BIOGRAPHIES.
Source:
A Portrait and
Biographical Record of Allen and Van Wert Counties, Ohio
containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative
citizens :
together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents
of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Ohio.
Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co.,
1896
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SIMEON A. JACKSON is a native of
York
township, Van Wert county, Ohio,
and was born on the farm now owned and occupied by him, Feb. 8, 1843. His parents,
FERDINAND and Charity (Mortimore) Jackson, were natives respectively of
Madison county, Ohio, and North Carolina. By his first marriage
Ferdinand Jackson became the father
of four children, viz:
John M., a resident of York township;
Sarah, who died in childhood;
Thomas, who died in infancy,
Simeon A., and
James, a resident of Van Wert county. The
father died in the spring of 1849, and
Mrs. Jackson was again married and became the mother of the following
children:
Robert and
Jacob, twins;
William, deceased; David, who resides in
Van Wert county. The mother died
Apr. 4, 1891.
Ferdinand Jackson, although a farmer,
worked at chair-making in the winter time.
Simeon A. Jackson, our subject, spent
his youth on the home farm, and at the age of nineteen years enlisted in company
A, Ninety-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, the date of his enlistment being Aug.
6, 1862, and the term of his enlistment being three years. He was in the battles of
Stone River,
Chickamauga, and eleven other of
the hard-fought engagements; after being mustered out at the close of the war he
returned to his home, and Nov. 11, 1867, was united in wedlock with
Rebecca Hayes, a daughter of
Jackson and Eliza (Hichner) Hayes,
residents of Mercer county, Ohio – the former a native of Fayette county, Ohio,
and the latter of New Jersey. To
Mr. and Mrs. Hayes were born the
following children:
Laban, a resident of Mercer county;
Orlando, who grew to manhood, but is
now deceased; Sheldon, who was a
soldier in company A, Forty-sixth Ohio volunteer infantry, and died while in
service from disease; Morton, who
died in early manhood; Mrs. Jackson;
Melissa, the deceased wife of William
Krugh; Ella, deceased wife of
Augustus Frisingter; Orelso, who died when twelve years of age. The mother of these children died
when Mrs. Jackson was but eight years
of age, and the father next married the widow
Green, who bore him one daughter,
May, the wife of
Lincoln Scott, of Celina, Ohio.
Mr. Jackson’s father died in May,
1879. The children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson were named –
Willis, at home;
Sarah, wife of
Charles Brown, of Mercer county;
Minnie, school-teacher;
Oscar, Eliza, Otis, and
Foster.
Mr. Jackson owns a neat homestead of forty acres, and also another
tract of thirty-three acres in York
township.
Mrs. Jackson is a pious member of the Methodist church, and in politics
Mr. Jackson is a stalwart republican. He and family are highly respected by
their neighbors and Mr. Jackson is
looked upon as one of the most public-spirited citizens of York township.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page
901
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IRA W. JOHNS, a farmer and
assessor of Pleasant township, Van Wert county, Ohio, was born
Apr. 23, 1854, the youngest son of JACOB W.
and Eliza J. (Houston) Johns, natives of
Pennsylvania, and of Welsh and Irish extraction, respectively.
The paternal grandparents were married in Wales, and on coming
to America first located in Keystone Valley, Pa., and later came
to Ohio. John W. Johns was born June 5, 1816, and
in early youth accompanied his parents from New Athens, Penn.,
to Richland county, Ohio, where he grew to manhood, was
educated, and followed farming there until his marriage, June
10, 1837, with Mrs. Eliza J. Ellar; the following October
they came with ox teams to Van Wert county, Ohio, where,
reaching the Auglaize river, Mr. Johns cut his road
through the forest to Harrison township. This incident
occurred when there were but two houses in what is now the city
of Van Wert, and after reaching their destination Mrs. Jones
did not see a woman's face for over three months, their nearest
neighbor being seven and a half miles distant. They lived
in their wagons until Mr. Johns could cut the timber and
build a log cabin, and for food they lived, in the meantime, on
a 500-pound bear Mr. Johns was so fortunate as to kill
soon after arrival. He had brought with him a drove of
sixteen fine hogs, which persisted in laying around the cabin,
and Mr. Johns, remembering an old saying, threw in their
midst a paw of the bear he had killed, and the sixteen fine
hogs, in accordance with the saying, were soon lost to his sight
and future profit.
Mr. Johns lived eighteen months on this entered
tract of eighty acres, and in 1839 sold out and bought eighty
acres, on which his widow and youngest son still live, and thus
for the second time cleared up a home from the forest.
There was an abundance of game in those early days, and Indians
were numerous, but peaceable. Wolves also abounded and
were destructive of Young stock, and on one occasion Mrs.
Johns had the temerity to face the depredating beasts and
rescue from them a young calf and carry it into the cabin.
Mrs. Johns carded and spun the linen and wool for making
into clothing for the family, and thus all the hardships, as
well as pleasures, of frontier life were experienced. But
Mr. Johns prospered and became the owner of 160 acres of
good land, of which he sold eighty acres, reserving eighty acres
for a homestead. He bought and sold furs and pelts, became
later quite an extensive dealer in live stock, and in prime of
life, Mar. 23, 1865, was called away from his sorrowing family-
a member of the Baptist church, and in politics a democrat.
He was a free contributor to his church, and assisted to build
the first Baptist house of worship that was erected in his
township. His children comprised six sons and six
daughters, who were named as follows: Margaret Ann,
Alfred D., Sarah L., Dallas W., Ivan D., Lucy A., Caraline, Ira
W., a deceased infant, Clara A.., Mary E. and
William Crayton. Of these, Margaret A. became
the wife of Andrew Flutter, of Fort Wayne, Ind.; Sarah
L., the wife of R. J. Wyburn; Lucy A., the wife of
E. R. Baker, Van Wert; Dallas W. married Frances
Gaylord, of Columbia City, Ind., and then Julia Wyburn,
of Fort Wayne, Ind.; Clara A. is the wife of Louis
Keihm, of Milwaukee, Wis., and Mary is married to
Jerry Kreider of Van Wert, Ohio.
MRS. ELIZA J. JOHNS was born Dec.
13, 1818, in Beaver county, Pa. a daughter of Alexander and
Peggy (Feasel) Houston, and of German parentage; these
parents passed their lives in Beaver county, Pa., where Mrs.
Houston, the mother, died when her daughters, Mrs. Johns,
was but three of four years old, leaving the latter to be
reared, to the age of sixteen, by her grandmother, Elizabeth
Houston, at which age she was first married at Mansfield,
Ohio. After locating in Pleasant township, Van Wert
county, she united in the Baptist church, of which she is still
a faithful and devout member, at the age of seventy-seven years.
The fist marriage of Mrs. Johns was with Frederick
Ellar, to whom she bore one daughter, Lucinda, now
Mrs. Jonathan Tumbleson. Mr. Ellar died about
twenty-seven months after his marriage, and soon after that
event his wife became Mrs. Jacob W. Johns, the mother of
our subject. Mrs. Johns the mother of our subject.
Mrs. Johns has borne thirteen children, is the
grandmother of forty-four children, and the great-grandmother of
twenty-nine children.
Ira W. Johns, whose name opens this biography,
was born on the farm on which he is now living, and was educated
in the common schools of his township. At the age of
twenty years he began life for himself, moving to Lafayette,
Ind., where he worked he worked on the Wabash railroad for ten
years - two years as brakeman and eight years as conductor.
Oct. 1, 1877, he married Miss Virginia
Colegrove, who was born in Lafayette, Jan. 9, 1859, a
daughter of James and Louisa (McNeal) Colegrove, of
German and Irish descent. To this union were born five
children, of whom three are living - Guy V., Edna A.
and Robert A., and two who died in infancy - Myrtle P.
and Lucy B. In January, 1884, Mr. Johns
abandoned railroad work and located on the T. S. Gilliland
farm, on the Ridge road, northeast of the city of Van Wert,
where he resided six years, and then returned to the old
homestead, to care for his mother. In politics Mr.
Johns is a democrat, and in the spring of 1895 was elected
assessor by a majority of twenty-nine in a republican district;
fraternally he is a Knight of Maccabees. For four years he
has been most favorably known throughout the county, having been
an auctioneer of note for several years.
James Colegrove, father of
Mrs. Johns, was a very prominent citizen of Tippecanoe
county, Ind., and died in the prime of life, while serving his
third term as county sheriff. Mrs. Johns has
two brothers - Alonzo, a farmer near Lafayette, Ind., and
William A., an engineer on the B. & O. railroad, living
at Garrett, Ind. These three now constitute the sole
representatives of the Colegrove family.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 353-354 |
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BENJAMIN JOHNSON, a highly respectable and prosperous
farmer of Willshire township, Van Wert county, Ohio, is a native of
Pennsylvania and was born June 1, 1839. His father, Elias
Johnson, was born in Brooke county, Va., was reared a farmer,
and was married in his native county to Miss Jemima Dimmit,
daughter of Jacob Dimmit. To this couple were born the
following children: Benjamin, Wilson, Elizabeth, Jacob,
Mary C., Marietta and Annetta. The parents of this
family settled in Willshire, Van Wert county, Ohio, in 1850, and
here the father died June 11, 1861, his having departed in
September, 1859, greatly venerated by their neighbors as pioneers
and as members of the United Brethren church.
Benjamin Johnson was but ten years of age
when his parents settled on a part of his present farm in Willshire
township; since then he has become one of the prominent
agriculturists of the county and has assisted in converting the
township from a wilderness into a garden. His marriage took
place June 24, 1860, to Delilah Morehead, daughter of
Vinton and Phebe (Heller) Morehead, and to this congenial union
have been born the following children: Wilson W.,
Rosa, Melvin A., Annie, Callinda A. and Benjamin F.
(deceased) and an infant, also deceased. Of the above,
Wilson W. was married Dec. 21, 1887, to Miss Nellie Mason
- the former a farmer in Defiance county, Ohio. The home farm
of Mr. Johnson contains 180 acres, is well ditched and well
stocked, and no better-kept farm of its size exists in the county.
In politics Mr. Johnson is a republican, and in religion is a
pillar in the radical branch of the United Brethren in Christ.
He has seen a mighty change made in Van Wert county, since, when a
child of ten years, he sat on the puncheon slabs that formed the
seats of the old fashioned log school house. Mr. Johnson
is one of the hard-working, thorough-going, upright men, and is most
favorably known throughout the county of Van Wert.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 374 |
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DAN
S. JOHNSON, superintendent of Woodlawn cemetery, and an
ex-soldier of the Union army, was born in Orleans county, N. Y.,
Dec. 13, 1836. He is a son of Amos C. Johnson, who was
born in Vermont in 1801, was reared a farmer, and was a farmer all
his life. He married Miss Elizabeth Hix, of New York,
and in 1841 left Orleans county, N. Y., and removed to Williams
county, Ohio, where he followed farming until his death, which
occurred in 1844. He was a democrat in politics, and a
member of the Free Will Baptist church. He was in every way a
good man, was very liberal with his means, and donated much to
public enterprises, but, through misfortunes of different kinds, he
lost a great deal of money, and at his death life his family in
rather poor circumstances. He and his wife were the parents of
nine children, as follows: Jane B., Stephen V.,
William C., Dan S., Harriet M., Matilda M., Carlos B., Sarah
M. and Amos C. Sarah died in 1842; the rest are
living and are all married. The mother of these children died
in 1873, aged sixty-three years.
Dan S. Johnson remained at home with his mother
eleven years, and then worked for different individuals until the
breaking out of the war, when he enlisted in Company G, Forty-fourth
Indiana volunteer infantry, Sept. 2, 1861. He was in the
battle of Shiloh, and that of Stone river, and in that of Chichamauga,
and in the latter battle being wounded twice - first by a piece of
shell and second by a musket ball, which struck him in the face.
This was on Sept. 19, 1863. He served in the war four years
and twelve days. Mr. Johnson was raised from ranks in a
series of promotions and was mustered out as captain. Four of
his brothers also served in the war for the Union, and all came out
safely, and are now alive and well.
After being discharged from the army Mr. Johnson
went to Steuben county, Ind., where his mother was ten living.
Afterward we went to Kansas, in which state he bought a farm, and,
returning to Steuben county, was married to Miss Hena Hubbell.
He then returned to his Kansas farm and there remained two and a
half yeas, following farming on his land. Selling this farm he
returned to Indiana, where he lived until Jun. 3, 1873, when he came
to Ohio locating in Van Wert county, where he has since remained.
In politics Mr. Johnson is a strong republican and he is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of
the Grand Army of the Republic, William C. Scott post, No. 100; and
of Ben Hur Gasper Court No. 10, K. of P. He is receiving a
moderate pension from the government, which he appreciates, yet it
is poor pay for the sacrifice and hardships endured from a monetary
standpoint; yet Mr. Johnson is one of the many that are proud
of the title of a soldier, feeling that he did nothing but his duty
in defending the flag. In 1878 Mr. Johnson was
appointed street commissioner and filled that office five years, and
in 891 was elected to the same position for two years, but at the
end of one year he resigned to accept the position of
superintendent of Woodland cemetery at Van Wert, a position which he
still retains.
By his marriage to Miss Hubbell he is the father
of the following children: Caroline L., born in Kansas;
Mary V. , born in Indiana; Earl R., who graduated with
the class of 1896 from the Van Wert high school; Hugh C., who is a
member of the Epworth league, and Florence M., all three born in Van
Wert county, Ohio. Florence M. died in Monroeville,
Ind., in 1886; Caroline L. is the wife of Philip Krick,
formerly of Monroeville, Ind., Miss Hena Hubbell, who was
born Aug. 21 1819, also in Knox county. He was reared on a
farm and afterward studied medicine with an uncle in Cincinnati.
After becoming thoroughly qualified to practice medicine he
established himself in Knox county, and practiced there for some
time, and removed thence to Delaware county, and later to Steuben
County, Ind., and still later returned to Knox county, Ind., and
still later returned to Knox county, Ohio, and all through his
professional career he was unusually successful. He was
married to Miss Nancy Fox, of New Jersey, by whom he was the
father of the following children: Burton, Charles, Hena, Ordemas,
and Lodema. Ordemas died in 1850.
George B. Hubbell was a republican, a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, and a very liberal man in every way, freely giving
of his means to the support of his church and to all worthy
enterprises. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are among the best
people of Van Wert county, honest and upright, true to all their
duties in the various relations in life, and are highly respected by
all who know them. The family are all members of the Methodist
Episcopal church. Mr. Johnson owns a residence property
on South Walnut street. Mrs. JohNson and daughter
Mary are members of the Relief corps. No. 18, Van Wert, Ohio.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page
372 |
Davis Johnson
Mrs. Davis Johnson |
DAVIS JOHNSON,
deceased, was a son of Joseph Johnson, who was born in
Virginia, near York River, May 23, 1776. Joseph Johnson
was a son of Abel and Anna (Alexander) Johnson, the
former of whom was a native of England, and a son of Benjamin
Johnson, who, accompanied by his family, upon emigrating
from England, landed in Philadelphia Abel Johnson was
educated and there learned the cooper trade. There, also,
in 1768, he married Miss Anna Alexander, daughter of
Joseph Alexander. Abel Johnson and his wife
were the parents of fifteen children, twelve of whom grew to
maturity, those who died young being Ephraim, Isaac
and Jacob, all dying the same year. The others were
named as follows: Rachel, wife of William
McCleary, of Tuscarawas county, Ohio; Benjamin and
Joseph, twins, the later went to Fort Pitt. In
religious faith he was a Quaker, and was possessed of all the
admirable qualities belonging to that denomination. His
death occurred in 1824, when he was eighty years of age.
Joseph Johnson was reared and
educated on a farm, and, like his father before him, learned the
cooper trade, though he never followed it as a means of earning
a livelihood. On Apr. 12, 1806, he married Miss Mary
Davis, daughter of William and Rebecca (Thorly)
Davis, and to them were born ten children, as follows:
Benjamin, who died in infancy; Anna, wife of John
Wagers, who lives in Van Wert county, and who was
eighty-seven years old July 15, 1895; Rebecca, deceased
wife of Josiah Foster, of Van Wert county; Abel,
formerly of Van Wert county, now deceased; Davis, the
subject of this sketch; Benjamin, who died in infancy;
Ama, deceased wife of Robert Baxter, also deceased,
formerly of Van Wert county; Catherine, who died when
fifteen years old; Mary, deceased wife of James
Daily, of Adams county, Inc., and Joseph, who died at
the age of twenty-two.
Mary Davis, wife of Joseph
Johnson, and the mother of his children, was a native of
Northumberland county, Pa., having been born Jan. 3, 1783.
Her father was a native of Wales. The next day after his
marriage Mr. Johnson removed to Harrison county, Ohio,
making the journey on horseback, and entere4d at different times
three quarter-sections of land, 480 acres on which he lived
thirty years, and during the war of 1812 was made adjutant of a
regiment, but could not remain in the service, on account of
having been kicked in the mouth by a horse, which affected his
speech to a considerable extent. He was the first white
man to locate in Harrison county, Ohio, and his daughter was the
first white child born in Stock township, that county.
Removing to Van Wert county in 1837 he there entered one
quarter-section for each of his children, and one
quarter-section for a grandchild (brought up by himself), and he
still continued to own of the original entry, 240 acres, until
his death. The entire number of acres of land entered by
Mr. Johnson for himself, his children and his grandchild,
was 2, 160 broad acres.
In politics Mr. Johnson was what was known as an
old-time whig, and while a citizen of Harrison county was a
justice of the peace, for twenty-five or thirty years.
Upon removing to Van Wert county he became one of the first
county commissioners, and as such assisted to lay off the
county. He also served as township trustee for many years.
His death occurred July 298, 1855, and that of his wife on Jan.
21, 1851. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal
church, and a lady of most excellent character and disposition.
Davis Johnson, deceased, and the subject of this
narrative, was born June 17, 1814, in Harrison county. In
that county he was reared, educated and married, his marriage
taking place upon his return to that county from Van Wert,
whither he went with his parents upon their removal there in
1837. During his earlier life he was inured to the arduous
duties of life upon the farm, but secured an excellent
education, and was well prepared for teaching school and for the
profession of a civil engineer. For several years he was
devoted to the former vocation to a considerable extent, but
gave a portion of his time to surveying, assisting in the
original survey of the entire county of Van Wert. At
length he settled down on a farm in Willshire township, and
there lived until the death of his wife, by whom he had one
child, Angie, now the wife of Mr. J. I. Cable, of
Van Wert. Upon becoming a widower he returned to his
father's home, where he remained until 1856, when, having been
elected to the responsible office of county treasurer, he
removed to the city of Van Wert.
In the meantime Mr.
Johnson had been married the second time, the ceremony
having been performed in September, 1854, the lady most
interested in this ceremony being Mrs. A. Lennox, widow
of Dr. John Lennox and a daughter of James and Jane
Short, of Richland county, Ohio. To this marriage
there were born nine children, viz.: Mary Alice,
deceased; Ella, living at home; W. Scott, whose
sketch follows: Brough, a farmer; Anna, wife of
T. Tumbleson; Lorenzo, a member of the fire department of
Van Wert; and Charles, Emma C. and Abel,
all three deceased. After removing to Van Wert to reside
there permanently, Davis Johnson speculated largely in
land, and being a man of keen foresight and great prudence, he
realized from his speculations a handsome competency. His
death occurred Mar. 19, 1890, and his loss was mourned deeply by
his immediate family and relatives, and was widely felt by the
community at large. In politics he was a republican,
fraternally he was a Mason, and a charter member of Van Wert
lodge; in religion he was a Quaker, while his widow is a member
of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Johnson retains her
residence at the corner of Main and Market streets in Van Wert,
and enjoys the esteem and confidence of a large circle of
devoted friends and acquaintances.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 758 |
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J. K. P. JOHNSON,
a skilled a prosperous farmer of Ridge township, Van Wert
county, Ohio, was born in Butler county, Ohio, Nov. 19, 1844,
and is the youngest son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Mustard)
Johnson, of whom a detailed sketch is given in the biography
of Joseph Johnson, also of Ridge township, and which
precedes this sketch. Mr. Johnson, our subject was
disciplined in the severe school of agriculture as well as in
the common schools of his native county, where, in 1869, he was
united in wedlock with Miss Emma Yakel, daughter of
Michael and Susan (Troutman) Yakel, of whom the father was a
Pennsylvanian by birth and the mother a native of North
Carolina, both of whom are now deceased. They had born to
them a family of seven children, as follows: A son that died in
infancy; David, who died in middle life; Mary, the
widow of William Bell; Elizabeth, wife of James
Beckett, of Butler county, Ohio; Julia, married to
Robert Stevenson, of the same county; Katie, deceased
wife of Seth Shierd, and Emma, now Mrs. J. K.
P. Johnson. The parents of these children are both
deceased. In the year 1870, shortly after his marriage,
Mr. Johnson came from Butler county to Van Wert county and
settled on that part of the estate of Mr. Yakel that had
been inherited by his daughter, Emma (now Mrs. Johnson),
where he has since made his home, To the marriage of
Mr. Johnson and Mrs. Yakel have been born eight
children in the following order: Harry, who died in
infancy; Charles, Susie, Willard, Nellie, Herman, Alonzo
and Rush. In religion Mr. and Mrs. Johnson
are Lutherans, to which denomination the parents of Mrs.
Johnson also belonged, and in politics Mr. Johnson is
a democrat.
As stated, Mr. Johnson is a skilled
agriculturist, and the products of his farm equal those produced
on any farm in the township. He is open-hearted and
generous in his support in all measures of merit that tend to
the public good, and is a warm friend of public education - the
bulwark of American liberty. As an agriculturist he ranks
among the foremost of the township of Ridge, and in his social
relations is respected by all who know him.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 361 |
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J. BROUGH JOHNSON, son of Davis and Susan A. Johnson,
was born Aug. 17, 1863, in Van Wert county (see sketch of
Davis
Johnson). He was educated in the schools of Van Wert,
reared a farmer, and on the 17th day of August, 1886, was united in
marriage to Laura F. Ferguson, daughter of James K. and
Henrietta Ferguson. Shortly after he marriage Mr.
Johnson built his present home in Van Wert, where he has since
resided. He is engaged in farming and stock-raising, in both
of which his success has been most encouraging. He is a
public-spirited man, quiet, but progressive, one of the prominent
citizens of Van Wert, and his home, on North Washington street, is
the abode of plenty and true-hearted hospitality. While a
republican in politics, he has never been an aspirant for official
position; contributes to his party's success, state and national,
but in local elections votes for the man best fitted for the office,
irrespective of party affiliation.
The father of Mrs. Johnson, James K. Ferguson,
was born in Richland county, Ohio, about the year 1822, and was
married, in 1846, to Henrietta Stout, and reared a family
consisting of the following children: William, painter of Van
Wert; Mary, wife of George Torrey, of Union township;
Laura; John, who resides in Van Wert; Celina, teacher in
the public schools of Van Wert; Charley, a printer, and
Maud, teacher of music - the last two living in the city of Van
Wert. When a small boy, James K. Ferguson accompanied
his parents to Kenton, Ohio, where he remained until 1851, at which
time he came to the county of Van Wert, and engaged in
cabinet-making, and later, for a number of years; followed the
painter's trade in the city and throughout the county.
Originally he was an old line whig in politics, later became a
republican, and is still living, being at this time, perhaps, the
oldest member of the Masonic fraternity in the city of Van Wert.
Mrs. Ferguson was born about 1825, in Maryland, and was the
daughter of a hero of the war of 1812, whose birth occurred about
the year 1792, in Berks county, Pa. Grandfather Stout
served as sheriff at Hagerstown, Md., prior to the late war, and
died about eighteen years ago at the age of eighty-four.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page
373 |
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JOHN A. JOHNSON, an
enterprising and well-to-do farmer of Ridge township, Van Wert
county, Ohio, was born in Butler county, Ohio, June 15, 1851, a
son of William and Ellen (Burcaw) Johnson, both natives
of the Buckeye state. On Mar. 8, 1856, William Johnson
came from Butler to Van Wert county, and settled in Ridge
township, where he purchased 160 acres of farm land. He
brought with him his family, which was then comprised of his
wife and six children named as follows: Joseph, now
a farmer of Van Wert county; Martha, now married to
Peter Kessler, of Illinois; Wesley, a farmer of Van
Wert county, Ohio; John A., the subject of this sketch;
Amos, farmer, now in Van Wert county, and William,
farming in Ridge township. Another son, Frank, was
born after the arrival of the parents in Van Wert county, and
now owns a part of the original homestead. After improving
his 160 acres, and, indeed during that process, William
Johnson added adjoining acres, and other lands, until he
became the owner of nearly 500 acres, which he subsequently
divided among his children. In politics Mr. Johnson
was an ardent republican, and at one time held the office of
infirmary director. He was popular in the community, was
public spirited and enterprising, and died in 1882, honored and
respected by all who knew him; his widow survived until
September, 1894.
John A. Johnson, being but five years of age
when brought to Van Wert county, received his education in the
common schools of Ridge township and was reared to manhood on
the home farm, becoming a thorough agriculturist. Aug. 10,
1876, he was united in the bonds of matrimony with Miss Clara
Weaver, daughter of Samuel and Lydia (Price) Weaver -
the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Butler
county, Ohio. Samuel Weaver was brought to Ohio
when a lad of eight years, and subsequently became one of the
most prosperous farmers of Butler county. He reared a
family of nine children, who were born in the following order:
John E., of Butler county, Ohio; George, a farmer of
Clinton county, Ind.; William A., now on the old
homestead in Butler county, Ohio; Sarah, deceased wife of
William H. Stout; Silas, of Butler county;
Laura, who died when but two years of age; Mary (twin
of Martha, whose name follows), wife of William
Johnson, Jr., whose biography appears first in order after
this of William Bell, of Clinton county, Ind., and
Clara, wife of John A. Johnson, our subject, as has
been previously stated. To the happy marriage of John
A. and Clara Johnson have been born the following children;
Lewis Ambrose, William Samuel, Frederick L., Ora Homer, Blanch
Viola, Daisy Edith, (who died in early childhood), Clara
Etta and Goldie Gladys. Mr. Johnson is
one of the most intelligent, and consequently one of the most
thriving agriculturist of Ridge township, and his farm of 217
acres, adjoining the county farm, and his tasty and elegant
dwelling - his substantial barns and other out-buildings and
orchard, and well tilled fields - are a sight to gladden the eye
of every passer-by. He is in politics a republican, but
has always ignored any offer of public office. He is large
hearted and public spirited, and may always be relied upon when
any project designed for the public welfare needs a helping
hand.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 360 |
Joseph Johnson
Magdalene Johnson |
JOSEPH JOHNSON, one of the
pioneer farmers of Ridge township, Van Wert county, Ohio, is a
native of Butler county in the same state, was born Jan. 2,
1826, and is a son of Joseph and Betsey (Mustard)
Johnson, who in all probability were also natives of
Butler county, and born, respectively, Oct. 23, 1794, and Dec.
11, 1804. Joseph, Sr., inherited some land
from his father, Eli, (grandfather of our subject), and
thus had a fair start in life. The brother and sister of
Joseph Johnson, our subject, were born and named
in the following order: William, deceased, who came
to Van Wert about the year of 1856 and became a large land
owner; Eli, who reared a large family, and in middle
life, while threshing, fell dead on a straw stack; John,
deceased; Joseph, our subject, is next in order of birth;
Nancy, widow of George Morton, of Liberty,
Ind.; Thomas, a resident of Butler county, Ohio; Ruth,
widow of Michael Weaver, also of Butler county;
Elizabeth, who died in maidenhood; Jason, who served
in the late war, and now resides in Butler county; Daniel,
who was also a soldier, died of small-pox; Eijah died in
boyhood; Bennet reared a family and died in Butler
county; James, the youngest of this family, owns a farm
in Ridge township, Van Wert county, having come here in 1870.
Joseph Johnson, whose name opens this
sketch, was reared on the home farm in Butler county and had but
meager educational advantages, but his perceptive powers were
keen, and his memory retentive, and he readily acquired a
knowledge of men and things in practical life that he could
never have gained in the school-room. He first became the
owner of realty in 1859, then he came to Van Wert county and
purchased 160 acres in Ridge township, about five miles
southeast of the city of Van Wert, on which he has made many
substantial improvements and brought under a state of
cultivation that will place it on a favorable comparison with
any farm of its size in Ridge or any of the surrounding
townships.
The marriage of Joseph Johnson took place
in Butler county, Ohio, in the year of 1849, to Magdalene
Forlow, daughter of John and Catherine (Wallsmith)
Forlow, and the result of this union has been the following
children: William, a farmer and justice of the peace, of
Ridge township; Delilah, at home with her parents;
Margaret Ann, wife of Stephen Walter, a
farmer of Shelby county, Ill.; James, who wedded a
Miss Palmer, and died in 1893; Richard M., of
Ridge township; Thomas, a farmer of Liberty township, who
married Elizabeth Hertel; Jason L., who
wedded Eve Gamble, and resides in Ridge township;
Harvey Allen, who married Minnie
Longwell, and resides in Shelby county, Ill.; Daniel
Edward, who married Samantha Dunifon, and
lives on the old homestead in Ridge township; Amos
Irvin, also a resident of Ridge township and married to
Laura Sanders; Scott E., at home; Joseph
Perry, a clerk in the city of Van Wert and married to
Teressa Faber; and one child that died in infancy.
In politics Mr. Johnson is a republican and
has for several terms served as township trustee, and in 1882
was elected infirmary director. He has also been popular
with his fellow-cizens, and is known to be a man of
sterling integrity. That he is a man of indomitable will
and untiring, is proven by the fact that he is what is generally
called a self-made man, and while his wealth was hard to obtain,
he is free and generous in its expenditure for all projects
intended to be of benefit to the public at large or for the
improvement of the township and county.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 416 |
| |
W. SCOTT JOHNSON,
present deputy probate judge of Van Wert county, Ohio, and an
attorney at law, was born in Van Wert city Mar. 19, 1861, was
educated, preliminarily, in the public schools of that city, and
in 1879 withdrew from the Van Wert High school to enter the
National Normal school of Lebanon, Ohio, which he attended
during the summer term of that year, re-entered the Van Wert
high school in September, 1879 and pursued his studies therein
until June, 1880. In September of that year he entered the
preparatory department of Kenyon college, known then as Milnor
Hall, from which, in the fall of 1881, he was advanced, as a
student, to the college proper. In the spring of 1882 he
returned to Van Wert and was engaged in the grocery business
until the spring of 1883, when he was appointed deputy county
recorder under W. P. Walcott, and held that position
until the spring of 1885, when he resigned, to accept the agency
of the United States Express company, in connection with which
he assumed the agency in Van Wert for all the leading newspapers
of Chicago and Cincinnati. In Oct. 1886, he disposed of
these agencies to Jacob Wyant and entered the law office
of Saltzgaber & Glenn as clerk and student,
remaining until Jan. 1, 1889, and during two years of that time
filled the position of secretary of the Van Wert Gas company.
On the day last named he resigned his position and entered the
law department of the university of Michigan, at Ann
Arbor, from which he was graduated in June of the same year,
with the degree of bachelor of laws, having completed a two-year
course within six months - an extraordinary collegiate career -
and was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Ohio, he
standing second in a class of sixty-six examinees. He then
formed a partnership with Hon. H. C. Glenn in the
practice of the law, which partnership was dissolved in July,
1891, when Mr. Johnson entered practice on his sole
account and was actively engaged therein until February, 1894,
when he was appointed, with no solicitation on his part, as
deputy judge of probate for the county of Van Wert - a position
he has filled with great ability until the present time, May,
1896.
In February, 1893, Mr. Johnson organized the
Fraternal Building & Loan association of Van Wert, and for one
year was its secretary and attorney, and under his management
and counsel the Fraternal Building & Loan association at once
became one of the substantial institutions of the county.
In his politics Mr. Johnson is one of the
stanchest of republicans, and since reaching his majority has
been a constant and effective factor in the manipulation of his
party's polity in the city and county. Possessing in a
remarkable degree that magnetic power which makes a man a leader
of his fellows, his influence has ever been distinctively felt
as an organizer and guide in his party affiliations. Prior
to and during the years 1894 and 1895 he held the responsible
and somewhat delicate position of chairman of the republican
county executive committee, and most ably fulfilled the duties
of that office. Mr. Johnson's conduct of the
campaign of 1895 was specially complimented by Mr. Bushnell,
candidate for governor, and also by the chairman of the state
committee, and he has several times been selected to represent
his party as delegate to its county and state conventions.
although never a candidate for any office, Mr. Johnson is
looked upon as one who will some day be called upon by the
people to fill some position of honor and responsibility.
Fraternally, Mr. Johnson's connections are very
broad and comprehensive, as well as prominent and influential.
He is a member of the I. O. O. F., K. of P., I. O. R. M. and the
M. w. of A., being a charter member of the Van Wert lodge and
the last named order, as well as charger member of the order of
Ben Hur at Van Wert. He has filled the office of V. C. of
the M. W. of A., and was the first delegate elected to the state
camp; as a member of the I. O. R. M. he has held all the stumps
in Abenaki tribe, and was its representative to the grand
councils at Dayton and at Newark, Ohio. In December, 1895,
he was elected great junior sagamore of the great council of
Ohio, receiving a majority of all the votes cast against five
candidates for that office, which is the third highest in the
order - that of great sachem being the highest, and there is
every indication that Mr. Johnson will in due time be
elected to the highest position in the gift of that fraternity.
In his religious convictions Mr. Johnson is a
Presbyterian of which church he has been a member since 1876.
His marriage relations were assumed on the 2d day of August,
1883, by his union with Miss Mary Isabel Raker daughter
of Daniel and Elizabeth Raker, of Fulton county, Ohio,
Rev. F. M. Porch, pastor of the English Lutheran church,
officiating. Their marriage has been blessed by the birth
of three sons, viz: Davis, born May 14, 1884;
Glenn, born Apr. 1, 1888, and Paul Hastings, born
Mar. 28, 1894. The social relations of Mr. Johnson
and his estimable companion are with the higher and better
citizens of Van Wert and the surrounding country, and as a
business man and public official Winfield Scott Johnson
has by close attention to business and good habits won a high
and enviable position among his fellows. The reader is
here referred to the sketch above of Davis Johnson,
father of the gentleman whose name opens this memoir.
Source: A Portrait and
Biographical Record of Allen and Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ.
Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. - 1896 - Page 764 |
| |
WILLIAM JOHNSON, JR., one
of the most thriving and skillful farmers of Ridge township, Van
WErt county, Ohio, is the sixth child born to William, Sr.,
and Ellen (Burcaw) Johnson, was born in Butler county, Ohio,
Oct. 1, 1854, and was consequently but a mere infant when
brought to Van Wert county by his parents, who settled in Ridge
township Mar. 8, 1856. In the biography of John A.
Johnson, which immediately precedes this sketch, will be
found fuller details of the life of William Johnson, Sr.,
to which the attention of the reader in respectively invited,
these sketches being arranged according to seniority. In
this brief memoir are given only the salient events in the life
of William Johnson, Jr., which may be summed up as
follows:
William Johnson, Jr., was reared on the home
farm and early inured to the toughening ordeal of that laborious
but health-giving vocation, and thoroughly instructed in all the
minutiae and arcana of agriculture, so that he later became one
of the most skillful and successful husbandmen of Ridge township
and of the county - being both practical and intelligent.
He enjoyed in youth, the usual school advantages, and being apt
and quick to learn, soon absorbed all the knowledge which his
teachers were competent to impart - the school being, of course,
what is usually denominated a "country school." He devoted
his working hours as an able assistant to his father until 1877,
when, on September 22, of that year, he married Miss Mary
Weaver, a daughter of Samuel and Lydia (Price) Weaver,
then highly respected and influential residents of Butler
county, Ohio, but now deceased. To the congenial union of
William and Mary JOhnson have been born in the following
children, in the order here named: Allie May, Effie,
Flora, Sadie, Lendel, William Franklin and Martin.
It may be here mentioned that the name of Lendell was
selected from a half-hundred suggested by the students of
Middlepoint Normal school, which Mr. Johnson's elder
children were then attending, and thus it was that the fifth
child was so christened.
When Mr. Johnson began housekeeping he located
on an eighty-acre tract a short distance west from his present
beautiful home, in the southeast quarter of section No. 12,
Ridge township, but resided there three months only, where he
moved to a 100-acre farm two miles north, on which he applied
his agricultural skill during his residence there of nine years;
he then moved to his present site, when he has improved with an
elegant dwelling and first-class barns and other substantial
out-buildings, and so tilled the land that the farm easily
compares with, if it does not out-rival, the best in the county.
His possesions now comprise 244 acres of very fine land -
not all in one body, but all within easy access of his
home-stead. Mr. Johnson has handled Jersey stock to
some extent, and also some blooded horses, from which he has
derived considerable revenue, but husbandry is his chief
employment. He is a "broad-gauge" and progressive citizen
in all respects, and is giving his children the best school
advantages - a fact in itself indicative of a high order of
interest on the part of the parent. His daughter, Allie
May, became proficient in music under the tutorship of
Prof. Owen This gentleman, it will be remembered, was
awarded the first prize- a medal - at the Columbian exposition,
or "'World's" fair, for his class of vocal music, it being the
best trained of any that contested for superiority on that
historical occasion. Mr. Johnson is a Knight of
Pythias, and is a charger member of Normal lodge, No. 680, at
the organization of which there were sixty members. In
politics Mr. Johnson is a republican, but has never been
an office seeker. He is content to act the part of a goon
citizen, and, indeed, no person is readily recognized as such
than William Johnson, Jr.
Source: A Portrait and
Biographical Record of Allen and Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ.
Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. - 1896 - Page 371 |
| |
ORLAND W. JOHNSTONE,
the accommodating passenger and freight agent of the C., J. & M.
R. R. company at Van Wert, Ohio, was born in Marion, Ohio, Sept.
23, 1859, a son of John C. and Louisa (Baker) Johnstone,
of whom the former was born in Wayne county, Ohio, Jan. 25,
1830, and the latter in Marion, Ohio, May 21, 1836; they were
married in Marion in 1856, when they located in Van Wert, where
John C. practiced law until 1859; thence they removed to
Marion, where Mr. Johnstone has since continued the
practice of his profession, now ranking among the best attorneys
of the state. They are parents of three children, to-wit:
Genevra, recognized as one of the most accomplished
vocalists in America, and wife of R. W. Bishop, M. D., of
Chicago, Ill.; Orland W., subject of this sketch, and
Homer C., secretary of the Ohio Coal company, at Saint Paul,
Minn. The father is a member of the I. O. O. F. and is a
K. of P.; in religion he is a Methodist, while his wife is a
devout Baptist. He has acquired considerable property in
Marion, and also holds a large interest in an Arizona ranch,
located on the irrigating canals and stocked with horses and
mules and also devoted to the growing of fruit.
Orland W. Jonstone was reared to manhood in his
native city and their received his preliminary education; in
1871 and 1872 he attended the Lincoln (Neb.) Military school,
and in 1873-74-75 was a student in Oberlin college, Ohio;
in 1876 he attended the Hillsdale college, and for the three
following years was employed in school-teaching in Wyandot and
Marion counties, Ohio; he then eagaged with the Hocking
Valley Railroad company, at Toledo, Ohio, as extra agent along
its line, and filled the position for ten years; thence he went
to Portland, Ore., where he acted as train dispatcher for the
Portland & Willamette Valley Railroad company for eight months,
and then, in September, 1889, came to Van Wert and entered upon
the performance of the duties of passenger and freight agent for
the C., J. & M. R. R. company, which position he has since
filled to the satisfaction of the company and the general
public. The marriage of Mr. Johnstone took place at
Morral, Marion county, Ohio, June 12, 1882, to Miss Emma L.
Fowler who was born at Little Sandusky, Ohio, Nov. 27, 1863,
a daughter of S. P. and Martha A. (Coon) Fowler, and this
happy union has been blessed by the birth of two children -
Marguerite and Genevra. Mr. and Mrs. Johnstone are
members of the Universalist church, and fraternally Mr.
Johnstone is a knight templar Mason; in politics he is a
strong and prominent republican. He is also one of the
organizers of the Van Wert Hedge Fence company, and has an
enviable reputation as a business man in general. Both he
and wife enjoy a large and pleasant social acquaintance.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 374 |
Benjamin Jones
Mrs. Benjamin Jones |
BENJAMIN JONES,
one of the most progressive farmers of Willshire township, Van
Wert county, was born in Richland county, Ohio, now known as
Ashland county, Jan. 17, 1837, and is descended from one of the
oldest Welsh families in America. His great-grandfather,
also named Benjamin, came to America with a colony, that
settled in Maryland on land at present partly occupied by the
city of Baltimore, and there died. JAMES,
a son of Benjamin, was born in Baltimore, but soon after
reaching his majority came to Ohio and located in Columbiana
county in 1808, being a pioneer in the full sense of the word.
He had married, in Maryland, Rachael Arnold, and with his
family moved from county to county, including Stark, Wayne,
Medina and Richland - dying in the last named county in 1840,
and his widow in 1845. James Jones, father of our
subject, was born in Maryland, near Baltimore, in December,
1807, and in Medina county, Ohio, in July, 1834, married Miss
Catherine Deweese, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth
(Shaffer) Deweese, and to this union were born the following
children: Joseph (deceased), Benjamin (our
subject), Elizabeth (deceased), Uriah (deceased),
Daniel (deceased), John and James.
The parents lived successively in Medina and Richland counties,
Ohio, and in Adams county, Ind., where the father died, a member
of the Catholic church and in politics a democrat; the mother is
still living, in Willshire township, Van Wert county, Ohio.
Benjamin Jones was early inured to farm labor on
his father's placed, was educated in an old-fashioned log
school-house, and in August, 1861, enlisted in company A,
Forty-seventh Indian volunteer infantry, and served in Kentucky,
Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama,
Florida and Texas, taking part in all the marches, skirmishes
and battles in which his regiment was engaged, including Fort
Madden, Mo., Jackson, Miss., Grand Couteau Bayou, La., Muddy
Bayou, La., Marksville and Atchafalaya, La., Spanish Fort and
Fort Lakley, Ala., and Mobile, Ala. He was also at the
siege of Vicksburg, Riddle Point, Pemberton, Port Gibson and
Champion Hill, Miss., and in all these fights escaped in jury,
with the exception of being hit by a spent ball, which caused a
slight fracture of the skull, but was still a "close call."
He was appointed sergeant Oct. 30, 1862, and was honorably
discharged Nov. 1, 1865, after a service of over four years.
The marriage of Mr. Jones took place Dec.
24, 1865, with Miss Mary Dailey, who was born Nov. 12,
1846, a daughter of James and Mary (Johnson) Dailey,
natives of Athens and Harrison counties, respectively.
James Dailey was born Sept. 23, 1819, and his wife was born
in September, 182; they were married in Van Wert county, owned
600 acres of fine land, and died, respectively, Feb. 27, 1863,
and Dec 4, 1886, highly honored by all who knew them.
Mr. and Mrs. Jones, at their marriage, settled on their
present farm, then not much improved, but now containing 290
acres, with a fine brick residence and three barns. The
soil is well drained and cultivated, and everything denotes the
control of a master mind. The children born to Mr. and
Mrs. Jones were named as follows: Emma, Eva, Dailey
D., Esaias T., Oscar B., James (deceased), Charles J.,
Harvey H., Mary A., Harry O., Clarence C., Fred C. and
Clara A. Of these, Dailey and Esaias
attended Middlepoint Normal college, and have both taught
school. In politics Mr. Jones is a republican and,
is a member of the G. A. R. post at Willshire. He is
devoted to his family, and for his helpmate, who has done so
much toward aiding his progress through life, there is no limit
to his affection.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 430-435 |
| |
DAVID J. JONES,
of York township, Van Wert county, is a native of Jackson
county, Ohio, born March, 1850, a son of JOHN H.
and Mary (Edwards) Jones, native of Wales. John H.
Jones, the father, came to America in 1837, sailing from
Liverpool, England, when twenty-three years of age. On
arriving in this country Mr. Jones was first employed on
a railroad at Pittsburg, Pa., at sixty-two and a half cents per
day. In 1842, he returned to Wales, was married there, and
in 1847 made his second trip to America, accompanied by his wife
and two small children, settling in Jackson county, Ohio, where
he had previously purchased eighty acres of wild land, and where
he spent the remainder of his life. He reared a family of
ten children, as follows: Evan and John who
were born in Wales and came to America in infancy, and here
Evan and John died in childhood, and Evan the
second, also died young; David J., our subject; Ebon
J., who resides in Jackson county, cashier in the Oak Hill
bank; John J., resident of Van Wert county; Kate A.,
deceased wife of John Lewis, died Apr. 2, 1895;
Evan J., a physician of Oak Hill, Jackson county; Joseph
J., of Jefferson Furnace, Jackson county, and Edward J.,
a farmer, John H. Jones, the father, died July 15, 1891,
and his wife in August, 1892.
David J. Jones grew up on his father's farm,
received a first class education, having attended Lebanon
college five terms, and at the age of eighteen became a teacher,
his first school having been taught on the farm of Edward
Hughes, near Venedocia; this vocation he followed ten
years successively, having taught in all thirty terms.
In 1876, he came to Van Wert county, to make a permanent home,
and located on his present farm, then a swamp, occupied by a
band of singing frogs; this he has cleared, drained, cultivated
and improved with a fine, spacious modern residence, which
commands a fine view; he has also erected suitable and
substantial out-buildings. The farm is comprised of 133
acres, and will compare favorably with any other farm of its
size in the county. Sept. 20, 1877, Mr. Jones was
united in wedlock with Lizzie Lewis, daughter of David
H. and Elizabeth (Davis) Lewis, both natives of
Wales, and for a time residents of Pomeroy, Meigs county, Ohio,
where David Lewis pursued his trade of blacksmithing,
afterward removing to the neighborhood of Bethel, Jackson
county, Ohio, where they reared a family of seven children, viz:
John, postmaster of Samsonville, Jackson county, Ohio;
Mary, who died in girlhood;
Hannah, also deceased; Enoch L., druggist
of Oak Hill; Daniel, a farmer of Jackson county; David,
farmer of the same county, and Lizzie, wife of our
subject. David H. Lewis died in February, 1888, his
wife having died in September, 1878.
To D. Jones have been born seven children,
named: Johnny, Lizzie Ann, David,
Edwin, Mamie Edith (deceased), Ada
Mary and Evan Emlyn. In politics Mr.
Jones is a republican, and in 1887 was elected to the
office of justice of the peace, and has served continuously ever
since, never having had a decision reversed during this long
period. Mr. and Mrs. Jones
worship at the Zion Calvinistic Methodist church, and but a few
families in the township of York enjoy a greater degree of
respect than that of our subject.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 481-482 |
| |
EDWARD T. JONES,
of York township, Van Wert county, is a native of Jackson
county, Ohio, was born in June, 1843, and is a son of Thomas
T. and Mary (Edwards) Jones, both natives of Wales.
Thomas T. Jones, the father, lived to be eighty-four years
of age and was then killed by a runaway horse; his wife died at
the age of ninety years; they were the parents of the following
children: Ann, deceased wife of Thymas Allan;
Thomas, who grew to manhood but is now dead; David T.,
who died at the age of fifty years; Ebenezer, who lives
in Jackson county, Ohio; Margaret, wife of Owen Morris,
of York township. All the above children were born in
Wales; the following are natives of Jackson county, Ohio;
Elizabeth, wife of Evan Williams, also deceased;
Edward T., our subject; Elizabeth, who died in
girlhood, and for whom the first grave was made for any of the
Welsh people of Jackson county, Ohio; she was buried in the wood
where afterward was erected the Calvinistic church; John,
the next born grew to manhood, and died in Jackson county, and
Mary, the youngest child, resides in Columbus, Ohio.
Oct. 25, 1866, Edward T. Jones was united in
marriage with Jane Owens, a native of Van Wert county and
a daughter of David and Sarah (Griffith) Owens, both of
whom were born in Wales, came to Ohio in 1837, and in 1848
settled in Venedocia, Wan Wert county, on land now
occupied by William J. Bebb. Mrs. Jones' father
brought with him from Wales his wife and one son, David
who enlisted in the late Civil war and died while in the service
with typhoid fever; Mary became the wife of John M.
Jones and died in1877. The children born in America
were Thomas M., who died in infancy; Sarah, who
died about the age of twenty years; Elizabeth, who died
in girlhood; Jane, wife of our subject; Hannah,
who died in babyhood; John C., died after reaching
manhood in Kenton, Nebr., and Richard E. commonly known
as "Dick."
The beautiful farm of 160 acres, now owned by our
subject, was a gift from his father; it was however, at the time
an entire wilderness and has since been cleared up by Mr.
Jones. Here he and his wife have flourished and raised
a family of eleven children, viz.: Sarah Ann, wife of
D. R. Owens; Thomas T., married Miss Anna J.
Owens; and David Owen; May Elizabeth, who died
in early childhood; Mary; John Newton and Margaret J.,
twins; Ebenezer and a twin sister, the later deceased;
Everett, Edward Oliver, deceased in infancy. The
family worship at the Calvinistic church and in politics Mr.
Jones is a republican. His farm is one of the best
improved in the township and he also owns a fine farm of 166
acres in Washington township, and no family of York township is
more highly respected than that of Edward T. Jones.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 376-377 |
| |
EVAN L. JONES,
one of the old settlers of Washington township, Van Wert county,
Ohio, is a Welshman by birth and is a son of Lewis Jones,
who was a son of Lewis, a butcher of Wales, who died at
the extreme age of eighty-four years. Lewis Jones,
the father of our subject, was a weaver by trade, also a miller,
and married Elizabeth Lewis, to which union were born
three children - John L., William and Evan L., our
subject; the father died when his son, our subject, was but a
little boy.
Evan L. Jones was born in the village of Raden
Melton, Montgomeryshire, Wales, Aug. 3, 1832, and learned to
read his mother tongue in his native land, and to write in
Cincinnati, Ohio, after his day's work was done. He had
been reared on a farm in Wales to the age of fourteen years, and
then, the last of May, 1846, in company with his younger
brother, William, the about ten years old, came to
America, with a colony of twenty-five of their young countrymen.
They sailed from Liverpool, England, in the good ship Elizabeth
Barclay, and after a voyage of thirty-three days, landed in New
York July 1. Coming to Ohio, Mr. Jones found
work in the rolling-mills at Cincinnati, there being many
Welshman in the iron business in that city, and finally became
an adept puddler - a calling he followed for twenty-five years.
In May, 1861, in Cincinnati, Mr. Jones was united
in marriage with Miss Jane Bruce, also a
native of Wales, who came to America with her grandparents, who
were pioneers of Venedocia, Ohio. Mrs. Jones
survived her wedding day about one year when she died in
Cincinnati, leaving no children, and for many years Mr.
Jones mourned her loss.
Preparatory to and during the early part of the Civil
war, Mr. Jones was employed in rolling iron plates
for the United States gunboats, and in 1863 made a trip to
California, sailing from New York to Panama and thence to San
Francisco, whence he went to the Sierra Nevada mountains, and
for twelve years was engaged in gold mining, at which he met
with abundant success. At the end of that period mentioned
he returned east, and in 1880 came to Van Wert county, Ohio,
here he purchased a tract of 160 acres of woodland in Washington
township, and by dint of hard labor of which he is capable, has
cleared up his land and made a farm and home equal to any in the
township.
The second marriage of Mr. Jones was
solemnized, in 1886, with Mrs. Ann Davis,
widow of Edward B. Davis, a pioneer of Van Wert county,
and this happy union was blessed by the birth of four children—Daniel,
Margaret, Maria and Annie. He and
wife are consistent members of the Methodist church, and in
politics he is a republican. He is made of the metal of
which the citizens of a republic should be constituted, with
thews and sinews to match. He has had a varied experience,
and it may be said has endured some suffering. At one
time, while crossing a valley in the Sierra-Nevadas, at Fremont
pass, he and two companions, having met with no water for many
days, came near dying from thirst; their tongues were swollen
almost to an extent sufficient to produce suffocation and
blackened through want of circulation, and when water was at
last obtained, its use in itself produced an almost unendurable,
although temporary, agony. But Mr. Jones
survived it all, and has lived to see the day when he has become
a substantial citizen, in the enjoyment of the fruits of his
early industry and frugality, and surrounded by a host of
friends who delight to do him honor.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 377 |
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J. D. JONES
- Among the well known citizens of Jennings township, Van Wert
county, Ohio, entitled to specific mention, is J. D. Jones,
who was born of Welsh parentage in Jackson county, Ohio, on
the 8th of August, 1859. His parents, David S. and Ann
(Morgan) Jones, came to America in 1857, and located in
Jackson county, Ohio, where for a number of years the father was
employed in the Jefferson furnace. They had a family of
children, whose names are here given: J. D.,
subject of this sketch; Mary, wife of D. H. Edwards;
and Rachel, wife of John Pritchard, of Chicago.
About the year 1860 David Jones brought his family to Van
Wert county, and located on the farm in Jennings township where
his son, J. D., now resides. As is well known, the
southern part of the county at that time was not very highly
improved, and Mr. Jones found his land almost as nature
had made it. He erected a small cabin, which in time was
replaced by a more comfortable and pretentious structure, but
the first modest dwelling served Mr. Jones as a home
until his death, which was caused by the explosion of a mill.
His widow subsequently became the wife of Morgan H. Morgan,
and died Sept. 24, 1883.
J. D. Jones, like the majority of men who came
to Van Wert when the country was new, passed the early years of
his uneventful life amid the rugged duties of the farm, and he
early selected agriculture for his life work. He was
married, in 1881, to Margaret Evans, daughter of
Zachariah and Jane (Jones) Evans, daughter of Zachariah
and Jane (Jones) Evans. The parents of Mrs.
Jones were born in north Wales; they came to the United
States a number of years ago, locating on what is known as
Paddy's Run, Butler county, Ohio, and in 1845 moved to the
county of Allen, locating near the town of Gomer, where the
father died in 1886, his widow following him to the grave two
years later. Zachariah and Jane
Evans were the parents of five children - May,
Anna, Margaret, Thomas and Richard -
the last named dying in childhood. Mr. Jones
owns a splendid farm with fine improvements, including good
barns and a commodious dwelling, supplied with many modern
conveniences. He is, in every respect, a self-made man,
and has forged his way to the front by overcoming obstacles that
would have discouraged men with less will and determination.
His reputation in the community is a most excellent one, and he
numbers his friends by the score, and although still a young man
has won for himself a conspicuous place among the substantial
citizens of the township in which he resides. He is a
member of the Calvinistic Methodist church, to which his wife
also belongs, and is active in all church work. He has
decided opinions relative to the liquor traffic, and believes
that prohibition is the only sure remedy for this gigantic evil;
accordingly, he supports with his ballot the prohibition party.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 384 |
| |
JOHN J. JONES, a
substantial farmer of York township, Van Wert county, was born
in Jackson county, Ohio, Sept. 16, 1853, a son of John H. and
Mary (Edwards) Jones. In company with his brother,
D. J. Jones, he came to Van Wert county, in 1876, and
purchased a tract of land, in which his brothers and sisters
were equally interested, the tract comprising 160 acres,
entirely without improvementss. July 4, 1879, he felled
the first tree to clear a space for his dwelling, and erected
thereon a residence much superior to those of the locality and
times. The forest was so dense and crowded so closely upon
him that he made it a business to burn his brush at night,
in order to keep better trace of the straying sparks. In
three yeas from the date of his forest home were transformed
into fertile fields, yielding him the reward that honest toil
assures to the diligent. Not only is his farm now improved
with commodious and modern buildings and wind-engine, but Mr.
Jones has laid therein more than 9,000 rods of tile; his
farm will now compare most favorably with any of its size in the
township and leave a rich reward for the labor bestowed upon it;
not only is Mr. Jones a thoroughly practical farmer, but
is also a wide-awake and competent business man. He has
the agencies for the Star wind-pump, the Nicholas thresher, and
the Mast Wild Fence company, with his office on South Washington
street, Van Wert, at the hardware store of Mr. Kime.
Oct. 23, 1879, Mr. Jones was united
in marriage with Mary Elizabeth Pritchard, and this union
was blessed with the following children: Mary
Elizabeth, Annie Jane, Johnny, Edna,
and Unice, who died in infancy. The mother of these
children died Oct. 10, 1889, and Mr. Jones subsequently married
Mary Ann Davis. One child, David
Oswald, has come to bless this union, shedding a new
light in the household, Mr. and Mrs. Jones are earnest
christian people, and so deport themselves as to gain the honor
and respect of all their neighbors. Mr. Jones
has served as trustee of the township of York, has always been
industrious and enterprising, and few men of the township stand
as high as he, either as a farmer or business man.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 383 |
|
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JOHN L. JONES,
now a thriving farmer of Washington township, Van Wert county,
Ohio, was born in northern Wales, May 20, 1830, and is a son of
Lewis and Eliza (Lewis) Jones. Lewis Jones,
the father, died when our subject was but two years old, leaving
four children, viz: Evan L. William who died at the age
of twenty-five years; Lizzie, and John L. Mrs.
Jones remained a widow and died in Wales without further
issue.
John L. Jones was reared to farm work, receiving
but a limited education, and that was obtained in the Sunday
school of his native parish. In 1855 he came to America
and found employment in a boiler shop in Cincinnati, Ohio, until
the breaking out of the Civil war, when he enlisted, in May,
1864, in company A, One hundred and Thirty-eighth Ohio volunteer
infantry, for 100 days, and served on guard duty in Maryland, at
Point Lookout, and performed his duty promptly and cheerfully,
but was greatly exposed and endured considerable suffering.
He received an honorable discharge in July, 1864, at Cincinnati,
but was much debilitated by chronic diarrhoea. He returned
to work in the boiler shop, and May 2, 1866, married Margaret
E. Evans, who was born Mar. 11, 1838, in southern Wales, a
daughter of Evan J. and Mary (James) Evans, this union
resulting in the birth of five children, viz: Mary
Jane, Elizabeth, Anna, Evan (who died at one year of age),
William Henry and Margaret Esther.
To Evan J. Evans and his wife, the parents
of Mrs. John L. Jones, were born nine children, named as
follows: Elizabeth, Mary, John, Evan, Edward, Ann,
Jane, Murgaret and James - all born in Wales.
Mr. Evans was a carpenter by trade, but became a farmer
by buying forty acres of land in the wild woods of Jackson
county, Ohio, which by dint of industry, he converted into a
fertile farm, on which he lived in peace and comfort the latter
years of his life, and died at the age of seventy-two years, a
member, and also a Sunday-school teacher, of Methodist church,
of which his wife was also a devotee. He was a remarkably
industrious man and held the respect of his fellow-citizens, who
elected him to several local offices, such as supervisor and
school director, and gave many other demonstrations of the
esteem in which they held him.
Mr. Jones, after marriage, continued to work at
boiler-making in Cincinnati for about five years, and then
removed to Dayton, Ohio, where he followed the same business a
year or more, and then, in 1873, came to Van Wert county, and
bought eighty acres of land in the woods of Washington township,
where he cleared up a space for a log cabin, and under the
advice of his kindly neighbors soon made an excellent farm, and
now has that compares favorably with any in the neighborhood.
Mr. and Mrs. Jones are members of the Calvinistic
Methodist church, and in politics is a republican. They
have reared a family of respected children, and they themselves
are greatly respected for their industry, kindly actions as
neighbors, and consistent walk through life as sincere
Christians.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 375 |
|
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JOHN M. JONES, a
resident of York township, Van Wert county, is a native of
Cincinnati, Ohio, born Oct. 10, 1849, a son of Hugh F. and
Mary (Morris) Jones, both natives of Wales, and who came to
America in their single days, and wedded in Cincinnati, where
his father was employed as head sawyer. Hugh F. Jones
was born in 1819 and reached Cincinnati in 1846; then in 1850 he
came to Van Wert county, bearing a son, John M., on his
back from Spencerville, Ohio. He had, however, previously
entered eighty acres of land near Jonestown, York township,
where he settled in the thicket, and at once set about clearing
away the forest. He afterward added to this tract 142
acres, and later purchased 160 acres, 120 of which are now owned
by John M., our subject. The children born to
Hugh F. and Mary Jones were named as follows: John
M.; Elizabeth, Margaret, wife of T. M.
Missouri; David, also of Missouri; Jane,
deceased wife of David E. Lewis; Sarah, wife of
Evan A. Davis, of Marion, Ind.; Edward R., of York
township, and Mary C., residing on the old
homestead. Hugh F. Jones, the father of John M.,
died Apr. 10, 1890, aged seventy years, eight months and seven
days. His companion had been called to her last resting
place Feb. 2, 1870.
John M. Jones, our subject, labored faithfully
on his father's farm until attaining his majority; he had good
educational advantages, and quite the school to begin teaching,
which profession he followed for fifteen winters; after quitting
the public schools, however, he attended the normal school at
Delphos, and later at Van Wert. Feb. 24, 1884, he was
united in wedlock with Miss Maria Williams, a native of
Portage county, Ohio, but a resident, at the time of her
marriage, of Macon county, Mo. She was an accomplished
lady and a teacher in the high schools of New Cambria, Mo.; her
parents were Moses and Mary (Evans) Williams, both
deceased. In the spring of the same year Mr.
Jones began the cultivation of the same year Mr.
Jones began the cultivation of his present farm. The
children born to John M. Jones and wife were named as
follows: Ada Mary, Hattie Jane, and Hugh Moses.
In politics Mr. Jones is a stanch member of
the republican party, has served as township assessor two terms,
and in April, 1896, was elected township clerk - his father
having been treasurer for more than a quarter of a century,
twenty-three years of this time having been passed in office
continuously. His father died honored and respected by all
who knew him, he and wife having been for many years consistent
members of the Welsh Presbyterian church. Hugh F. Jones
also served as trustee and assessor of his township, as well as
land appraiser for two terms. John M. Jones is a
highly honored citizen of the township, is industrious, pious,
and is most excellent citizen in all respects.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 383 |
S. B. Jones |
RHODA C. JONES, widow of
SAMUEL B. JONES, who was a highly respected citizen of
Pleasant township, Van Wert county, Ohio, was born in 1825 near
West Milton, Miami county, Ohio, a daughter of Samuel and
Mary (Miles) Coate. Samuel Coate, father
of Mrs. Jones, was a native of South Carolina,
born in 1799, and a son of Henry Coate, who was
born in the same state in about 1771, of English parentage.
Henry Coate was a blacksmith and farmer, married
Mary Hasket and became the father of Samuel
Coate, mentioned above, who was the second son.
About 1805 the family immigrated to Ohio, coming in wagons and
consuming six weeks' time in making the journey. Henry
Coate took up 200 acres of government land in the wilds
of Miami county, built a log cabin and settled his family among
the wild men and wild animals of the region. Indeed, on
their way hither a young brother of Henry was captured by
the savages; he adopted their dress and manners, and never
returned to civilization; another child of the family was
subsequently murdered by the Indians, while in its mother's
arms. Henry Coate was a pious Quaker
minister, and was held in high esteem by the pioneer neighbors,
among whom he died, in 184, in his seventy-eighth year.
Samuel Coate, the father of the lady
whose name opens this sketch, was reared on the pioneer farm of
his father and received but a limited common-school education.
Under his father he learned the blacksmith's trade, at which he
worked until failing health warned him to seek other employment;
he therefore engaged in merchandising in Newton township, Miami
county, Ohio, a business he followed the remainder of his life.
In 1824 Samuel Coate was united in marriage with
Mary (Pearson) Miles, the fruit of this union being one
child - Rhoda C. named above. Mrs. Coate was
born in South Carolina in 1804, but at the age of two years was
brought to Miami county, Ohio, by her parents, who were among
the earliest settlers of the county. This family was also
of English extraction and of royal blood. Jonathan
Miles was well known in Miami county, Ohio, by her parents,
who were among the earliest settlers of the county. This
family was also of English extraction and of royal blood.
Jonathan Miles was well known in Miami county, where he
was an honored citizen, and where he died, in 1868, in his
ninetieth year.
Mary (Miles) Coate, the mother of the subject of
this sketch, was reared on the home place of her parents in
Miami county, received a fair common-school education, became an
active worker in the Friends' church, and died May 10, 1891.
Samuel Coate also was a member of the Friends' church,
and in politics was stanch republican, filling several local
offices under the auspices of that party. His death took
place in 1847 - honored and respected by all who knew him.
Rhoda C. (Coate), Jones was also educated in the common
schools of Miami county, and in 1843 was united in marriage with
Samuel B. Jones, of Miami county, and this union was
blessed by the birth of ten children, viz: Dr. Henry W.,
of Van Wert; Laban J., deceased; Rev. Ephraim M.,
deceased; Roswell B., of Troy, Ohio; Samuel C.,
lawyer of Columbus, Ohio; Rev. Barton K., Charles F.,
John W. and Josephine J., all four deceased, and
Lambert W., a lawyer of Van Wert. The father of these
children was born in Miami county, Ohio, in 1820, a son of
Philemon and Naomi (Tucker) Jones, early emigrants from
Tennessee. Samuel B. Jones was reared a farmer and
was identified with the agricultural interests of Miami county
until 1876, when he came to Van Wert county and purchased the
farm on which his widow still resides; with his wife he was a
member of the Friends' church, and in politics he was a stanch
republican, being frequently honored with local offices.
He was a practical and successful farmer, a useful and
public-spirited citizen, honorable in all his dealings, and held
the confidence and esteem of his fellow-men until his lamented
death, June 26, 1889, in his sixty-ninth year.
Source: A Portrait and Biographical Record of Allen and
Van Wert Counties, Ohio - Publ. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co. -
1896 - Page 351 |
NOTES: |
