the last named place he returned to Mt. Gilead, and has since conducted a livery establishment here, under his own name, with a barn on East Center street.  And in connection with the livery business he gives some attention to farming, owning and operating forty-one and a half acres in Gilead township.  He built the barn occupied by his livery, and he owns the comfortable home he lives in on Union street.
     Mr. Byrd married Miss Rose M. Rule, of Woodview, Morrow county, daughter of Dr. Amos Rule.  They are the parents of eight children: Roma, born January 15, 1887; Caroline, March 4, 1889; John A., June 15, 1891; Charles M., December 15, 1893; Glenn N., September 14, 1897; Harold R., August 17, 1898; Anna R., August 27, 1901, and Robert W., March 5, 1910.  Caroline is a graduate of the Mt. Gilead High School.
     Although not active in politics, Mr. Byrd has always been a conscientious voter, and has cast his franchise with the Democratic party.  Mrs. Byrd’s religious faith is that of the Lutheran church, of which she is a consistent member.
Source:  History of Morrow County, Ohio by A. J. Baughman - Vol. II - Chicago-New York: The Lewis Publishing Co. - 1911 – p. 685
Contributed by a Generous Genealogist.