.
|
BIOGRAPHIES
Source
#1
County of Williams, Ohio.
Historical & Biographical
with An outline Sketch of the Northwest Territory, of the State, and
Miscellaneous Matters.
ILLUSTRATED
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor
CHICAGO: F. A. BATTEY & CO., PUBLISHERS -
1882
< BACK TO
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX >
< CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO
LIST OF BIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES >
|
| |
Bridgewater
Twp. -
JOSEPH W. BACK was born in Chaplin, Conn., Dec. 7,
1824, and was the youngest of seven children of Erastus and Anna
(Flint) Back, also natives of Connecticut. The father brought
his family to this township in 1838, purchased 160 acres of land, and
thereon ended his days in the fall of 1847. Joseph, who had
received a good education, began teaching a week before his twenty-first
birthday, and taught eleven terms consecutively. He is fully
posted as to the condition of the early schools of the township, and
tells of one in which there were seven different text-books in
arithmetic; and he still takes great interest in educational affairs.
He has been twice married. Both his wives were teachers, and four
of his children have acted in the same capacity. In 1849, he
married his first wife, Mary A. Shorthill, a native of
Pennsylvania, and then teaching in this township. She died Aug.
22, 1850, aged about nineteen, the mother of one child, which died
young. Four years later, he married Rebecca J. Thomas, also
a teacher from Pennsylvania, who has borne him six children - Edward
E., Flora A., Mary E., Albert J., Sarah E. and Cornelia J.
Mr. Back still owns and resides on the eighty-acre farm presented to
him by his father, and has besides bought and deeded to his sons over
one hundred acres additional. He is one of the earliest pioneers,
having come to the township only one year later than the first settler.
He held the office of Township Clerk for ten years, and for six years
was Justice of the Peace, and also Postmaster for the same length of
time. He has been Class Leader in the M. E. Church for thirty-two
years, and Sunday School Superintendent over half the time since 1849;
was President of the Township Sunday School Convention, and Vice
President of the County Sunday School Convention, and in politics is a
Republican and Protectionist.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 785 |
| |
J.
E. BAILEY (Centre Township) is a son of Alexander and Ann
Bailey, who were natives of Pennsylvania; the former was born
in 1810, the latter in 1807; they were married in Pennsylvania in 1833,
where they resided until 1835, when they moved to Ashland County, Ohio,
and after one year's residence moved to Williams County, Ohio; here they
remained until 1865, when they removed to Missouri, where he died in
1872; she is still living there; their family comprised eight children.
J. E. Bailey was born in Williams County, Ohio, March 15, 1843,
where he has ever sine resided. On August 27, 1863, he was married
to Adaline Marriman, of Portage County, Ohio, where she was born,
March 19, 1846. In 1865, he moved to Missouri and purchased
property, remaining until 1875, when he returned to Williams County,
Ohio, where he bought a farm, moved thereon, and remained until 1879; he
then sold this property, removed to Melbern and engaged in mercantile
business, continuing one year, when he purchased and occupied the farm
he now has in Section 29. He has a family of three children -
Effie R., Eva and Merritt H. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey
are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Bailey
was a soldier in the late war, in Company H, Thirty-eighth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and served one year.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles
Blanchard, Biographical Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers
- 1882 - Page 765 |
| |
JOSEPH
BALDWIN was born in Huntsville, Luzerne Co., Penn. His
parents, Burr and Lucy A. (Trux) Baldwin, are also natives of
Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in 1849, locating on a farm in Jefferson
Township, Williams County. Joseph Baldwin worked on his
father's farm and attended school until his marriage to Miss Mary J.
Andre, which occurred July 27, 1862. He was drafted into the
army in October of the same year, and served for ten months, taking part
in the engagements at Stone River, Hoover's Gap and Tullahoma, and
receiving his discharge at Winchester, Tenn. After his return, he
worked his father's farm for one year. Purchased eighty acres of
land, in 1865, in Ransom Township, Hillsdale Co., Mich., where he
removed with his family, and began the work of clearing the primeval
forest; after this was accomplished, he began trading in poultry,
handling thirty-five tons per season, which he shipped to Boston, Mass.
Mr. Baldwin followed this business until 1881, when he came to
Montpelier, and, in connection with A. H. Baldwin, erected a
brick block, and turned his attention to insurance. Mr. B.
represents the most reliable companies in this line, and does a fine
business, filling the office of Notary Public in connection with the
same Mr. B. also owns an interest in the new steam elevator,
which has a capacity of 10,000 bushels; was built in Montpelier, in
1882, and is a great addition to the place. Mr. and Mrs.
Baldwin are parents of four children - Laura E., Almond B., Eva
L. and Orpha O. Mrs. B is a member of the United
Brethren Church.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 623 |
| |
Madison Twp. -
J. W. BARGER was born
in Jefferson Township, this county, Jan. 4, 1844, and is a son of
William and Elmira (Whitney) Barger, the former a native of Portage
County, Ohio, and the latter of New York. They were the parents of
six children, of whom five are living, viz.: Thomas, George L.,
J. W., Phebe and Martha S. They are among the
oldest settlers in the township, having come here in 1838. J.
W. Barger was reared to a farmer's life, but at present he is the
proprietor of a livery stable at Pioneer. In the spring of 1865,
he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, and at the close of the war was mustered out, Dec., 1865.
Feb. 4, 1864, he married Miss Hannah A. Thompson who is a native
of Pennsylvania. To this union there were born two children, one
only now living - Della E.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 696 |
| |
St.
Joseph Twp. -
JOHN H. BARR, proprietor of the Arlington Hotel,
Edgerton, was born in Green County, Ohio, in October, 1846, and is the
son of Samuel and Margaret Barr, natives of Ohio, and of German
and Irish extraction. The elder Mr. Barr was a pioneer
farmer in Greene County, and there died in 1846, leaving his widow with
one child, our subject, who afterward reared at Lima, Ohio, receiving
the advantages of the schools of that town. In November, 1864, he
enlisted in Company F, Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, took part
in a number of hard-fought battles, and Nov. 2, 1865, was honorably
discharged. On returning, he clerked for three years in a grocery
store, then traveled as salesman, then became proprietor of the railroad
restaurant at Lima, and in 1873 opened the Barnet Hotel in partnership
with E. V. Brownell. He subsequently sold out and located
at St. Mary's, Ohio; there ran the Decker House awhile, and in the
spring of 1877 opened Barr's Hotel. In 1879, he sold out
and came to Edgerton, rented the Crosby House, refitted and
refurnished it, and christened it the Arlington, where he now entertains
the traveling public in the most satisfactory manner. He was
married Mar. 2, 1874, to Emma C., daughter of John and Ann (Readen)
Mott both natives of Ohio, and of French and German extraction.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles
Blanchard, Biographical Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers
- 1882 - Page 506 |
| |
JOHN
BAUER is one of America's thrifty German citizens, and was born
September 26, 1850, and emigrated to the United States in 1867. He
served a two years' apprenticeship at the baker's trade in Germany, and
after his arrival here followed the same for eight years at Ann Arbor,
Mich. He then removed to Detroit, Mich., remaining one and
one-half years in the same business, after which he came to Montpelier,
Ohio, purchased a lot, erected a building, and opened a bakery and
restaurant, of which he is sole proprietor. This is the only
establishment of the kind in the place, and by this thorough knowledge
of and strict attention to business, combined with courtesy and kindness
to patrons, he has won an extensive and successful trade. Mr.
Bauer's parents, Ulrick and Mary Bauer, still remain
in Germany. Mr. Bauer and Miss Fredrika Mosthler
were married at Ann Arbor, Mich., August 28, 1873. She is a native
of Wurtemburg, Germany, and the mother of one daughter - Laura.
Mr. and Mrs. Bauer are both members of the German Lutheran Church.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 624 |
| |
D.
C. BAXTER, (Bryan Township), one of the prominent citizens
of Bryan, was born April 29, 1840, in Fulton County, Ohio. His
father, James Baxter, was a native of Pennsylvania, where his
youth was passed. He went to Knox County, Ohio, at an early day,
where he married Miss Marcia Morrison. In about 1828, they
emigrated to what is now Franklin Township, Fulton County, Ohio, then a
part of Williams County, and consequently were among the first settlers
of that locality. Mr. Baxter entered 200 acres of land from
the Government, it at that time being in a state of nature. He
erected on this one of the old - fashioned backwoods cabins, into which
he moved his household goods and family, and in this manner began life's
battle in the backwoods of old Williams County. He always made
that his home, dying in 1856 on the land he had entered. His widow
married Timothy Hickson, since deceased, and is now living in
West Unity. D. C. Baxter is the third of a family of nine
children, seven of whom are yet living. He received good
educational advantages in youth, and began for himself in the capacity
of pedagogue, continuing the same in Fulton and Williams Counties a
total of twelve terms. In 1866, he went to West Unity, where he
engaged in stock trade and merchandising, and for some time held the
position of Postmaster under Lincoln's administration. In 1871, he
moved to Bryan, and in January, 1872, was elected Cashier of the First
National Bank - of which he was a stock-owner - a position he held until
February, 1882. Besides his interest in the First National Bank of
Bryan, Mr. Baxter is a partner in a private bank at Fayette, is
junior member of the firm of Gleason & Baxter, hardware dealers
of Bryan, and owns an interest in a hardware store at Hicksville.
He possesses valuable town property, including a half-interest with
Hon. J. N. Nelson in the Armory Hall, and conjointly with A. J.
Tressler and A. M. Pratt, owns one of the finest farms in
Williams County. This he has acquired entirely by his own labors,
having began life a poor boy. He is a member of the Masonic and
Odd Fellow fraternities, and is a Sir Knight of Defiance Commandary and
Camp degree Odd Fellow of Bryan. He is of Scotch descent on his
father's side, his great-grandfather being the progenitor of the name in
America. His mother is a native of Vermont and of English descent.
Mr. Baxter was married in March, 1861, to Miss Maria
Shepardson, who has borne him one son - Charles E., now a
student of Williams College. Mr. Baxter is a stanch
Republican in politics and one of the prominent men of Williams County.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 541 |
| |
JAMES Q. BEATTIE was born in
Cumberland County, Penn., April 25, 1817. His father, Robert Q.
Beattie was born in the same county March 11, 1791, and January 30,
1815, he married Mary Kelso, who was born in 1798. To this
marriage were born nine children, of whom three brothers and three
sisters are yet living. In 1838, the family moved to Richland
County, this State, and located on a farm near Mansfield, where Mrs.
Beattie died July 19, 1845. In 1848, Mr. Beattie
married Eliza Cook, and to this union six children were born.
December 5, 1872, Robert Q. Beattie took his departure for "that
undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveler e'er returned."
James Q. Beattie is the second son born of his father's first
marriage. He was reared to manhood in his native State, where he
received only very limited educational advantages. Notwithstanding
this fact, he has paid considerable attention to educational matters,
and today is one of the well posted citizens of Bryan. He has
always made farming his occupation, and owns good farming interests in
William County. He married, Miss Asenath W. Cleland,
November 18, 1841, who was born July 5, 1819, in Washington County,
Penn. They remained in Richland County until October, 1849, when
they emigrated to Williams County, Ohio, where they have been engaged in
agricultural pursuits. In 1874, they removed to Bryan, where they
are esteemed and respected citizens. They have had born to them a
family of eighty children, only two - Robert C. and Mary A.
- of whom are yet living.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 542 |
| |
EZRA E. BECHTOL, County Clerk, was
born in Superior Township, Williams County, Marcy , 1841, and is the son
of Adam and Mary (Starr) Bechtol, the farmer a native of
Pennsylvania and of German descent. Adam was a molder, and
worked at that trade till about 1837, when he came to this county and
entered 320 acres of Government land in Superior Township, which at that
time was a dense forest. Here his wife, who had borne him seven
children, died in January, 1851. His second and present wife, who
was Elizabeth A. Hight, has borne him five children, of whom four
are still living. Ezra E. Bechtol was reared in this
county, and August 30, 1862, enlisted in Company K, Sixty-eighth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and was sent to join his regiment at Bolivar, Tenn.
His regiment made its first important move through Mississippi the
winter of 1862 - 63, worked along the line of the Memphis & Charleston
R. R., and then co-operated with Grant until the fall of
Vicksburg, and participated in the number of severe engagements, among
others, Port Gibson, Jackson and Champion Hill. At Vicksburg his
regiment was veteranized; subsequently it joined Sherman at
Acworth, Ala., and fought through all that campaign up to and including
the 22d of July, 1864, when the battle of Peach Tree Creek was fought,
in which our subject was shot through the left shoulder by a musket
ball, which caused his confinement in hospital till September 25, when
he received a thirty-days furlough, came home, then reported at the
hospital in Columbus, and April 10, 1865, received his discharge.
On his return home, he attended the Ohio Wesleyan University four years,
during and after which time he taught school five terms, In the
fall of 1875, he was elected Clerk of the Common Pleas and District
Court of Williams by the Republicans; served three years; was defeated
at the next election, but in 1881 was re-elected over his successful
competitor of 1878. November 11, 1869, he married Miss
Louanna M. Griffith, who has borne him one daughter - Florence.
He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 543 |
| |
DANIEL
BENDER. (Centre Township) Previous to the
Revolutionary war, George Bender, the grandfather of Daniel
Bender, emigrated from Germany to America, settled in Lancaster
County, Penn., after moving to Franklin County, Penn., where he
purchased a large tract of land and spent his days. His eldest
son, John, was born and married in Lancaster County, Penn., and
shortly after his marriage settled in Franklin County, Penn., near
Chambersburg, which was their life-long home. Mrs. John
Bender was Miss Mary Harmand, and was the mother of eight
children, seven growing to maturity. Daniel Bender, the
youngest (son of John and Mary), was born in Franklin County,
Penn., March 8, 1813. Here he remained until of age, having
acquired the trade of carpenter and builder, where he was employed as
foreman in the construction of the hotel of Mr. John Yantz, at
Navarre, Stark County, Ohio. Here he purchased a home, to which he
removed after his marriage with Miss Nancy Fisher in Wilmot May
30, 1837. She is the daughter of Adam and Sarah Fisher, and
a native of Stark County. Mr. Bender bought a farm in the
vicinity of Navarre in 1842, where the family resided until 1847, when
he sold out and transferred his interests to Williams County, which has
sine been his home. Here he has a fine farm of forty acres, which
he cultivates, devoting some time to the practice of his former
profession. Mr. Bender is an energetic, industrious man,
highly esteemed by all. The family consists of ten children.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 765 |
| |
CHARLES S. BENTLEY was born
in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, September 5, 1846, and is the son of
Stroughton and Orsey (Baldwin) Bentley, natives of Ohio, to which
State their parents came at an early day. The elder Mr. Bentley
died in Erie County, Ohio, September 5, 1852. His widow (now the
relict of Joel Chapman) resides in Bryan with Charles S.
Adamson Bentley, the grandfather of Charles S., was one of
the earliest Disciple ministers in this State, and was quite renowned in
his day. Baldwin Bentley, eldest brother of Charles S.,
at the breaking-out of the rebellion, enlisted in Company A,
Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry - which regiment was almost wholly
made up of students from Hiram College, of which James A. Garfield
was then the President - and died in his country's defense.
Charles S., after eleven years of age, lived on a farm until
sixteen, attending in the interval the common schools. He then
entered Hiram College, and afterward Eastman's Business College at
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from which he graduated in 1865. For three
years thereafter he clerked in a store at Portage, Ohio, and then
entered Hillsdale (Mich.) College, from which he graduated in 1870.
He next engaged in the wholesale lumber business at Allegan, Mich., and
while there employed his spare hours in the study of law. In the
spring of 1872, he entered the law office of Hon. D. Cadwell, of
Cleveland, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar in the fall of the same
year. February, 1873, he formed a co-partnership with the Hon.
A. M. Pratt in the practice of law at Bryan, which association still
continues. May 1, 1874, he married Miss Isabel Kempton, who
was born in Hillsdale County, Mich., January 20, 1849, and to this union
one daughter was born - Isabel L. - March 30, 1875. Mrs.
Bentley died October 30, 1877. Mr. Bentley has
filled the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Williams County, and also
has been School Examiner and City Solicitor. He is a stanch
Republican, a leading member of the bar and an influential citizen.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 543 |
| |
AMOS
BETTS, (Centre Township) the son of Luther and Hannah Betts,
was born in Seneca County, N. Y., November 24, 1818. His
father was a native of Connecticut,a nd settled in New York at an early
day, and the mother was a native of Vermont. The father died in
his native State, and the mother soon after moved with her family of
fourteen children to Marion County, Ohio, and then came to Williams
County, Ohio, where she ended her days. Amos accompanied
his mother to Marion County, and there remained until 1838, when he went
to Huron County, where, September 12, 1841, he married Mary M.
Darling, a native of Cattaraugus County, N. Y., and born April 17,
1824. In 1847, he removed from Huron to Williams County, and
purchased some land which he afterward sold. Here his wife died,
March 27, 1874. April 19, 1877, he married Louisa Lockhart
who was born in Ashland County, Ohio, January 14, 1839. He now
bought back his old farm, and still resides upon it. He has a
family of ten children - Margaret m., Charles R., Luther, Rosina A.,
Benjamin P., Henry A., Cornelia L., Theodore D., David D., and J.
A.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 766 |
| |
Bridgewater
Twp. -
J. C. BLACKFORD was born Feb. 28, 1842, in Portage
County, Ohio, and is one of eight children born to Jacob and Mary (CoppP
Blackford, the former a native of Virginia, and the latter a satire
of Pennsylvania. Mr. Blackford was educated at the common
schools in his youth, and was also taught the carpenter's trade.
He remained with his parents till twenty-three years of age, and Nov. 5,
1865, married Miss Nettie McCarty, and native of this township.
He then moved to Pioneer, this county, where he worked at his trade
about thirteen years, and then moved to Bridgewater and located on his
present farm, which comprises forty acres of good land, which, as a
rule, he hires farmed. He is a first-class carpenter, and the
frequent demands for his services clearly indicate. He has been a
member of Pioneer Lodge, No. 461, I. O. O. F, and of the Methodist
Episcopal Church and was always al Republican in politics, at the
present holding, through the suffrage of that party, the office of
Justice of the Peace. He is the father of one child - Alta;
he is esteemed as a conscientious man and public-spirited citizen.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 785 |
| |
THOMAS
BLAIR (Centre Township) was born in Lycoming County,
Penn., April 22, 1815, the second eldest child of Aaron and Margaret
Blair. The former was born in Pennsylvania in 1783, and the
latter in New Jersey in 1787, and were married in Lycoming County in
1808. They had a family of seven children, viz., Ann, Thomas,
Elizabeth, Ruth, Peter, John and Aaron K. August 11,
1842, Thomas Blair married Sarah J. Hahaffey, also a
native of Lycoming County, Penn., and born October 15, 1824. Just
after marriage he came to this township and settled on eighty acres of
fine land, on which he has since made his home. At his house his
father, who was on a visit to him from his home in Pennsylvania, was
taken ill, and died in October, 1846. His mother expired at the
old homestead in Lycoming, in October, 1653. Mr. Blair is
an old and respected citizen of Centre Township, and has had born to him
a family of ten children, viz., Susan E., Margaret A., Sarah J.,
Esther M., Zelma L. (deceased), Emma A., William A., Rhoda I.,
Della R. S. T. and a son who died in infancy.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 766 |
| |
SCHUYLER E. BLAKESLEE, attorney
at law, was born near Avon Springs, N. Y., and when a child was taken by
his parents, Ozi and Achsa (Taylor) Blakeslee, to Geauga County,
Ohio, where the father engaged in farming. The parents were
natives of the Nutmeg State, and to them were born eight children.
The father was a Captain in the war of 1812, and was present at the
battle of Black Rock, near Buffalo, N. Y. At this battle, Col.
Samuel Blakeslee, father of Ozi and grandfather of
Schuyler, was a command of the American forces, the General and
charges of the same being absent at the time. The father live din
Ohio after the war, serving in many minor offices, and for a time was
Captain of a company of State Militia. The subject of this sketch
was reared on a farm, receiving in early years an academic education,
and when twenty-one years of age entered the law office of Gov.
Seabury Ford, who resided at Burton, Geauga Co., Ohio. Here he
remained until he graduated in law. In 1844, he came to Bryan,
where he began the practice of his profession, which he has continued
until the present. Mr. Blakeslee is a man of unusual mental
endowments, and since 1844 has been one of the recognized leaders, not
only of the Williams County bar, but also of the bar of Northwestern
Ohio. He has been Commissioner of Insolvents, Prosecuting
Attorney, and has represented Williams County three terms in the Lower
House of the State Legislature, first in 1856, and then in 869 and 1871.
He was the author of several bills which became laws of the State, and
was one of the most active members of the sessions in which he served.
He was an Old Line Whig, but sine the formation of the Republican party,
has been an earnest soldier in its ranks. The county has no better
citizen.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 544 |
| |
Brady Twp. -
MRS. SUSANNAH BOHNER,
of Welsh descent on the paternal side and French on the maternal, was
born in Dauphin County, Penn., Feb. 19, 1807. Jan. 16, 1828, she
was married to Jacob Bohner, of German descent, and born in
Northumberland County, Penn., Aug. 2, 1808. In 1831, they
emigrated to Richland County, Ohio, and in June, 1835, moved to this
township, settled in the woods, and hewed out of the wilderness a farm.
They had a family of ten children born to them, as follows - Emmanuel,
on June 17, 1829; Catharine, Jan. 31, 1831; John, Oct. 17,
1832; George W., Feb. 22, 1834; Elizabeth, May 18, 1836;
Mary, Mar. 5, 1839; Jacob, Feb. 5, 1841;William, Oct.
2, 1842; Susannah, July 1, 1844, and Levina, Aug. 10,
1846. Of these four are dead, viz: William, who was wounded
at the battle of Murfeesboro in Sept., 1864, and died in the hospital
Oct. 3; Levina, who died in the blind asylum, at Columbus, Jan.
15, 1865; Emmanuel, who died at West Unity, Apr. 23, 1877, and
Elizabeth (Bohner) Summers who died in Hillsdale County, Mich., May
29, 1882. Mrs. Bohner has had sixty-three grandchildren,
forty-eight of whom are now living, and nineteen great-grandchildren, of
whom there are sixteen now living. Jacob Bohner, Sr., died
Apr. 25, 1881, of dropsy, after an illness of about eleven weeks, at the
age of seventy-three. He had been considered the strongest man in
the county, and had never been ill until he met with his fatal attack.
Mr. Bohner has been partially blind the last twenty-eight years,
and for the last sixteen totally deprived of sight.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles
Blanchard, Biographical Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers
- 1882 - Page 654 |
| |
ALVA
BOISE, (centre township) son of Nathan and Deborah
Boise, was born in Portage County, Ohio, May 1, 1820. His
father, Nathan, was born in Massachusetts about the year 1779,
and was a son of John and Sarah Boise. This family is of
French origin, and their ancestors belonged to the noted Du Boise
family, who were very prominent in France during the reign of Louis
XIV, and were driven from that country to the northern part of
Ireland during the Huguenot persecutions. Here the name was
changed to Boies, and in about 1825 to the present mode. In
the early part of the last century David, a descendent of the
family, emigrated from Ireland to America and located in the town of
Hopkinton, Mass., but subsequently removed to Blandford, Mass., about
1735 or 1737. But a few people, at that early period, had turned
their attention toward the settlement of the backwoods of the State, as
the country was mountainous and heavily timbered, and permanent settling
was attended with much more danger and labor there than in the valleys.
David was a man of deep religious thought and principles. He
had a large family of children, of whom three were sons, viz., John,
William and Samuel. John, arriving at manhood,
turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He reared a family
of children, and his two sons were named John and Samuel,
the former being the grandfather of the subject of our sketch. He
was born in Blandford November 22, 1744, and was one of the first white
male children to see the light in that town; he was celebrated as a
schoolmaster, and was a prominent member of the Baptist Church; he was
married to Sarah Freeland, by whom he had a family of six
children, who all lived to a mature age; three of them were sons -
James, Enos and Nathan. He died September 9, 1830; his
son, Nathen was born in Blandford, Mass., in 1779, and there he
lived until 1802, when he came to Portage County, this State, where he
shortly after married Deborah, the daughter of Thompson and
Mary Pegg. Nathan and wife died in Portage County in
the years 1826 and 1863, leaving a family of eight children, viz.,
Enos, Sarah, Joel, Elijah, Alva, Mary, Lydia and Philo.
Alva Boise was married, in Portage, October 18,1847, to
Catherine, daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth Calvin, and until
October, 1850, he remained there following his trade of wagon-making; he
then came to this township and purchased and moved upon the farm he
still occupies. This contains 120 acres of very fine land, and is
well improved in all respects. Mr. Boise is the father of
one son, Watson, who was born May 29, 1857, and was married,
September 15, 1877, to Miss Rebecca Brannan; he resides on the
old homestead, and superintends the cultivation of the farm. The
family are all people of superior intelligence, and are among the most
respectable in the township.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 766 |
| |
Florence Twp.-
JOHN
BOMAN, son of George and Christine (Hachenbarg) Boman, was
born in
Wayne County, Ohio, Mar. 28, 1839. His father was a shoemaker,
but occasionally worked at farming; he came to Williams County in 1853,
settling on the place now owned by our subject. John Boman's
early life was passed on a farm, yet he acquired a fair education.
In September, 1861, he became enrolled in Company H, Third Ohio Cavalry,
continuing in the military service for three years and three months, and
taking part in the battles of Perrysburg, Stone River, Chickamauga, Snow
Hill, Woodsonville, Bardstown and others. He was under Gen.
Thomas during his Georgia campaign, and was discharged at Nashville
Dec. 30, 1864, since which time he has been employed in farming.
It was largely due to Mr. Boman's influence that the town of
Blakeslee can trace its origin, he having donated about four
and one-half acres to the Wabash & St. Louis Railroad Company, for depot
and grounds; he also caused a survey and platting of the town, which was
done Nov. 15, 1880. At that time the only improvements were one
log house and a grocery, built for the railroad company. Since
then Blakeslee ahs grown rapidly, Mr. Bowman having erected a
building now used as a hardware store, as well as disposing of about
twenty-nine acres of land in town lots and for depot grounds. He
still has, however, a snug farm of fifty-seven acres. He is a Free
and Accepted Mason.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 743 |
| |
MELVIN M. BOOTHMAN, merchant, was
born in Jefferson Township, Williams Co., Ohio, October 16, 1846, and is
one of nine living children, of a family of ten, born to Lemuel M.
and Melisendra (Hart) Boothman, who was natives of Trumbull County,
Ohio, and of English descent. Lemuel Boothman was reared
and educated in his native county. At the age of eighteen months
he was left an orphan, and was reared by a Mr. Mitchell.
The spring of 1843, he came to Williams county; purchased eighty acres
of land in Jefferson Township, it, at that time, being all woods;
cleared a place, sufficiently large in which to erect a log cabin, and
shortly afterward married, moved upon his place and began clearing and
improving it. He lived on this farm until 1873, when he sold out
and moved to Bryan, where he has since resided. M. M. Boothman
was reared in Williams County, assisting his parents on the farm at
clearing and farming. He received a fair common-school education,
and January 4, 1864, enlisted four three years, or during the war, as
private in Company H, Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was
mustered into service at Toledo, a few days after his enlistment.
He participated in his first battle the 7th of August, 1864, at the
right of Atlanta, known as Utoy Creek, when his company lost eleven men
killed and wounded. After that occurred the battle of Jonesboro,
September 1, 1853, in which the company went in with thirty-three men
and came out with a loss of nineteen. It was here that Mr.
Boothman was one of five who lost left limbs. He was shot
directly through the left knee, by a musket ball, which resulted in the
amputation of that limb the next morning. The wounded went into
hospital on the field, and after a few days were removed to Atlanta;
remained there until October 29, and thence were removed to Atlanta;
remained there until October 29, and thence where removed to
Chattanooga, Tenn., Nashville, Jeffersonville, Ind., Camp Dennison,
Ohio, and from there received a thirty-day furlough. He received
his final discharge June 7, 1865. He began then going to school,
afterward engaged in teaching, and in this way acquired a good practical
education. He attended the law school at Ann arbor in October,
1869, graduating in September, 1871. He then came home, and the
20th of June of that year married Miss Angeline Bushong.
That same fall, he was elected County Treasurer by the Republican party,
and re-elected in 1873, serving two terms. He then began the
practice of his profession, in partnership with B. E. Sheldon;
subsequently (1881), with Thomas Emery. Mr. Boothman
has made the practice of law a success, and he and Mr. Emery are
doing a good legal business. He is a Republican in politics, and
he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, and the parents of
four children - Howard E., Grace, Dale M. and one as yet unnamed.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 545 |
| |
CHARLES A. BOWERSOX, present
Representative from Williams County to the State Legislature, was born
October 16, 1846, in St. Joseph Township, Williams County, Ohio.
He is the youngest but one of a family of seven, four of whom are yet
living, born to John W. and May Jane (Breckenridge) Bowersox, who
were both natives of Maryland and of German and Scotch-Irish descent
respectively. John W. Bowersox was reared in his native
State, and when a young man, moved into Pennsylvania, where he married,
after which he moved into Starke County, Ohio, where he worked at his
trade, shoemaking. He came to St. Joseph Township, Williams Co.,
Ohio, in October, 1838, where he entered a large tract of land from the
Government. He has live don this farm ever since. At the
time of his arrival, settlers were very few, and wild animals and
Indians were far more plentiful than civilized people. His wife
died in March, 1868. Charles A. Bowersox was reared in
Williams County, receiving his education in the log schoolhouse of that
early day. The winter after he was sixteen years old, he began
teaching school and vocal music, and from the proceeds of his labor as
teacher, together with what he earned farming summers, he has educated
himself. He entered Otterbein University at Westerville in 1870,
and graduated from the classical department in June, 1874. He then
came back to Williams County, and for two years superintended the
schools of Edgerton, during which time he was a member of the Board of
County Examiners. In 1875, he was elected Probate Judge of
Williams County, and after serving his term of three years, formed a
partnership in the practice of law with Hon. Edward Foster, which
has since continued with success. The fall of 1881, Mr.
Bowersox was elected Representative to the State Legislature by the
Republican party, and is a present occupying that position. He was
married, June 10, 1875, to Miss Laura A. Jarvis, of Westerville,
Ohio, also a graduate of Otterbein University. She was born
December 8, 1854, in Stark Co., Ohio. The log cabin erected by
John W. Bowersox in St. Joseph Township on his arrival is yet
standing, and in this cabin five of his seven children were born.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 546 |
| |
St.
Joseph Twp. -
JOHN W. BOWERSOX is a native of Frederick County,
Md., and was born Jan. 10, 1808. He was reared a shoemaker and
farmer till eighteen years of age, when he went out to work for two
years as a journeyman shoemaker. Returning home, he remained a
year, and then moved to near Gettysburg, Penn., where he opened a shop.
In 1831, he married Miss Mary J. Breckenridge, a native of
Maryland, and born Dec. 4, 1809. Soon after marriage, Mr.
Bowersox moved to Stark County, Ohio, located in North Infantry, and
there followed his trade for seven years; then he moved to this township
and located on Section 5, in the fall of 1838 erecting a round-log
cabin, which is yet standing. This farm, then in the wilderness,
contained but eighty acres; it now comprises 395 acres, a great part
under cultivation and well improved. Mrs. Bowersox died
Mar. 1, 1866, aged fifty-eight years, leaving a family of four out of
seven children - John Wesley, Mary E., Nancy Ellen and Charles
A. Mr. Bowersox was formerly a Township Trustee, in which
office he served several terms, and he has also served as Supervisor of
Roads. Notwithstanding all the hardships and inconveniences of
frontier life, Mr. Bowersox still speaks of the days of his first
settlement here as the happiest of his existence. The forest then
was full of game and many were the deer and wild turkeys that fell at
the crack of his rifle, and his sport was enlivened on one occasion by
the slaughter of a bear, and on another by the death of a wild cat.
His parents, Christian and Mary A. (Warner) Bowersox, were
natives of Maryland, and of German descent.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles
Blanchard, Biographical Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers
- 1882 - Page 507 |
| |
J.
A. BOWSER was in the Fairfield County, Ohio, July 25, 1826, being
one of a family of three born to John J. and Barbara (Opt) Bowser.
Mr. Bowser left Fairfield County for Seneca County when about
twenty-one years old, learning while there the trade of a shoemaker.
At this place he married Nancy A. Bordnet; on Jan. 13, 1852,
remaining four years, when he returned to Fairfield County, coming to
Williams County in 1857, and settling on the place he now owns, a fine
farm of one hundred and twenty-acres; this farm is now nearly all
cleared, and has good buildings, but was only partly cleared when Mr.
Bowser, took possession. His family comprises four children -
Laura E., John J., Ida J. and Alta L., the two eldest
being married and residing in this township. Mrs. Bowser
died Jan. 1, 1873. Mr. Bowser is a communicant of the
German Reformed Church. ~ Page 744 - Florence Twp.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 744 |
|
|
Springfield Twp. -
AMON C. BRADLEY, a veteran of the Black Hawk war, and of the late civil
war, was born Feb. 6, 1812, in Litchfield, Conn. He is one of
twelve children born to Major and Chloe (Hulbert) Bradley, both
natives of Connecticut. Capt Bradley, after receiving an
ordinary youthful education, enlisted, at the age of nineteen, at Utica,
N. Y., in Company I, Second Regiment United States Army. The
company was stationed at Fort Niagara, but in May, 1832, was ordered to
Fort Dearborn (Chicago). Soon Gen. Scott arrived with 300
troops. The cholera now appearing, the fort was given up to the
sick, the well portion of the command camping one-half mile away, on
Lake Michigan. The Black Hawk war having broken out, this command,
under Col. Eustis, started in pursuit of the Indians.
Gen. Scott joined them at Davenport, having captured the famous
Black Hawk. When Amon Bradley's term of service expired, he
had been made a Sergeant; this was in 1836. After leaving the
army, Capt. Bradley was employed with his brother, Col. E. D.
Bradley, at Sandusky City. In 1840, he purchased a farm in
Sandusky County, Ohio, which he managed until 1850, when he removed to
Brady Township, in this county, where he purchased land and engaged in
agriculture until the war of the rebellion. He first helped to
recruit a company for three months' service, which was mustered in as
Company E, Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Capt. Bradley
commanding; he returned in 1861, and in the succeeding spring, he, with
Capt. P. W. Norris, recruited a company for Hoffman's
Battalion, consisting of four companies, but increased to a regiment,
and mustered in as the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Ohio Volunteer
Infantry, Capt. Bradley continuing as Captain. At the close
of the war, he was discharged with the regiment and returned to Stryker.
Capt. Bradley had three sons in the late war- Amon M., John
and Edwin N., the first of whom died in a hospital at Pittsburg
Landing, June 14, 1862. Capt. Bradley was married, in 1840,
to Caroline Nichols, of Otsego County, N. Y., a daughter of
Samuel and Phebe Nichols. Capt. and Mrs. B. have had seven
children, five of whom are living. Capt. Bradley was for
years a Trustee of Brady Township; he has also been a Councilman of the
village of Stryker; he is a member of the Baptist Church, and Mrs. B.
of the Methodist Church. Edwin N. Bradley, youngest son
of Capt. Bradley, received a fair education. In 1862, he
enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Ohio Volunteers,
and served until June, 1864, when he was discharged from ill health.
In 1869, he went to Cass County, Neb., and in the fall of 1871, was
elected County Surveyor. In 1872, he returned to Williams County,
where he has since resided. He is a member of Macon Lodge, A., F.
& A. M., at Plattsmouth, Neb., and of Northwest Chapter, R. A. M., at
Bryan, Ohio. He is an enterprising young man, and a Republican.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles
Blanchard, Biographical Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers
- 1882 - Page 710 |
E. D. Bradley |
Springfield Twp. -
COL. EDWIN D. BRADLEY, a veteran of the war with
Mexico, as well as the late civil war, a patriot and Christian
gentleman, of whom Williams County may well be proud, was born Aug. 28,
1804, at Litchfield, Conn. He is a son of Major and Chloe
(Hulbert) Bradley, both natives of Connecticut. In 1638,
Samuel Bradley emigrated from Reading, England, to the colony of New
Haven. From him Col. Bradley is descended. Both his
grandparents- Daniel Bradley and Calvin Hurlburt - were
active participants in the war for independence, the first as a
Quartermaster; the second served as a private under Gen. Putnam,
and afterward became a prominent Baptist clergyman of Berlin, Conn.
After a preliminary education, and working on his father's farm as well
as at the carpenter's trade, Edwin D. Bradley entered an academy
at Litchfield, where he remained two years, then entered the law office
of Beers & Sandford, at Litchfield, reading law for two and
one-half years, and attending lectures at the law school of Judge
Gould. Owing to failing health he was soon compelled to
abandon his studies. In 1835, he came to Sandusky City, Ohio,
where he engaged in agriculture until the Mexican war began, when he
commenced recruiting a company for service; six days later he marched
said company to its rendezvous at Camp Washington, where it was
organized as Company F, with Col. Bradley as Captain, and
assigned to the First Ohio Volunteer Infantry; this company he commanded
until the regiment was mustered out of service at New Orleans, June,
1847. On his return from Mexico he came to Williams County, Ohio,
where he engaged in mercantile business at Lockport, Evansport and
Stryker, for about ten years, coming to Stryker in 1856, where he has
since remained. On the occurrence of the rebellion, Col.
Bradley was among the first to respond, and at once recruited a
company for three months, which was assigned to the Fourteenth Ohio
Regiment, of which Col. Bradley was Adjutant; but before the
expiration of this service, he was commissioned Colonel, with authority
to recruit a three years' regiment in Northern Ohio. In three
weeks 968 men were enrolled, constituting the Thirty-Eighth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry (known as the Williams County Regiment).
Advancing age and failing health compelled his resignation in February,
1862. He has been three times married, his last wife being
Miss Kate Russell, of Vermont. In politics, he was a Democrat
until the last war, when he became a stanch Republican. He has
served as Justice of the Peace, and, though not aspiring to civil
honors, ahs been a candidate for the Legislature, and for Auditor and
Sheriff of his county. When eighteen years of age he joined the
Congregational Church, of which Dr. Lyman Beecher was pastor,
but, on finding no Congregational Society in the West, he affiliated
with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he has been a leading
communicant. The Bradleys are a decidedly military family,
having been active workers in every war, from colonial times down to the
last call to arms. During the latter, Col. Bradley and all
his sons were engaged - the youngest, but fourteen years old, as a
musician. LIEUT. JAMES H. BRADLEY,
Seventh Regiment United States Army, the brave young officer killed at
the battle of Big Hole, Montana, was a son of Col. Bradley and
the only representative of Williams County in the regular army. He
was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, May 25, 1844. When three years
old, his parents removed to Evansport, on the line between Williams and
Defiance Counties, where his mother died in 1855. In 156, he came
to Stryker, where he received his early education. When the
rebellion broke out, all though but sixteen years of age, his inherited
spirit of patriotism carried him into his father's regiment; he was
refused enrolment, but afterward, at the recommendation of Col.
Steedman, Gov. Dennison ordered that he be enrolled and paid.
After the three months' term, he entered Oberlin College to complete his
education, but his martial longing again prevailed, and he enlisted in
the Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving until the close of the
war, reaching the grade of a SErgeant. In 1865 he returned home,
but a year later, he was appointed First Lieutenant in Company B,
Seventh Regiment Infantry United States Army; he was for a time
stationed at Atlanta, where he was married, in 1871, to a daughter of
Dr. Beech. In 1876, he commanded Gibbons' Mounted Infantry,
being the first to reach the Custer battle-ground and rescue Gen.
Reno's command; he also accompanied Col. Gibbons against the
Nez Perces, surprising the savages, but in the engagement which
followed, he was slain. The news was borne to his bereaved wife
and family, and to his father, who was almost crushed, having the
fondest hopes of his heroic son. Although not possessing a West
Point education, he was an accomplished officer, a fluent and elegant
writer, and well versed in the ancient and modern languages. At
the time of his death, he was preparing works on the Sioux war, and
Chester Massacre, and a history of the Northwest. After the
battle, Hon. P. W. Norris visited the scene, purposing to return
his remains to his native town, but they could not be identified.
Upon a board over his supposed grave was inscribed his name, rank and
date of death.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles
Blanchard, Biographical Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers
- 1882 - Page 708 |
| |
F.
P. BRAKEMAN, (centre township) saw-mill proprietor and
lumber dealer, is a son of Peter and Clarissa Brakeman; was born
in Oakland County, Mich., February 22, 1844 and came with his parents to
Williams County, in 1854. At the beginning of the late war, he
enlisted in Company C, Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and served
three months, and at the expiration of his term re-enlisted in Company
K, Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served till the close of
the war, in all serving four years, four months and twenty-seven days,
mostly under Gen. Sherman. On his return, he married,
December 20, 1865, Anna E. Cummins, who was born in Seneca
County, Ohio, December 6, 1844, He then made his residence on his
father-in-law's farm in St. Joseph's Township, until the fall of 1870,
when he came to this township and purchased a saw-mill, which he has
been running ever since, in connection with a trade in lumber. He
has had born to him a family of five children - Ida, James G., Zadie
B., an infant son who died unnamed and Herbert. He is
an enterprising young business man and an upright, public spirited
citizen.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 767 |
| |
AARON
L. BOYER was born in this township, Nov. 17, 1855, and is the
youngest of thirteen children born to John and Margaret (Shouts)
Boyer, of Huntingdon County, Penn. John Boyer was a
blacksmith and farmer, and in 1835 moved to Ashland County, Ohio, where
he bought a small farm, on which he resided till the spring of 1851,
when he came to this township, and bought the farm of ninety-six acres
where he now resides. He and wife, who was a daughter of
Christian and Mother (Hoover) Shouts, are member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Aaron L. married Sept. 11, 1875, Sarah
E. Robinson, a native of this township, and daughter of Thomas
and Almira (Fuller) Robinson, both natives of Ohio. Two
children are the fruit of their union, and are named Clyde E. and
Earl R. Mr. Boyer and wife are both members of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is looked upon as one of the rising
and enterprising young farmers of the township.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles
Blanchard, Biographical Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers
- 1882 - Page 708 |
| |
ABNER K. BROWN is the eldest of a family of eight children,
and was born in Hancock County, Ohio, Aug. 10, 1838. His father,
Jacob Brown, was born in Pennsylvania, and his mother,
Catharine Jacob Brown, was born in Pennsylvania, and his mother,
Catharine (Brenner) Brown, was a native of Germany. When
Abner was ten years of age, his father came to Williams County and
bought 300 acres of land in Centre Township, on which he still lives.
Jan. 1, 1861, Abner married Amanda Bollinger, who was born
in Seneca County, Ohio. Her parents, Jacob and Mary A. (Stoner)
Bollinger, are natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively, and
came to Williams County, Jan. 9, 1851, and settled on 160 acres in
Centre Township. Abner Brown and his wife lived with his
father for three yeas after marriage, and then came to this township and
settled on a 120 acre farm, which he has increased to 140 acres,
improved with excellent buildings, and made it one of the finest in the
township. Mr. and Mrs. Brown were educated at Williams
Centre High School, then the best in the county, are members of the
United Brethren Church, and the parents of eight living children -
Ora L., Reuben G., Lydia B., Jacob A., Orton K., Melvin, Harry O.
and Ira E., whom they are taking great pains to educate.
Mr. Brown has been Township Trustee for a number of years, and he is
looked upon as one of the most intelligent and enterprising citizens of
the township.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles
Blanchard, Biographical Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers
- 1882 - Page 786 |
| |
DAVID F. BROWN, was born June 3, 1827, at Stonington, Conn.,
being the eldest of ten children born to Elijah and Mary A. (Sanders)
Brown, both of Connecticut. Elijah Brown was a miller,
and died at Derby, Conn., in Oct., 1870. David F. Brown,
when sixteen years old, commenced to learn the carpenter trade in Rhode
Island, serving three and a half years. In 1848, he moved to New
Hartford, and thence to Ansonia, Conn., engaging in sash and door making
until 1853, then removing to Delaware City, where he built the
Colburn manufacturing establishment. After this, he lived in
Minnesota, Iowa, Connecticut, Norwalk, Ohio, and came to Stryker in
1860, having brought the first planing machine into Williams County.
Mr. Brown was first married in 1848, to Sarah Church, of
Connecticut; by this union there was one child, Frances W., now
Mrs. Charles Downs. In April, 1867, he married Mrs. Jane
Barber; to this union there was one child, Mertie E. Mr.
Brown is politically a Republican, and an old and prominent citizen
on Stryker.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles
Blanchard, Biographical Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers
- 1882 - Page 711 |
| |
EMANUEL
BROWN (Centre Township), the son of Abraham and Hannah Brown,
natives of Pennsylvania, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, June 8,
1827 and was there married November 9, 1848, to Juliann Stauffer,
who was born in Lancaster County, Penn., September 19, 1829. In
the fall of 1861, he came from Wayne to Williams County and settled on
Section No. 9, this township, on the same farm where he now resides,
which comprises eighty acres of excellent land. In 1871, he moved
to Bryan and did business there till 1881, when he returned to his farm.
He has had born to him two children - Abraham (deceased) and
Clarissa. Mr. Brown is a member of the I. O. O. F., and has
taken the fifth degree. He is a useful and enterprising citizen
and is highly respected as a man.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 768 |
| |
HENRY
BROWN (Centre Township) is a son of Daniel and Elizabeth Brown,
who were natives of Bedford County, Penn. The former was born
January 1, 1785, the latter January 12, 1789. They were married in
Bedford County, Penn., in the year 1806, remaining there until 1810,
when they removed to Stark County, Ohio, where Mr. Brown died
November 16, 1832. His widow came to Williams County about the
year 1842, where she died in 1862. They had a family of twenty
children, fourteen of whom they reared to maturity. The subject of
our sketch was the third of this family, and was born in Stark County
December 7, 1810. He was married in the same county, March 8,
1832, to Catherine Keller, and in the following October moved to
Hancock County, Ohio, and purchased land. There Mrs. Brown
died January 27, 1853. To this marriage twelve children were born
- Susan, John, Eli, Sarah, Lucinda, Rebecca, Aaron, Samuel, Henry,
Jacob, Mary and Isaac. He was married a second time
June 22, 1856 to Leah Myers, by whom he had four children -
Anna (deceased), Jennie, Amelia and Viola (deceased).
In the spring of 1866, Mr. Brown removed to Williams County,
Ohio, purchasing and occupying his present farm and residence. He
is a member of the German Reformed Church.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 768 |
| |
JACOB
BROWN (Centre Township) is a native
of Stark County, Ohio, where he was born October 9, 1815. His
parents, David and Barbara Brown, were natives of Lancaster
County, Penn., where Mr. Brown was born in 1783, and the mother
in 1786. They were married and remained in this State until 1814,
when they moved to Stark County, Ohio, where Mr. Brown was called
home in March, 1835. Mrs. Brown lived on the old homestead
until 1854, when she decided to come to Williams County, Ohio, and spend
the remainder of her days in the home of her son Jacob Brown.
Here her death occurred the January following. Mr. and Mrs.
Brown were parents of nine children. Mr. Jacob Brown
remained in his native place until 1838, when he bought a farm in
Hancock County, Ohio, upon which himself and family lived until July,
1848, when he disposed of this property and purchased land in Williams
County, which has since been his home. Here he has a fine farm of
305 acres, acquired and brought to its present state of cultivation by
habits of industry and perseverance. Mr. Brown commands the
respect and esteem of his neighbors for uprightness and integrity;
besides tilling the soil, he administers in spiritual things,
being a preacher of the German Baptist faith. Mr. Brown was
married, September 10, 1837, to Miss Catherine Brenner, a native
of Germany, who came to Stark County with her parents in 1830; Mr.
and Mrs. Brown are parents of nine children, eight still living -
Abner K., Barbara, Lydia, Jacob, Catherine, Nancy, Isabella and
Charles F. One son, Reuben, was offered as a sacrifice
on the altar of his country.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 769 |
| |
JOHN
BROWN (Centre Township) is a son of Daniel and
Elizabeth Brown, natives of Pennsylvania, and was born in Stark
County, Ohio, February 12, 1812, and was there married, March 30, 1834,
to Lucinda Briggs, who was born in Columbiana County, Ohio,
August 22, 1815. About the year 1835. Mr. Brown moved
to Hancock County, Ohio, where he remained till 1848, when he moved to
Williams County, on the farm where he now resides, on Section 13.
There has been born to him a family of nine children, as follows:
Samuel, Joseph, Mahlon, John (all deceased), Lydia,
Sanford, Leander and Harriet (deceased) and Manuel.
His wife died February 7, 1881, and he again married December 29, 1881.
He is a minister of the German Baptist Church, and is highly respected
in his community as a man of piety and strict integrity. He has
been a successful farmer, and has devoted his life more to the quiet of
social pursuits than to the excitement of politics.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 768 |
| |
W.
M. BROWN (Centre Township), of the firm of Brown & Brenner,
merchants at Melbern, in this township, was born in Crawford County,
Ohio, October 14, 1846, and is the eldest of the four children of
Nicholas and Sarah Brown, who were respectively born in Fayette
County, Penn., August 11, 1821, and Crawford County, Ohio, December 29,
1825, and married in Crawford January 23, 1844, and who moved to this
county in 1846, where they still reside. October 21, 1866, W.
M. Brown married, at Williams Centre, this county, Caroline
Jaques, who was born in Holmes County, Ohio, April 30, 1848, and was
the daughter of David L. and Mary Jaques, natives of France.
After his marriage, Mr. Brown moved upon one of his father's
farms in this township, remained there two years, then bought the estate
of his wife's parents in the same township, moved upon it and there
remained till 1877, sold it, moved to Melvern, and in October of the
same year entered into the business at which he is now engaged, and at
which he is finely prospering. He has a family of four children -
Laura B., Sadie, Charlie N., and William G. Mr. and Mrs.
Brown are members of the M. E. Church, and he is one of the
enterprising business men of Melbern.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 769 |
| |
WILLIAM S. BROWN, the youngest of the
eight children of Philip and Elizabeth (Schuler) Brown, was born
in Wayne County, Ohio, Dec. 25, 1838. The elder Brown came
from Centre County, Penn., to Ashland County (then in Wayne), in 1828,
and followed his trade of carpenter till his death, Dec. 23, 1873.
William S. Brown received a good education, and, for two terms,
taught school in Ashland County, and in De Kalb County, Ind. At
the age of fourteen years, he began clerking in a dry goods store at La
Fayette, Ashland County; then served one year at the harness maker's
trade; then attended school at Delaware, Ohio, for a time; again went to
clerking in La Fayette for a year and a half, and, Sept. 10, 1861,
enlisted in Company C, Forty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He
was on detached duty most of the time, serving as Military Postmaster
six months at Plaquemines, La., as Street Commissioner at Baton Rough,
La., and was Commissary Clerk during his entire term, and yet was with
his regiment in all its engagements until mustered out in September,
1864. He took part in the battles at Tazewell, Tenn., Champion
Hills, Thompson's Hill; Black River Bridge, Arkansas Post and the
Vicksburg campaign. His was the regiment which James A.
Garfield recruited and commanded till promoted to the rank of
General. Mr. Brown, on his return home, carried on his
trade at various points till May, 1872, when he started a grocery
at New Pittsburg, Wayne County, at which point he was Postmaster; two
years later, he took in a partner and added dry goods to the business.
In March, 1876, he sold out and came to West Unity, worked at his trade
two years, clerked in Davies & Pancher's dry goods store two years, and
then opened a clothing store in partnership with Prof. E. P. Ewers,
under the firm name of Ewers & Brown. He was married, Feb.
22, 1874, to Kate Worth, a native of Pennsylvania, and daughter
of John and Mary (Jenner) Worth, of German birth; and to thsi
union were born three children Tulla E., Hattie and
Frank. Mr. Brown is a member of Superior Lodge, No. 179, A. F.
& A. M., and Royer Post, No. 109, G. A. R.; he is a Reppublican, and a
thoroughgoing and enterprising business man.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical -
Illustrated - Publ. Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles
Blanchard, Biographical Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers
- 1882 - Page 656 |
| |
Superior Twp. -
CHARLES BRUNDYDGE, so of Jonathan and Susan
Brundydge, was born Sept. 27, 1800, in Westchester County, N. Y.,
where his parents lived and died. Our subject lived at the
scene of his birth until twenty years of age, attending school and
laboring on the farm. He then removed to Connecticut, engaging at
farm labor. In 821, he was married to Miss Maria Brown,
daughter of David Brown, native of Connecticut. Two years
later he came to Huron County, Ohio, where he purchased fifty-three
acres of woodland, which he cleared and improved. This he
exchanged, in 1842, for 160 acres of unimproved and in this township,
where he resides. Mr. and Mrs. Brundydge are members of the
Presbyterian Church. They have three children - Jane, Phebe
and C. Henry; the first is a widow, and the last two are also
married. Mr. Brundydge is an uncommonly active man for his
years, still taking his part in the fields. C. H. Brundydge
resides with his father and is a successful manager of the home farm.
Source: County of Williams, Ohio, Historical & Biographical
- Illustrated - Publ.
Weston A. Goodspeed, Historical Editor - Charles Blanchard, Biographical
Editor - Chicago: F. A. Battey & Co., Publishers - 1882 - Page 627 |
NOTES:
|
