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BIOGRAPHIES
Source #3
Commemorative Biographical Records
of
Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of
Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1899
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JOHN GEORGE NEFF. This
well-known business man and agriculturist, residing near Bryan, Williams
county, is deserving of special mention in this volume because of his
prominence in the various lines of effort which have brought about the
development of that locality.
Mr. Neff is descended from good old Pennsylvania
stock, dating back to the Colonial period, and his family originated in
Germany. His ancestors had their home in Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania, for many years, but his father, Christopher Neff,
resided in the central part of Westmoreland county, on Little Sewickly
creek, where he followed farming and carried on his trade of shoe
making. He was a religious man, noted for his strict integrity,
and was honest because he wished to be honest, and not from fear or
policy. IN early life he was a Methodist, but later he joined the Church
of Christ, with which he remained in full communion until his death.
His wife, whose maiden name was Barbara Struble, was born in
Wittenberg, Germany, about 1804, and came to America about 1818 with her
parents, who located in Pennsylvania. Our subject was the eighth
in a family of ten children, as follows: William,
(deceased), Emanuel (in Pennsylvania), Israel (deceased),
Salathiel (deceased), John George (our subject),
Christopher (deceased), Michael (deceased), Matilda, Mary
Ann (deceased), and Amanda (deceased).
Mr. Neff was born March 15, 1834, at the old
homestead in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and his education was
begun in the common schools of that section. He also attended an
academy at Irwin Station, Pennsylvania, and after teaching school for a
time he pursued his studies at Oberlin, Ohio, in teh preparatory
department. On leaving that institution he taught school in
Montgomery and Darke counties, this State, and in 1856 he returned to
Pennsylvania, where he was married in the same year to Miss Mary
Garver, a daughter of Joseph and Jane Garver, of Fayette
county, Pennsylvania. Soon after his marriage he engaged in
farming, and for four winners he was also employed in teaching, but he
then removed to West Newton, Pennsylvania, and worked for a short time
in a brick yard. Finding a promising opening in the business, he
purchased the plant and conducted it for three years, and then removed
to Irwin Station, where he continued the same line of business same five
years. In March, 1868, he located in Bryan, and about a month
afterward he took possession of his present homestead in the outskirts
of the town, the family occupying a little frame dwelling house on the
place. He at once established a brick yard on the estate, and in
1879 he constructed a plant for the manufacture of tile, both ventures
proving successful from the start. The output of brick has ranged
from five hundred thousand to one million annually, while he has
averaged forty kilns of tile yearly, valued at six or seven thousand
dollars. The work has given employment to twelve or fifteen
people, and after making brick for some time by hand in the old
fashioned way, Mr. Neff introduced steam power and other modern
improvements. In 1888 he sold a one-half interest to his oldest
son, and in February, 1897, he disposed of his remaining half to other
sons, the firm being now known as Neff Brothers. His farm
has increased in extent from sixty to one hundred and twenty acres
through purchases made from time to time, and agricultural work has
taken much of his attention. In 1873 he replaced the old frame
residence with a handsome brick structure, and the homestead is now one
of the most attractive in the vicinity. For a time he was
interested in breeding trotting horses, two of his colts, sired by
"German Boy," and other noted horses, one, "Membrino Patchen" and "Turk"
and "Wilkes," sold at prices ranging from one hundred and fifty dollars
to three hundred dollars. One, sired by "Vernwood," sold at the
latter figure, made a record of 2:30 as a three-year-old.
Mr. Neff's sons are also interested in this business, and they own
several Kentucky-bred colts of trotting lineage.
Since locating at Bryan, Mr. Neff has become
identified with various enterprises, and at times he has dealt
extensively in real estate, several houses in the town having been built
by him. He was one of the promoters of the oil industry during its
palmy days, but was shrewd enough to dispose of his interests without
loss. As he started in business life with a capital of two hundred
dollars only, he is practically a self-made man, and his present high
standing in the business world is due to his own industry and good
judgment. While he has accumulated a comfortable fortune he has
lived well, educating his children and giving them a good start in life,
and a three thousand-dollar life insurance policy is an evidence of his
fore-thought. He is a temperance man in principle and practice,
and in politics he is a stanch Democrat, although he has never sought or
held office. During the campaign of 1896 he supported the doctrine
of free coinage of silver at 16 to 1.
Mr. and Mrs. Neff have had ten children, of whom
the following are living: Benjamin F., a member of the firm
of Neff Brothers; James L., who is engaged in the brick making
business at Waterloo, Indiana; Jane, now the wife of J. A. Fox,
of Bryan; Joseph W., of the firm of Neff Brothers;
Christopher C., who is engaged in the business at Elyria and
Cleveland, Ohio; Anna Belle, the wife of George B. Hoag,
of Cleveland; George, who resides on a farm east of Bryan;
and Charles, who is still at home. The family is identified
with the Methodist Church at Bryan, of which Mr. Neff
became a member in 1870, having previously been connected with the
Church of God. He is active in religious work, has served as
trustee, and at the time of the erection of a new church edifice he was
a member of the building committee. His personal contribution to
this work was six hundred dollars, and his family gave altogether about
one thousand dollars, their sympathy with any cause in which they are
interested being always demonstrated by a generous helpfulness.
Mr. Neff is a daughter of Joseph and Jane
Garver, and was born April 2, 1836, in Fayette county, Pennsylvania.
She received her education at the schools of the neighborhood, and
remained at home until her marriage. Her father by occupation was
a farmer in Pennsylvania, and was an exhorter in the Dunkard Church.
Moving to Wayne county, Ohio, he and his wife both died there, the
parents of ten children - four sons and six daughters, viz: John,
David, Joseph, James, Nancy, Catherine, Belle, Mary (Mrs. Neff), Jane
and Sarah. Of these, James, who served throughout
the Civil War, is now deceased, and the rest are all living in Ohio
except Joseph, who makes his home in Pennsylvania.
To the above Mr. Neff adds the following:
"Being raised on a creek I was quite a fisherman and hunter when a young
lad. I was soon able to handle a hoe, and I hoed corn, fed pigs,
etc., on the farm. I also worked in a brick yard two summers, when
quite young, in reality learning the trade. I also had a good
knowledge of shoemaking, by watching my father when he was employed at
it, and I worked to some extent at that trade. For several summers
I farmed, and I worked at the tanner's trade about eighteen months; had
a good knowledge of same, but did not like it. Accordingly I made
up my mind that I would go to school, in order to prepare myself for the
profession of teaching. My father gave me my wages, the same as
the other boys, so we kept ourselves in clothes, and what was left over
we gave to him to use till we were of age. On October 21, 1855, I
had one hundred and sixty-five dollars in gold saved up, after paying my
own way at school from home. So it will be seen that I did not
idle away my boyhood days, and my life has been a busy one all along."
Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 308 |
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N. H. NEWCOMER, farmer, post office
Bryan, Williams County, Ohio
SSource: Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 514
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