BIOGRAPHIES
 Source:
Commemorative
Historical & Biographical Record
of Wood County, Ohio,
Past & Present - Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers &
Co. 1897
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BERNARD INDLEKOFER,
the able and popular postmaster at Weston, was born in Norwalk,
Huron Co., Ohio, May 5, 1856. His parents were both natives of
Germany, and his father, Nicholas Indlekofer, came to America
in 1853, his mother, Rosalia (Kramer), a year later.
They were married in Cincinnati, and settled in Norwalk, where the
father died in February, 185, at the age of fifty-nine, and where
the mother still resides. Three children were born of this
union: Bernard, Mary and Rosa.
Our subject, when fourteen years old, left home to
learn cabinet making at Bellevue, Ohio. He followed his trade
for some time in Decatur, Ind., and then returned to Norwalk, where
he worked in the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern carshops for about
eight years. In 1880 he came to Weston, and opened an
establishment of his own. So well did he gain and hold the
confidence of the community that, in 1885, he was appointed
postmaster under Cleveland. Three years and six months later
he was relieved on account of his strong Democratic proclivities;
but he was given a position in the railway mail service between
Cleveland and Syracuse, which he held until another change of
administration. Returning to Weston, he opened a restaurant
and grocery, which he conducted until re-appointed postmaster, July
1, 1893. He is an influential political worker, and is
prominent among the business men of Weston. In 1893 he built
the handsome brick block in which the post office is now located.
On Oct. 1, 1879, Mr. Indlekofer was married to
Miss Catherine Cook who was born at Weston, June 24, 1858.
To this union were born four children, namely: Rosa, John and
Maggie, who are living at home; and Carl the second
child, who died when an infant. Mr. Indlekofer and his
family are leading members of the Roman Catholic Church.
Source: Commemorative Historical & Biographical
Record of Wood County, Ohio, Past & Present - Publ.
Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1897 - Page 1294 |
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GEORGE D. INSLEY,
an honored veteran of the Civil war, who for three years followed
the old flag on Southern battle-fields, is now numbered among the
leading and influential citizens of Liberty township. He was
born in Wayne county, Ohio, Nov. 16, 1834. His father,
Thornton Insley, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1808, and
when a young man learned the trade of a wheelwright; but ill health
forced him to abandon this. With his widowed mother he came to
Ohio, and settled on a farm in Wayne county. Here he married
Miss Amelia Eagle, and in 1854 took his wife
and family to Hancock county. From that time on he lived with
his children. He went with two daughters and a son to Dakota
in 1884, and there died in 1890. His wife died in Hancock
county in December, 1882. They had the following children:
Elizabeth, wife of Cornelius Ewing, of Findlay,
Ohio; George D., of this sketch; Nancy, wife of
Samuel Feller, of South Dakota; Geiles, wife of
Solomon Hartman, of South Dakota; Isaiah, also a
farmer of that State; and Almenia, wife of G. W. Phifer,
who is living near Findlay, Ohio.
Mr. Insley, of this sketch, spent his
boyhood days in the counties of Wayne and Hancock, and at the age of
eleven years began his education in a district school, to which he
walked three miles through the woods. When twenty years of age
he began work in a flour-mill at Findlay, and for twelve years was
thus employed at various places. While in Findlay he was
married, Mar. 19, 1860, to Miss Mary Feller, a
native of Ohio. They began their domestic life in Hancock
county, and were there living at the time of the Civil war. On
the 16th of August, 1862, Mr. Insley joined the boys
in blue of Company D, 99th O. V. I., and immediately
afterward went to the front, participating in the battles of
Perrysville and Stone River, those of the Atlanta campaign, Lookout
Mountain, Chickamauga, and Nashville. After the second named
he was promoted to the rank of sergeant, and was honorably
discharged at Wilmington, N. C., where his regiment consolidated
with the 50th O. V. I.
Mr. Insley continued his residence in
Hancock county until the fall of 1871, when he came to Wood county,
and got out timber to build his home. He purchased forty acres
of land, and erected his residence in the spring of 1872. He
afterward purchased eighty acres of land in Liberty township, which
be disposed of in the spring of 1895. In 1887 he visited his
relatives in South Dakota, and while there purchased 160 acres of
land in Edmunds county. Again, in the fall of 1894, he made
another journey to that State, and bought another quarter section.
In politics he has always been a stanch Republican. Socially
he is connected with the Odd Fellows Society of Portage, and
religiously with the Methodist Church.
To Mr. and Mrs. Insley were born seven children:
Millie became the wife of A. L. See, and died at the
home of our subject, leaving two children; Thornton F. died
in infancy, and Juddie T. at the age of three years and six
months; Emma, also died in infancy; Enola, wife of
E. P. Blackman, of Wood county; Gelie became the wife of
J. W. Ackerman. and died in Liberty township, leaving one
child; George D. completes the family.
Source: Commemorative Historical & Biographical
Record of Wood County, Ohio, Past & Present - Publ.
Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1897 - Page 767 |
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CHARLES O. IRELAND,
a reliable and intelligent young agriculturist of Liberty township,
residing in Section 25, was born in that township in 1869. His
parents, Thomas and Laura (Newberry) Ireland, were born,
reared and married in Clermont county, Ohio, whence in 1864 they
removed to Liberty township, Wood county, where the father purchased
eighty acres of unimproved land, which he at once began to develop,
making his home thereon until his death, in 1884. In politics
he was a Democrat, and served his township as supervisor; in
religious belief he was a faithful member of the Disciples Church.
His widow still lives on the old homestead. Their family
comprised six children: Mrs. Nancy Steel, of Liberty
township; Edward, who died in Clermont county; George,
who is married, and makes his home in Liberty township; Alex,
who died in that township in 1866; Charles O.; and Mrs.
Mary Schrader, who resides on the old home farm.
The subject of this sketch has spent his entire life in
Liberty township, and received the rudiments of his education in the
district schools, which he has supplemented by considerable reading,
and is well posted on the current topics of the day. He is the
owner of a good farm of twenty acres of highly productive and
fertile land, which by industry and good management he has brought
to a high state of cultivation. His income is increased not a
little by the product of three oil wells upon his place, which bring
him from $120 to $140 per month.
In 1888, in Liberty township, Mr. Ireland was
married to Mrs. Sarah R. Robinson, widow of Joseph
Robinson. She was born in Clermont county, Ohio, and is a
daughter of A. M. Lang, of Liberty township. Mr.
Ireland has never taken a very active part in politics, although
keeping well informed upon matters of general interest, and
uniformly voting the straight Democratic ticket. Socially he
is a member of Wingston Lodge No. 553, K. of P., and he is classed
among the most respected representative citizens of the community.
Source: Commemorative Historical & Biographical
Record of Wood County, Ohio, Past & Present - Publ.
Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1897 - Page 551 |
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M. A. IRELAND,
the genial and popular proprietor of the “Crystal City Restaurant"
at Bowling Green, was born in Maumee City, Ohio, Oct. 7, 1849.
His grandfather, John Ireland, came to Ohio,
early in the present century from the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia,
where his son Michael, our subject's father, was born Sept.
20, 1801. The family first located at Salt Lick, on the Ohio
river, and later at Bellefontaine. At the age of twenty Mr.
Michael Ireland started in business for himself, and went
to Detroit, Mich., with a drove of stock, traveling along the old
"Hull's Trail." Returning to Ohio, he settled at Maumee City,
where for some years he worked in a hotel. He subsequently
became a contractor in lime, stone and timber, and later engaged in
the grocery business. He farmed the island in the river, near
Maumee City, and shortly afterward removed to Topeka, Kans.,
purchasing a large tract of land near that city. He
married Miss Mary Elinshousen, who was born in Germany in
1816, and reared a family of six children, of which our subject is
the eldest. The others were Madison, now residing in
Idaho Springs, Colo.; Edwin, living in Kansas City, Mo.;
William A., killed by an explosion in one of his own mines in
Colorado, at the age of thirty-two; Capitola, the wife of
W. L. Townsend, of Idaho Springs, and Charles, also a
resident of that town.
Our subject spent his youth in Maumee City, working
with his father and attending school. He finished his
education at the Central Ohio College, located there, and then
learned the trade of shaping scythes, which he followed for about a
year. The family removed to Kansas at this time, and he was
engaged for the next six years in traveling with a government
surveying expedition. He has often seen ten thousand head of
buffalo at one time, and the party would shoot them down simply to
see how many they could slaughter. Returning to Maumee City,
he worked for a time in a wagon shop, and then took a load of horses
and mules to Buffalo, Troy, and other places in New York.
After this trip he bought a half interest in the wagon shop, which
he held for ten years.
In the meantime he was married to Miss Adelia Yonker,
who was born in Bowling Green, Jan. 6, 1856. Five children
were born to this union: Munson C., June 16, 1875; May L.,
Ethel, William, and Donald D. On Aug. 12,
1885, Mr. Ireland removed with his family to Idaho
Springs, Colo., where for two years he was engaged in contracting
and building, erecting some of the finest structures there.
The oil fields of northwestern Ohio, suggested another form of
business enterprise, in which he engaged for some time, but in 1892
he opened the “Crystal City Restaurant" at Bowling Green, which he
has conducted ever since with constantly increasing patronage.
His mother died in Kansas in 1873, and his father has of late years
made his home with him.
In spite of his ninety-four years, Mr. Michael
Ireland is mentally and physically active, walking with a light,
brisk step which many younger men might envy. His memory is
remarkable. He recalls the murder of the last white man killed
by the Indians on the Maumee river, and many other events of note in
the history of the State. In his early days he was an Old-line
Whig, and attended the famous mass meeting at Fort Meigs in 1840,
where Gen. Harrison spoke. Our subject is a Republican
in politics, and a member of the K. of P., the P. O. S. of A., the
American Mechanics, and the Woodmen of the World.
Source: Commemorative Historical & Biographical
Record of Wood County, Ohio, Past & Present - Publ.
Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1897 - Page 587 |
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S. L. IRWIN, the junior
member of the well-known firm of W. B. Ladd & Co., of
Tontogany, was born Sept. 27, 1843, in West Toronto, York Co.,
Canada, where his paternal ancestors had lived for several
generations. His parents were born born there, his father,
E. G. Irwin, in 1810, and his mother, Mary (Crown), two
years later. Her father was born in New Jersey, and served in
the war of 1812. Mr. Irwin was the third of six
children: (1) John C. is a traveling salesman for a
flour manufacturer, and lives in Chicago; (2) Henry L. died
in Texas; (3) S. L., is our subject; (4) William W. is
an engineer at Erie, Penn; (5) Hattie P., married
R. J. Conader, of Toronto; (6) M. R. lives at Fort Scott,
Kansas. Mr. Irwin's parents were consistent followers
of the Christian faith. On Mar. 4, 1863, his mother died, and
on May 6, of the same year, his father passed away, and the family,
unbroken up to that time, was soon widely scattered.
In 1864 our subject came to Maumee City, Lucas county,
and after working for a few months at the tinner's trade, he
enlisted in Company K, 185th O. V. I., at the last call for one-year
men, serving in Kentucky until discharged in October, 1865.
Returning to Maumee he resumed his business there, and in 1870 moved
to Weston, and followed the same line of work at intervals until
1883. He visited Florida on a prospecting tour, but, quickly
recognizing the superior advantages of Wood county, he came back,
and in 1883 entered into partnership with W. B. Ladd, forming
the firm of W. B. Ladd & Co., in their present business of
general hardware in Tontogany. Its management devolves upon
Mr. Irwin at present, and it is to his good judgment and energy
that its success is mainly due.
He was married at Maumee City, in 1866, to Miss Ida
M. Clark, who was born there, Aug. 15, 1848. They have
three children: Lulu B., Hattie and F. W. Mr.
Irwin is one of the prominent and progressive citizens of the
community, and is a member of the G. A. R., Walter Wood Post
No. 14, and of the F. & A. M., Crystal Chapter No. 157 Bowling
Green, Blue Lodge No. 451 of Tontogany, and the Commandery of
Toledo.
Source: Commemorative Historical & Biographical Record of
Wood County, Ohio, Past & Present - Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1897 - Page 1862 |
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JOHN ISCH.
Among those agriculturists of Wood county, whose places manifest to
the most casual observer the energy and ability of their owner in
his chosen calling, is the subject of this personal history.
His residence is situated in Section 17, Lake township, where he has
a valuable farm of 192 acres, well tiled and drained, and the
buildings are such as are found on a model farm in the nineteenth
century. Mr. Isch is a native of Wood county, his birth
having occurred at Perrysburg, Sept. 7, 1850, while his parents.
John and Mary (Zimmerman) Isch, were both born in
Switzerland. There the father first opened his eyes to the
light of day in 1823, and at the age of twenty years he accompanied
his father to the United. States, coming direct to Wood county,
where the latter died at the age of seventy years. In
Perrysburg, the father of our subject carried on the baker's trade
for a couple of years, and there married Miss Zimmerman,
after which he located on a farm of 113 acres in Lake township.
He made of his land a highly cultivated and productive place, and
there on spent his remaining days, dying in 1888. His wife
also passed away on the old homestead in 1879. He was a
sincere and earnest Christian, a member of the Evangelical Church,
of which he often served as a local minister.
In a family of three children our subject is the only
one now living, and he was reared upon the home farm, early becoming
familiar with the labors that fail to the lot of an agriculturist.
After pursuing his studies for some time in the district schools of
Lake township, he entered a Reformed Church school at Toledo. Ohio,
where he continued for two terms, thus completing his literary
training. On Apr. 13, 1875. Mr. Isch married
Miss Rosa Schaller, who was born in Switzerland, May 23, 1851,
and they have he come the parents of three children - Fred,
Frank and Edwin.
In politics, Mr. Isch is a Republican, a leader
of his party in Lake township, and was elected county infirmary
director in 1888, which position - he continued to fill very
satisfactorily for six years. His social relations are with
the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and he is one of the
representative citizens of the community, noted for his honesty and
integrity of purpose. Being public spirited, he takes great
interest in all the moral, religious and educational matters of the
township, and always lends encouragement and support to whatever
appears to be for the best interests of the locality in which he
makes his home.
Source: Commemorative Historical &
Biographical Record of Wood County, Ohio, Past & Present - Publ.
Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1897 - Page 993 |
NOTES:
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