USA > Ohio > Williams County > Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 1
USA > Ohio > Fulton County > Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 1
USA > Ohio > Henry County > Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 1
USA > Ohio > Defiance County > Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 1
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GEN
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 00827 1451
GENEALOGY !! 977.1 C73
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
COMMEMORATIVE
BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
OF
NORTHWESTERN OHIO
INCLUDING THE COUNTIES OF
DEFIANCE, HENRY, WILLIAMS AND FULTON,
CONTAINING
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS, AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES.
ILLUSTRATED.
CHICAGO: J. H. BEERS & CO. 1899.
Allen County Public Library 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
THE M'CLUER PRINTING COMPANY DEARBORN STREET CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
1498479
PREFACE.
T HE importance of placing in book form biographical history of repre- sentative citizens-both for its immediate worth and for its value to coming generations-is admitted by all thinking people; and within the past decade there has been a growing interest in this commendable means of perpetuating biography and family genealogy.
That the public is entitled to the privileges afforded by a work of this nature needs no assertion at our hands; for one of our greatest Americans has said that the history of any country resolves itself into the biographies of its stout, earnest and representative citizens. This medium, then, serves more than a single purpose; while it perpetuates biography and family genealogy, it records history, much of which would be preserved in no other way.
In presenting the COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD to its patrons, the publishers have to acknowledge, with gratitude, the encourage- ment and support their enterprise has received, and the willing assistance rendered in enabling them to surmount the many unforeseen obstacles to be met with in the production of a work of this character. In nearly every instance the material composing the sketches was gathered from those im- mediately interested, and then submitted in type-written form for correction and revision. The volume, which is one of generous amplitude, is placed in the hands of the public with the belief that it will be found a valuable addition to the library, as well as an invaluable contribution to the historical literature of Northwestern Ohio.
THE PUBLISHERS.
--
That Eslocum.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
CHARLES ELIHU SLOCUM, M. D., PH. D.
Charles Elihu Slocum, M. D., Ph. D., physician, banker and philan- thropist, of Defiance, Ohio, is of pure English ancestry, the ancient home of his race being near Taunton, Somersetshire, England.
The founder of the branch in the United States from which our subject descends was one Anthony Slocombe, who came to America with his wife and family at the time of the absolute and despotic reign of King Charles I., and was one of the first purchasers in 1637 of several townships of land around the present site of Taunton, Massachusetts, which town he helped to found. It was in the records of this purchase that the clerk gave the present spelling to the surname. American marriages have kept the blood of the descendants of this first American ancestor in pure English lines.
The direct ancestors of Doctor Slocum, covering eight generations in America, are as follows : Anthony's son Giles, born in England, was a young married man when he came from his native country, his wife's given name be- ing Joann. He was prominent in the colony of Rhode Island, as a man of large possessions, and was also a leading member of the Society of Friends, the fam- ily affiliating with that religious body on its first appearance in New England in 1656. The descendants continued in that relation until after the Revolu- tionary war, when removal to eastern New York widely separated them from the Society. Giles and Joann Slocum had a family of nine children, the young- est of which was a son, Eleazer, born the 25th day of "10th month," 1664, in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. He became a resident of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in 1684. He married Elephel Fitzgerald, and one of their sons, also named Eleazer, born January 20, 1694, married Deborah Smith,
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and had a son, John, born August 4, 1717, who became a yeoman and trader. He married Deborah Almy, and had a son, Eleazer, born May 15, 1744, in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, who married Anstace Viall, and this couple, after the Revolutionary war, removed with their family to what is now known as Northville, Fulton County, New York, which remained the family home for many years. Joseph, the eldest son of Eleazer and Anstace Slocum, was born February 6, 1766, in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and was married in Cambridge, New York, to Elizabeth Wright in 1790. Their second son, Caleb Wright Slocum, our subject's father, was born in Northville, New York, October 22, 1797, and died there in 1864. He was a man of strong character and high standing, and was engaged in various business enterprises, being a farmer, merchant, tanner and manufacturer. His wife, Elizabeth (Bass), was born at Northville, November 25, 1798, and died there in 1866.
Coming now to the ninth generation, we return to our subject, who is also a native of Northville, New York, born December 30, 1841. His early edu- cation was obtained with the aim of preparing himself for teaching and gen- eral business, his studies being pursued in the schools of his native town, and by his own exertions in Fort Edward Collegiate Institute, and at Poughkeep- sie, New York. Several years of his early manhood were passed partly in attending school and partly in teaching in public and private schools with ascending grades. His services were also in demand as instructor in teach- ers' institutes.
While teaching in Albion, Michigan, in 1865, he began the study of medicine with a late army surgeon, Doctor Willoughby O'Donohue. He at- tended the medical department of the University of Michigan, giving special attention to analytical and applied chemistry, and practical microscopy. He also attended the Detroit Medical College, and in that city registered under « the preceptorship of the venerable Professor Zina Pitcher and Doctor David O. Farrand, who were then in partnership. There he saw, and participated in, much of practical medicine and surgery. He attended the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, Columbia University, in New York City, and was there graduated Doctor in Medicine in 1869, with health somewhat impaired. He at once entered into partnership with his brother, Doctor John Caleb Slocum, who had established a large practice at Shelbyville, Indiana. In 1870 he trav- eled for his health through the South and along the Atlantic coast, and in July, 1871, he settled in Defiance, Ohio, where he has since remained, except- ing some travels for study and recreation. Parts of several years have been passed in post-graduate studies, embracing. literary studies, general medicine, surgery and the various specialties, in New York and in Philadelphia, where
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
he received a degree from Jefferson College upon examination. He also passed two years in the University of Pennsylvania, and there received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in course, upon examination, with the highest grade of his class. In 1879 he visited Europe, giving attention to his profession in Vienna and London specially, and visiting other medical centers.
Doctor Slocum's practice has been general, including delicate work in the specialties as well as capital surgical operations, and his careful attention to details has brought him large patronage and gratifying success. He has been president of the Defiance County Medical Society, vice-president of the Dis- trict Society, and member of the Ohio State Medical Society since 1874. He was chosen delegate from the State Society in 1875 to the American Medical Association, since which time he has been a permanent member of the last named body.
He became a member of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences in 1876; charter member of the American Microscopical Society in 1878; member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1885; member of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society; of the Ninth International Medical Congress in 1887; member of the American Academy of Political and Social Science from the first year of its organiza- tion; and charter member of the Ohio State Academy of Science, of which he has been first vice-president. In 1896 he organized the Fort Defiance Scien- tific Association, with a membership of thirty-five, and he has since been its president. He is also a member of various other important societies of both a local and general character, including the American Public Health Asso- ciation.
He served several years as United States examining surgeon for pen- sions, as railway surgeon, and as examiner for numerous life insurance com- panies. He has several times declined proffered professorships in medical colleges in different cities, but since 1896 he has been professor of psychology and ethics in the Cleveland College of Physicians and Surgeons, Cleveland, Ohio. His medical writings have been few, and confined mainly to reports of cases in his practice, which were published in different medical journals, and also occasional papers read before medical, scientific and other societies, by request.
In 1882 he published a large octavo volume, the preparation of which had been his principal diversion for several years, entitled "A Short History of the Slocums, Slocumbs and Slocombs of America, Genealogical and Biograph- ical; Embracing Eleven Generations of the First Named Family, from 1637 to 1881 : With their Alliances and the Descendants in the Female Lines so
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
far as Ascertained. Also the Etymology of those Surnames, an Account of some Researches in England Concerning their Ancestors who bore the Parent Surname, Slocombe, etc." This is styled a model book by the historical jour- nals in their reviews, and it has had a good circulation among the families and their affiliations, and to libraries. Material has been accumulated for a second volume on the same subject. These studies have been valuable to him in their relation to sociology, heredity, etc. In 1898 he began writing the History of Defiance, Ohio, and its Vicinity From the Earliest Times.
Doctor Slocum has been a constant hard worker in his profession, and he believes in systematic diversion as a recreation for regular life work. This diversion from professional labors he has found in scientific and literary stu- dies, and in business. In the last, as in other lines, he has gained success. He was chosen a director of the Defiance National Bank in 1874, and continued to serve in that capacity until the expiration of its charter, when the bank was reorganized, with largely increased capital, as the First National Bank, and he was chosen director and vice-president, which offices he still holds. He was one of the principal stockholders at the organization of the Defiance Sav- ings Bank, which was merged, in 1881, into the Merchants National Bank, of which institution he has been a director, and part of the time vice-president and acting president. He has also been interested in several of the principal manufacturing institutions of his city, and is now president of two of those more recently organized.
Doctor Slocum began his business life poor, and under adverse physical and other conditions, and his professional and financial successes have been the result of continued painstaking and laborious application to his profession, together with economy and judicious investments of the proceeds of his toil. His professional motto has been from the first, "I desire that it ever be more to the interest of my patients to employ me than to my interest to be employed by them." His tastes and habits have been formed from reason and judg- ment, keeping in mind the most desirable from a social and physical stand- point-avoiding tobacco, alcoholic beverages and excesses of all kinds, from both medical and moral motives. His health, which was frail in earlier life. has under this régime grown better with the years. He has carried the stamp of integrity into all his professional and business relations, and his methods are referred to by all who know him best as examples worthy of imitation.
A true philanthropist, he has always been liberal to the poor, but his many and various benefactions have been unheralded by himself. His largest single donation was the gift, in 1894, of a library building to the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, of which institution he is a trustee. He not
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
only gave the funds for the erection of the building, but he entered with char- acteristic enthusiasm upon the work of visiting the leading libraries in Ameri- ca, as he had done in Europe, studying their good qualities and their defects, and working up, with the university's financial secretary, Rev. John M. Barker, Ph. D., plans that should produce a model university library building in every respect, which this building was desired to be. He also superintended its con- struction in a general way. All its outer walls are of Bedford buff limestone, and its interior construction is of steel and other incombustible material, thus being thoroughly fireproof throughout. It has a capacity of over two hun- dred thousand volumes, most of which will be stored in a wing on the stack system. Careful attention was given to the lighting, to ventilation, to con- venience, and to the heating by indirect hot-water radiation. The grand read- ing room has sittings for several hundred students; rooms for seminar work with departmental libraries are numerous, and in all its appointments it is ample in proportions, and represents modern ideas for a large university library. This building was dedicated June 20, 1898.
Doctor Slocum has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years, also of the various regular Masonic orders, including the Knights Templars and the Scottish Rite. He was formerly a member of the Ohio Consistory at Cincinnati, but is now connected with the Lake Erie Consist- ory, Cleveland, Ohio, of which he is a charter member.
During his early medical studies Doctor Slocum began the nucleus around which he has accumulated a valuable private library, numbering about five thousand volumes of carefully selected works. Here medicine and surgery, archæology and general science are seen to be specialties with him, although history, general and special literature and art are represented prominently on the shelves. This valuable collection of books he keeps open for the use of the public, free of charge. The Doctor is still a student, keeping in touch with the world's progress, and is thoroughly informed on the current litera- ture of the day. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party. He re- mains a bachelor.
EDWIN PHELPS.
For more than three score years there dwelt in Defiance county, Ohio, Edwin Phelps (now deceased), a man of sterling integrity and sound judg- ment, whose character in its stern simplicity and upright bearing stands out plainly and distinctly, a type of that past generation whose watchword was Duty, whose characteristics were industry and honesty.
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Edwin Phelps was born at Old De Kalb, St. Lawrence county, New York, December 30, 1815. In 1834 he emigrated from New York to what is now Defiance county, Ohio. From an old memorandum book it is learned that on leaving New York he had three dollars in his pocket, and that he had borrowed to come west; when he reached northern Ohio he had seven cents left. On August 20, 1834, he was ferried across the Maumee river by the father of Mrs. Jonas Colby and E. F. Lindenberger. He expended his seven cents for crackers to appease his hunger, and then, through the assistance of an uncle, he found employment with the hotel- keeper for eight dollars a month and board. Three years later he was appointed clerk of the courts of Williams county, eight years before the organization of Defiance county. His active work in the interests of his town and county and his careful attention to whatever duties fell to his lot, made him a much-sought man for public office.
In 1839 he was admitted to the Bar before the Supreme Court of Ohio, and the committee that examined him-Peter Hitchcock, Henry Stanberry, P. B. Wilcox, John W. Andrews and Judge George J. Smith-was com- posed of men whose fame was national. In 1845, when the county seat of Williams county was changed from Defiance to Bryan, the people deter- mined on the organization of Defiance county. As Mr. Phelps was well known as a stanch Democrat in his political faith, he was selected to go to Columbus and to use his influence to secure the erection of Defiance county; that his efforts were crowned with success is shown in the his- tory of the State. He was appointed the first auditor of the new county, and was also a member of its first board of school examiners. Was elected clerk of the courts in 1857, and served for seventeen years. He was actively interested in politics for almost his entire life, attended all the State con- ventions as well as those of the county, and some of the National conven- tions. The last National convention to which he was a delegate was in 1864, when General George B. McClellan was nominated for the Presidency at Chicago. Chief Justice White of the Supreme Court of Ohio, after years of personal experience with the work of Mr. Phelps as clerk of the courts, said that "Mr. Phelps was the best and most accurate clerk of the courts in Ohio."
He was not only prominent in politics, but also in every interest that seemed to tend to the improvement and progression of his community. He spent much time and money in securing the location of the Toledo and Illinois (now the Wabash) railroad through Defiance. Prior to this he was actively engaged in the construction of the Miami & Erie canal, on which for a time he was employed. It was through his influence and
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
work that the Baltimore & Ohio road secured the right of way through Defiance, and again he labored almost unceasingly when the projected Columbus, Lima & Milwaukee road was first talked of. Mr. Phelps was a man of fine physique, and his wonderful constitution enabled him to perform tasks that an ordinary man could not conceive of. Long hours of work, physical or mental, seemed to leave no trace.
In 1840 Mr. Phelps was married to Mary A. Woodward, who sur- vived but one year; in 1843 he married Emily Eaton, and to this union . three children were born: Adelaide Victoria; Emily J., who married Charles Seymour, of Defiance; and Ida R., who married Mr. Gensheimer, and now lives in Erie, Pennsylvania. For his third wife Mr. Phelps, on Sep- tember 25, 1862, married Evaline Richardson, and to this union were born: Mary Alice, who married J. W. Ackley, of Granville, Ohio; Helen Dorothy; Julia, who died in 1863; Grace, who died in 1870; Abbie, who married F. P. Weisenburger ; and Edwin J. The father of this family was found ever kind and liberal in his home, true to his friends, honorable in his business relations, faithful to every trust. After four score years of toil, sustained by the love and respect of all who knew him, this grand old man passed quietly to his last rest, September 28, 1897.
"His life was gentle and the elements so mixed in him
That nature may stand up and say to all the world,
This was a man."
JOHN HAMMON.
This deceased gentleman was for many years actively identified with the farming interests of Richland township, Defiance county, and was one of the representative and honored citizens of his community. He was born December 3, 1825, in Wurtemberg, Germany, but when quite young was brought to America by his mother and stepfather, being reared principally in Independence, Ohio. When about twenty-four years of age he went to Woodville, Sandusky county, where he was employed as clerk for his brother-in-law some four years.
While living at that place Mr. Hammon was married February 3, 1858, to Miss Catherine Myers, a native of Hanover, Germany, born April 9, 1831. When three years old she came to America with her parents. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hammon continued to live in Woodville for one year, and then removed to Richland township, Defiance county, locat- ing on a farm in Section 1, North Richland precinct, where he success-
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
fully engaged in farming until called from this life on October 30, 1891. He left to his family a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres, its well-tilled fields and neat and thrifty appearance manifesting the enterprise and indus- try of the owner. He took quite an active part in all local affairs, most efficiently served his fellow citizens as township treasurer, and at the time of his death was holding the office of justice of the peace with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. Religiously he was connected with the Lutheran Church, of which his wife is also a faithful member.
In the family of this worthy couple were ten children, as follows: Mary C .; Eva L., now the wife of Henry Feindle; John H., who wedded Mary E. Fisher; George P., who married Mary Curns; Flora, who died at . the age of nineteen years; Henry M., who married Lizzie Clemens; Lewis F., who married Sadie Champion; William, who wedded Martha Koust; Philip E .; and August Alonzo. The family is one of the highest respect- ability and worth.
HON. WILLIAM HUMPHREYS HUBBARD.
The family history of Judge Hubbard is a most interesting one. His descent is traced in an unbroken line from the Danish Sea King, Hubba, who, with his brother, Hingua, and a numerous following of their people, invaded England in the year 866, and after conquering and devastating the country from Nottingham north to the Tyne, crossed the Humber and carried death and destruction as far south as Excesdune (Aston), where, after a terrific battle with the Saxon army, under King Ethelred and Prince Alfred the Great, they were defeated and driven back to Reading. They, however, maintained themselves in England, and in 878, with a fleet of twenty-three ships, ravaged the coast of South Wales and Devonshire, where they landed and remained until they were at last defeated and driven back to their ships, with the death of Hubba, by Odun the Saxon.
After the final subjection of the Danes by King Alfred, the descendants and followers of Hubba and the other Danish leaders took the names of their respective kings, the termination "ard," which in the old Danish signified both "descended from" and "belonging to," being added to the name Hubba, and in the course of time the name Hubbard was indiscriminately applied as well to all those who had fought under "Hubba's Raven Banner" as to his direct descendants. As is said in a work published at New York, in 1895, entitled "1,000 years of Hubbard History," from which we quote: "The
Am AHubbard
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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
name Hubba is not only very ancient in British history, but is probably of great antiquity in Asia. The remote ancestors of Hubba the Dane came from Asia, and it is more than probable from the very valley where the ruins- beneath the mounds of Abu Hubba-were discovered."
The great Chancellor of the State of New York, Walworth, whose mother was of the same strain of Hubbard blood with our subject, for many years of his life devoted a large part of his time and attention to perfecting the genealogical records of the family; going to England for that purpose. As might be supposed, he found that the blood of the other royal families of Eng- land, the Saxon and the Norman, had freely mingled with the vigorous blood of the Viking Hubba; and was able to trace back these other lines of ancestry to their sources. His labors are in part preserved in a massive volume pub- lished by him, a copy of which is to be found in the rooms of the Long Island Historical Society, at Brooklyn, New York, in which appears the name of our subject, with a full account of his ancestry along the lines followed by the Chancellor. His earliest ancestor in this country was George Hubbard, who was born in England in 1601, and is mentioned among the first settlers in Hartford, Connecticut, as having taken a party from Boston, to settle there. He was given six acres of land "by courtesy of the Town, with the privilege of wood and keeping cows on the common." In 1640 he married Elizabeth Watts, daughter of Richard Watts, one of the original proprietors of Hart- ford, and was "assigned a home lot on the east side of the great river." About 1650 he removed to Middletown, Connecticut, and there established his per- manent home, on the east side of Main street. His real estate holdings were very extensive, and he was one of the leading men of the locality, being "highly respected and of marked integrity and fairness." His death occurred March 18, 1664, his widow surviving him until 1702. They had eight children, among whom was a son, Nathaniel, who was born at Middletown, Connecticut, December 10, 1652, and died May 20, 1728. He was married May 29, 1682, to Mary Earle, who was born in 1663, and died April 6, 1732. Their home was at "Long Hill on the cross-roads," at Middletown, where they reared a family. Their son, Nathaniel, was born at Middletown, Septem- ber 14, 1690, and died at the old home on Long Hill, October 14, 1765. He was married April 12, 1716, to Sarah Johnson, by whom he had several children.
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