BIOGRAPHIES

*Source:
Portrait and Biographical Record of
City of Toledo & Lucas and Wood Counties, Ohio
Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company -
1895
 

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JONATHAN E. LADD.  For many years Wood County was considered one of the most worthless portions of the state, being marshy and of little value for farming purposes, and for this reason it was neglected.  However, through the thorough system of tiling and draining introduced of late years, the county has been converted into one of the most fertile and valuable farming communities of Ohio.  The remarkable fertility and richness of the soil, together with the heavy increase of the oil output, combine to render property here as valuable as any in the state.      The development of the oil industry has opened a new field of enterprise for many citizens, among whom we name Mr. Ladd, of Bradner.  He was interested in putting down one of the first oil wells at this place, and is a member of what is known as the "Yellow Hammer Oil Company;" he also has an interest in ten oil-wells.  In addition to this enterprise he devotes considerable attention to the insurance business, and is now the special agent of the Union Central Life Insurance Company of Ohio.  He was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, Sept. 21, 1863, and is the son of Amos T. Ladd, a native of Columbiana County, this state, born in 1834.  The latter was a member of the One Hundred and sixty-ninth Ohio infantry during the Civil War, after which he engaged in farming and stock-raising, becoming well-to-do.  He had only one brother, Jonathan, who enlisted in the Union army as a member of the Seventy-second Ohio Infantry, and died at Vicksburg during his service.      The Ladd family is of English extraction, but has been represented in America for a century or more.  Our subject's grandfather was a native of Virginia, born in 1806, and came with other members of the family to Ohio in 1812, where he remained until death.  The mother of our subject was Rose McCreary, a native of Morrow County, Ohio.  Her father, George, who was born on the 4th of July, 1812, was a pioneer of Morrow County, and was noted as a skilled musician.  He was one of those who, in 1849, crossed the plains to California and engaged in mining for gold in the far West.  He is still living and makes his home in Toledo.  The family of which he is a member is of Scotch Irish ancestry.      Our subject's mother had five brothers, of whom John died in California; Alfred is engaged in Agricultural pursuits near Bradner; Vine is living in Bowling Green; and George is a resident of the state of Washington.  Mrs. Rose Ladd died in 1882, since which time our subject's father has again married.  Mr. Ladd has five sisters, three brothers, two half-brothers and one half-sister.  The early years of the life of our subject were spent in Sandusky County, and the rudiments of his education were gained in the public schools.  He attended Fostoria Academy7 during the fall of the years 1883, 1884 and 1885.      Upon starting out for himself, Mr. Ladd began to teach in the Johnson District of Portage Township, Wood County, being thus engaged in the winter of 1883-84.  In the spring he taught in his home district in Sandusky County, being preceptor of the school for the five ensuing terms.  In December, 1886, he married Miss Addie, daughter of Capt. J. H. Jennings, of Sandusky County.  For a short time after his marriage he engaged in farming, but soon abandoned that occupation and became a student and instructor in the normal school at Fostoria, where he taught for some time.  His next position was that of a teacher in the Captain Jennings District, after which he returned to the normal at Fostoria, where he completed the course of study.      Accepting the position of Superintendent of the Bradner High School, Mr. Ladd came to this place in 1888, and for the five following years served in that capacity, his work proving highly satisfactory to the people.  Meantime he filled the position of Corporation Clerk of Bradner.  In 1889 he was elected Justice of the Peace on the Republican ticket without opposition.  While superintendent, his leisure hours were devoted to the insurance business, and finally he retired wholly from educational work in order to give his attention to his other lines of labor.  As already stated, he is special agent of the Union Central Life Insurance Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, one of the old and solid companies of the country.  In addition to other interests, he ahs been reading law and expects soon to be admitted to the Bar.      The people of this community have the highest opinion of Mr. Ladd's ability, and his name has been presented by his friends as candidate for the Legislature.  Should he be called to this responsible position in the near future, or should other places of honor be offered him, he will undoubtedly be as faithful in the discharge of their duties as he ahs been loyal to the other trusts reposed in him.  Socially he is a Knight of Pythias and is now serving as Master of Pemberville Lodge, F. & A. M.  In his religious belief he is a Baptist.  He and his wife have four sons:  Jesse, Dale I., Raymond and Donald McKinley. ( Source: Portrait & Biological Record of City of Toledo & Lucas & Wood Counties, Ohio - 1895 - Page 306)

ALFRED LAPISH owns a good farm on section 24, Lake Township, Wood County.  This farm he purchased in November, 1879, but has since added to the original one hundred and sixty acres eighty acres more.  He is engaged in general farming, giving his special attention to the raising of corn and hay, and he has been quite successful.  He is a native of Yorkshire, England, his birth having occurred June 13, 1837, and when he was only four years of age his parents brought him to the United States.  He grew to manhood in Allegheny County, Pa., and received a fair common-school education.      The parents of Alfred Lapish, likewise natives of Yorkshire, were William and Sarah (Bottoms) Lapish.  The former was born July 3, 1813, and on arriving at a suitable age learned the stone-mason's trade.  About the 1st of June, 1841, he embarked at Liverpool with his family in the sailing-vessel "Albert Gallatin," and arrived safely at New York City at the end of a twenty-eight-days voyage.  Proceeding by canal to Pittsburg, as the railroad had only been completed for a short distance, he reached the Smoky City on the 3d of July.  A part of the journey, between the railroad and canal, was by means of a six-horse wagon, and the four-year-old Alfred rode with the driver on horseback.  The canal-boats were then made in four sections, which were taken apart in order to go through the locks.  For about a year William Lapish was employed on the Pittsburg water-works building, and then removed to a farm near the city, where he ran a dairy until 1854.  He died in Ross Township, Allegheny County, Feb. 10, 1855.  He was a member of the Church of England, and was an Odd Fellow.  His parents, John and Jane Lapish, of Yorkshire, lived to be about fourscore years of age.  His wife, Sarah, who was born Dec. 15, 1813, died Mar. 7, 1857.  Her father, George P. Bottoms, who was a foreman of the Yorkshire Knitting Factory, lived to be over seventy years of age.      Alfred Lapish is one of ten children.  His two elder sisters, Matilda and Maria, died in infancy in England; his brother George, next younger than himself, died in childhood; Ann died in infancy; John, the first of the family born in America, the date of the event being Oct. 27, 1842, is now a resident of Lake Township; David died in Pennsylvania, aged forty years; James is a motorman in Pittsburg; Sarah married Jacob Portman, now deceased, formerly a dairyman in Allegheny County, Pa.; and Jane married Enoch Siddle, also deceased.      His mother's death occurring when he was twenty years of age, our subject then engaged his services to neighboring farmers for two years, after which he went into partnership with John King, and conducted a dairy for two years.  The following year he worked for Watson Bros., in a mine on the Monongahela River.  From 1862 until 1866 he worked in different places and at various occupations in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland and Virginia.  Settling down in 1866 in Allegheny County, Pa., he followed carpentering for eleven years.  We next find him in Virginia, as he had bought a farm in Powhatan County, and this he cultivated for some four years, then trading it for the one where he now resides, but giving $1,000 to boot.      Nov. 26, 1867, Mr. Lapish was married in Pittsburg, to Sarah, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Barton) Bottles, who were natives of England, but came to the United States about 1838.  John Bottles had learned the puddler's trade in a rolling-mill in his native land, and was thus employed in Pittsburg.  He died in 1870, aged about eighty-five years, and his wife, who reached a similar age, died in July, 1879, in Virginia.  They had eight children: John, of Pittsburg; Mary Ann, Mrs. Robert Caska, now deceased; Alfred, deceased, formerly in the Pittsburg Rolling-mills; Henry, who died in that city, and was also an operator in the rolling-mills, as is also the next younger son, William, Charlotte, who first married Robert McMillan and later wedded William Case, of Pittsburg; George, who is employed in the rolling-mills; and Sarah, Mrs. Lapish.      The wife of our subject was born in Allegheny City, May 3, 1842, and there grew to womanhood.  By her marriage with Mr. Lapish she has become the mother of six children, as follows:  Mary, born Oct. 20, 1868, and who died Sept. 20, 1869; William, born in Allegheny City, Sept. 17, 1870; Jennie, Aug. 10, 1872; George and John, twins, June 12, 1875; and James, Mar. 10, 1879.  With the exception of the last-named who was born in Virginia, they are all natives of Allegheny City.  William was married Sept. 17, 1894, to Ella, daughter of Robert and Anna (Dawson) Avery.   The lady was born Feb. 6, 1874, in England.  Jennie became the wife of Thomas Avery, a brother of Mrs. William Lapish, Oct. 10, 1893.      In politics our subject is independent, but inclines somewhat toward the People's party.  Without his knowledge he was elected to serve as Supervisor of Highways, and held the position for three terms, when he refused re-election.  He was formerly a member of the Patrons of Industry. ( Source: Portrait & Biological Record of City of Toledo & Lucas & Wood Counties, Ohio - 1895 - Page 308)

DUDLEY LOOMIS is the oldest pioneer in Webster Township in point of years of residence, and it is within his recollection when there was only one shanty in Pemberville, and when the nearest neighbor to the south was three and a-half miles, the neighbor on the north twelve miles, to the east four and a-half miles, and westward over five miles distant.  He is now the owner of two hundred and fifteen acres of land on section 14, Webster Township, on which he has made all of the improvements.  Besides attending to general farming, he has been quite extensively engaged in raising, buying and selling cattle and hogs.  He is a loyal Republican, and for eleven years has filled the office of Trustee to the full satisfaction of his constituents.      In a family of eight children, Dudley Loomis is the third in order of birth, the date of that event being February 9, 1826, and his birth place Grafton, Lorain County, Ohio.  His brother George died in May, 1890, leaving a wife and family.  Betsey, the eldest sister, and wife of Eli Colvin, lives on a farm near Grand Rapids, Mich.  Melinda, who died June 1, 1894, was the wife of Samuel Muir, of Webster Township.  Lorin L. is the next in the family.  Almira  married John Forrest, who died in 1865.  Matilda, Mrs. Jefferson Stillwell, makes her home in Toledo; and William died in infancy.      The parents of this family, Levi and Prudie (Stedman) Loomis, were both natives of Massachusetts and were married in that state.  In 1822 they settled on a farm near Grafton, Lorain County, taking up a tract of Government timber-land.  The father cleared and improved a farm, his family living in a log cabin until 1835, when they left the place to take up their abode in Wood County.  They located on one hundred and sixty acres of Government land covered with heavy forest, and paid therefor $1.25 per acre.  A shanty made of poles, and with a roof and floor of elm bark, provided a shelter for some time, and the mother cooked the first summer by a log pile in front of the house.  This shanty was replaced in the fall by a substantial log cabin of one room, with a puncheon floor, and here the parents passed their last years.  They were both placed to sleep their last sleep in what is known as the Loomis Burying-ground, on the old homestead.      Dudley Loomis continued to live with his other until he was seventeen years of age, when he took a contract to clear ten acres of land in return for a tract of forty acres of virgin forest land.  He carried out his bargain to the letter and received the forty acres, which were on section 14, in this township.  He was busily employed in clearing his farm until he reached his majority, when he returned to the old homestead and operated the same for two years.  After that he went back to his own tract, on which he put up a log cabin, and here he dwelt until 1869, when he purchased the farm where he now lives.  This place comprised eighty acres of fertile and well developed land, and with this for a nucleus he gradually increased his possessions until he now owns two hundred and fifteen acres.      In 1847 Mr. Loomis married Miss Mary Wallace who died in 1862.  She became the mother of the following children:  Eliza, Mrs. John D. Muir; William L.; Rachel, who died in 1891; Sarah, Mrs. Wright Stacy; Emily, who departed this life in 1887; Linda; and Sanford D., a resident of this township.  The present wife of Mr. Loomis, whom he married December 31, 1862, was then Miss Catherine Burke.  She was born near Bowling Green, Ohio, February 21, 1842, and is a daughter of William and Christina (Brandeberry) Burke.  Ten children came to bless this marriage:  Clara, wife of Samuel Jolly; Alma, Mrs. Henry Forrest; George M.; Samuel; Ella, Mrs. William Kinsley; Elbert; Henry; Nettie, who died in infancy; Frank and Orrin.      As an instance of the time which it took in the early days to go even short distances, Mr. Loomis tells that when a boy, in company with a brother, he went to Stein's Mill, on Green Creek in order to have their corn ground, and was gone eight days, during which period they paid their board by working in the hay fields. ( Source: Portrait & Biological Record of City of Toledo & Lucas & Wood Counties, Ohio - 1895 - Page 305)

HENRY LONG, a well known farmer of Webster Township, Wood County, journeyed hither with his family and household effects in 1854, making the trip by ox-team, and settling on the farm where he now resides.  He has held several local offices, among others that of Township Trustee, School Director, etc.  His first purchase in this neighborhood, over forty years ago, was eighty acres on section 17.  This had not been improved, but was covered with heavy timber, and the price he paid for the tract was $4 per acre.  Desiring to put up a log cabin, he first had to clear a space, and when his one room house was completed the family moved in.  Though the building had a roof and a floor, the cracks between the logs had not yet been chinked up, and there were no window-pains in the space left for windows.  Mr. Long was taken sick, and during the winter which followed, which was an extremely cold one, his family was obliged to live in this poor shelter.  Game was very abundant, and helped to eke out the diet of the early settlers.      Henry Long is a son of Noah and Mary E. (Berge) Long, natives of Pennsylvania.  Their family numbered thirteen children, as follows:  Adam, Simeon, John, Noah, Henry Eunice, Becky, Lavina, Eliza, Maria, Margaret, Nancy and Theresa.  The father was one of the pioneers of Ashland County, Ohio, where he settled at a very early day.  He took up one hundred and sixty acres of Government land, about six miles from the county seat, and paid $1.25 per ace for the same.      Henry Long was born in his father's humble log cabin in Jan., 1826, and attended the old-time subscription schools of the neighborhood for three months, perhaps during the year in his boyhood.  Slab benches and seats were about the only furnishings of the poor little log schoolhouse, and pieces of wood served for writing-books.  The nearest schoolhouse was about three quarters of a mile from his home, and, like country boys of the period, young Henry rarely wore shoes.  He remained with his parents until reaching his majority, when he engaged in farming on some wild land in Sullivan Township, where his father had purchased three hundred acres at $3 per acre  From seven years Henry Longs lived in the one-room cabin which he erected on the land, and during that period he worked industriously to improve the place, clearing about thirty acres of heavy forest land with ox-teams.  In 1854 he came to this township, where he has ever since been one of the most respected residents.      In 1847 Mr. Long married Miss Mary A. Bowerize, by whom he had ten children, only five of whom are living, namely: Simeon, Adam, Freeman, Henry and Sarah.  Those who have passed away are George, John, Noah, Elmer and Eliza.  Mrs. Long died in 1871, and Feb. 5, 1872, Mr. Long married Mrs. Sarah Housholder, nee Pember.      In his early manhood Henry Long was a Whig, and cast his first vote for William H. Harrison On the formation of the Republican party he joined its ranks, and for over thirty years has been identified with it.  He is an active worked in the United Brethren Church, to which his wife also belongs. ( Source: Portrait & Biological Record of City of Toledo & Lucas & Wood Counties, Ohio - 1895 - Page 309)

DANIEL LOOMIS, a prosperous retired carpenter and builder of Bowling Green, was born in Springwater, Livingston Co., N. Y., Aug. 14, 1825.      His paternal ancestry was English, but his father, David Loomis, was born in Connecticut.  He went to New York State in early manhood, where he met and married Miss Celia Grover, and a few years later moved to Ohio, locating first in Conneaut.  Here his wife died at the age of fifty, and in 1832 he removed with his son to a farm in Huron county, where he died in 1836, when fifty-four years of age.  He was a Democrat in politics, and an intelligent and original student of the problems of the day.  In religious faith he was a Universalist.      Our subject spent four years in New York State during his boyhood, attending school for three years spending the rest of the time as an apprentice to a cabinet maker.  Becoming dissatisfied, he returned home and assisted his father until the latter's death.  July 19, 1852, he was married to Miss Emaline Wyckoff, who was born in Canada, July 9, 1833, and they have three children.  After his marriage Mr. Loomis remained for some time in Huron county, engaged in carpentering, and then moved to Enterprise, Ohio.  In 1861 he came to Wood county, and lived near Portage for seven years, finally settling in Bowling Green.  As a conscientious, industrious workman, he has met with the success which he deserves, and holds the confidence and respect of all who know him.  The family are among the leading members in the M. E. Church, and take an interest in all the various lines of social and religious advancement.  In politics Mr. Loomis is a Republican. Source: Commemorative Historical & Biographical Record of Wood County, Ohio - publ. 1897 - Page 1210

MELVIN LOOMIS, a well known agriculturist of Webster Township, Wood County, deserves great honor for the success which he has attained in life, as he commenced his career a poor boy, and unassisted has risen to influence and prosperity.  He is also mainly self-educated, his early schooling having been very limited.  When a lad he walked a mile and a-half to a log schoolhouse, which was conducted on the subscription plan, and was equipped with slab benches and desks.  Mr. Loomis is one of the pioneers of Wood County, to which he came about 1835, and soon after he became the owner of the farm where he has since made his home.  This place of one hundred and seventy-three acres is situated on section 18, and is kept up in a thrifty and able manner.       The birth of our subject occurred in Massachusetts, Mar. 1, 1824, he being one of nine children, five sons and four daughters, whose parents were Robert and Ruth (Davis) Loomis.  The family removed to Ohio in 1825, settling in Lorain County.  Later they removed to Medina County, Ohio, and there much of the boyhood of our subject was passed.      On arriving at his majority, Melvin Loomis left the parental roof and laid the foundation for his future success by working for neighboring farmers, and carefully laying aside as much as possible of his earnings.  With this sum he purchased his farm and set up in business for himself.  In his political faith he is a Prohibitionist, and, though not an office-seeker, has held a few local township positions.  Religiously he is a Presbyterian, and holds membership with the Scotch Church.      Mr. Loomis married Miss Eliza Meralds, who was born in June, 1834.  A son and two daughters came to bless their home and hearth:  Emma who is now the wife of Andrew Brandeen; Robert, who is still living on the old homestead; and Bertha who is the wife of Charles McCleod. ( Source: Portrait & Biological Record of City of Toledo & Lucas & Wood Counties, Ohio - 1895 - Page 228)