USA > Ohio > Darke County > A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography > Part 39
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
E
Tobias Paulin resides on the home place with his mother and conducts the farming operations.
ELIAS D. SNYDER, M. D.
Among those who devote their time and energies to the practice of medicine and have gained a leading place in the ranks of the profession is Dr. Snyder, of Arcanum, Ohio. He is a native of Maryland, born on the old homestead in the beautiful Antietam valley August 20, 1837, and is of German descent. His grandfather, Jacob Snyder, was born near Hagerstown, Washington county, Maryland, and lived to the age of ninety-
four years, while his wife reached the age of ninety-two, and her mother, who was a Miss Wyand before marriage, lived to the ad- vanced age of one hundred and two years. He was blind the last thirty years of his life.
John A. Snyder, the Doctor's father, was born on the old homestead in Washı- ington county, Maryland, in 1807, and married Elizabeth Ann Benner. In 1838 they came to Ohio by wagon with several other families and stopped for a short time near Winchester. Preble county. Mr. Sny- der then purchased a farm of sixty-one acres west of Dayton in Montgomery coun- ty and subsequently removed to West Alex- andria, Preble county, where he lived retired until his death in 1892. During his long and useful career he was honored and highly esteemed by all with whom he came in con- tact, and was called upon to fill several local offices. His wife, who was born in 1810, died in 1890. Both were consistent mem- bers of the United Brethren church. Their children were Aaron W., a resident of Preble county ; Elias D., our subject ; Jacob S., who served four months in Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, during the civil war, and is now a resident of Preble county ; and Marietta, who married Elias Mumma and died in West Alexandria, Ohio.
It was during his infancy that Dr. Sny- der was brought by his parents to this state, and during his early life, spent in Preble county, he saw much of the pioneer life of this section. He attended the country schools until twenty years of age, and dur- ing the following ten years successfully en- gaged in teaching school. Having deter- mined to enter the medical profession, he studied under Drs. Huggins & Campbell, of
312
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
West Alexandria, for three years, and then entered the Ohio Medical College, where he was graduated with the class of 1872. The same year he opened an office in Arcanum, where he has since actively engaged in prac- tice and has met with marked success. For four years he was in partnership with Dr. Donavan Robeson, but with that exception has been alone.
In 1865 Dr. Snyder was united in mar- riage with Miss Elizabeth Myers, a native of Preble county and a daughter of John and Mary ( Russell) Myers, and by this union was born one child. John Arthur, who married Emma Gerder and has one child.
During the dark days of the civil war Dr. Snyder enlisted as a private in Com- pany C, One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for one hundred days' service, and with his regiment was located in and about Baltimore, Maryland, until dis- charged. Religiously he is an active mem- ber of the United Brethren church. The Doctor is one of the oldest practitioners in Darke county. On first coming to Arcanum he visited many of his country patients on horseback and sometimes in a light sulky, as the roads were bad, and he often had to tie his horse at some point along the road and walk the rest of the way. His skill and thorough knowledge of medicine soon won him the confidence and esteem of the people and he was not long in building up an ex- tensive and lucrative practice. A man of prudent foresight and good business capacity, he has invested in farming property, and now has a fine farm of seventy-two acres in Van Buren township, especially adapted to tobacco culture. His crop off eight acres has brought him one thousand dollars in one season, and in three years he has made three
thousand dollars from the same tract. He also owns an interest in a farm in West Alexandria.
ANDREW JACKSON DOWNING.
For a quarter of a century this well- known and popular druggist has been promi- nently identified with the business interests of Hollansburg, and his affairs have been so ! managed as to win him the confidence of the public and the prosperity which should al- ways attend honorable effort.
A native of Darke county, Mr. Downing was born in Harrison township, February 9, 1840, and is a son of Robert Jay and In- diana ( Baird ) Downing. He traces his an- cestry back to Sergeant John Downing, a native of Ireland, who came to America in Colonial days and served for eight years in the colonial war. taking part with Francis Marion in the battle of Cowpens. He was born in 1726, and died in South Carolina when about seventy years of age, being laid to rest three miles from the town of Ches- ter. His son, John, our subject's grandfa- ther, was born in Chester county, South Car- olina, December 7, 1776, and died in Harri- son township, Darke county, Ohio, May 17, 1870. He was a remarkable man physically and possessed his strength up to the last, dying of an acute disease of the bladder at the age of ninety-four years. From South Carolina lie removed to Lexington, Ken- tucky, and in 1817 came to New Paris, Ohio. At one time he owned about a section of land in this county, having entered the same at the land office, and paying for it one dollar and a quarter per acre. Some three hundred acres of the original tract is still in posses- sion of the family. He married Margaret Faris, a native of Ireland, and to them were
318
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
born seven children, five sons and two daughters, who reached adult age.
Robert J. Downing, the father of our subject, was born in Bourbon county, Ken- tucky, and was only two years old when brought by his parents to Darke county, Ohio, locating on a tract of government land in Harrison township. About 1836 he mar- ried Indiana Baird, of Butler township, this county, a daughter of John Baird, and to them were born eleven children, of whom three sons and five daughters reached man and womanhood, and five are still living, namely : Andrew J., our subject ; Margaret, wife of Henry Sells, of Hollansburg; Jason; Ella A., wife of Mark T. Mills, of Ennis, Ellis county, Texas ; and Amanda E., wife of A. .. Loudenslager, of Harrison township, this county. The mother died at the age of sixty-five years and was buried in New Mad- ison, and the father died at the age of seventy-tliree and was buried in Hollans- burg.
The boyhood and youth of Andrew J. Downing was passed upon his father's farin and he was educated in the district schools of the neighborhood. On leaving the par- ental roof at the age of twenty-three years, he commenced teaching and followed that oc- cupation for five years. In June, 1875. he opened a drug store in Hollansburg, and has since devoted his entire time and attention to that business, having built up a good trade. Besides his business property he owns a pleasant residence in the village which he has rebuilt.
May 31, 1863, Mr. Downing was unit- ed in marriage with Miss Rebecca A. Gib- son, of this county, a daughter of Nathan Gibson, and to them were born three chil- dren,namely : Orville A., a farmer of German township, who is married and has five chil-
dren, four sons and one daughter, Eleanora, who married George W. Skinner, of Arba, Indiana, and they have three children; and Harry H., who died at the age of two years.
Mr. and Mrs. Downing are both active and faithful members of the Christian church, of which he is a trustee, and are held in high regard by all who know them. He affiliates with the Democratic party, and bas most efficiently served as township clerk four years, village trustee two years, and councilman four years. In all the rela- tions of life he has been found true to every trust reposed in him, whether public or pri- vate, and is justly numbered among the useful and valued citizens of his commu- nity.
WILSON S. BOWERS.
Wilson S. Bowers, a prominent contrac- tor and carpenter residing on the old home- stead farm in Mississinawa township, Darke county, Ohio, was born in Twin township, Preble county, this state, July 14, 1848. His father, John Bowers, was born in Montgom- ery county, Ohio, May 6, 1814, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth ( Emerick) Bowers, pioneers of this state. Samuel Bowers was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, about 1785, and died near West Alexandria, Preble county, this state, in 1869. In his fami- ily were nine children, five sons and four daughters, all of whom married and with one exception all reared families of their OW11. Only one is now living, George, a resident of Tippecanoe county, Indiana. The grandfather was a cooper by trade, and was one of the soldiers who fought against the Indians at Fort Defiance.
In 1837 John Bowers, the father of our subject, married Catherine Judy, who was
314
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
born in Rockingham county, Virginia, Jan- uary 5, 1813, a daughter of Frederick and Polly (Hoover) Judy, who moved to Preble county, Ohio, in 1817. Both her parents died of milk-sickness, and were buried in one grave at Lewisburg, Ohio. She is the only one of their seven children now living. Her sister, Sarah, who was born March 13. 1807, died in November, 1898. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bowers lived on rented farms in Preble county until Septem- ber 24, 1857, when they moved to the farm on section 14, Mississinawa township, Darke county, now owned by their sons, Cornelius and Wilson S. In the midst of the forest they made their home. Wild game was still plentiful, and Cornelius has a fine pair of antlers from a noble buick that he and his father killed in the winter of 1866, it being the last one killed in this region. For his farm of one hundred and fifteen acres the father paid twelve hundred dollars in cash, which he made by honest toil and strict economy. Here he died October 25, 1872, honored and respected by all who knew him, but the mother is still living and retains her faculties unimpaired. They had five chil- dren, namely: Lovey, the wife of John Briner, a farmer living near the old home- stead, by whom she has six children: Will- iam, who died at the age of twenty-seven years, leaving a wife and one son, Ronert ; Elizabeth, who died at the age of twenty- four years; Cornelius, who lives on the old homestead with his mother; and Wilson S., our subject.
Wilson S. Bowers was reared in the usual manner of farmer boys, and received a good common school education. He remained a+ his parental home, working much of the time with his father at the cooper's trade un- til twenty-six years of age, when he em-
barked in business for himself as a carpenter and contractor. He has met with success in this venture, and is today quite well-to-do. He and his brother have a good farm of eighty acres, and he also owns an adjoin- ing tract of six acres.
On the 25th of May, 1873, Mr. Bowers was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Condon, of Warren county, Ohio, and they have eight children : John H., who is mar- ried and lives in Union City, Ohio: William C., who is working at the carpenter's trade, with his father ; James A., a young widower, who is learning the carpenter's trade; and Wilson, Sylvia J., Mary O., Ernest and Addie, all at home, the youngest being nine years of age. Like the other members of liis family, Mr. Bowers is a Democrat in poli- tics, and for seven years he most creditably and satisfactorily served as trustee of his township. He is one of the representative and prominent citizens of his community, and is highly respected and esteemed by all who know him.
JOHN STEPHENS.
The subject of this sketch, who through- out life has been identified with the indus- trial and agricultural interests of Darke county, and is now the owner of one of the best and most desirable farms of its size in Greenville township, was born in German township, Darke county, November II, 1825. a son of David and Lydia (Wagner) Stephens, early settlers of this county. The father was a native of Berks county, Penn- sylvania, and a soldier of the war of 1812. The paternal grandfather came to Oliio about 1818, and settled in Preble county. John Wagner, the maternal grandfather, was also a native of Pennsylvania and an
315
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
early settler of Darke county. Our subject is the third child and second son in a family of nine children, the others being: Anna, widow of Jesse Woods, of German town- ship, Darke county; Joseph, a resident of Indiana ; Mary, the widow of John McClure, of Indiana ; Catherine M., the deceased wife of Eli Armacost, of Washington township; Noah and Levi, both deceased; and Allen and Isaac, who died during their youth.
John Stephens was reared in his native township when most of that region was still wild and unimproved, and his early rec- ollections are of seeing deer, wolves and other wild animals of the forest. He at- tended the subscription schools conducted in a log school-house with a puncheon floor, and at the age of nineteen commenced sery- ing an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade at Palestine, Ohio, faithfully putting in three years at the forge. Subsequently he spent a short time in Indiana, and on his return to Darke county located in Neave township, where he engaged in blacksmith- ing on his own account for three years. In 1853 he located on the farm in Greenville township, where he now resides, and opened a shop upon his place, which he conducted while his farin was mainly cleared and im- proved by hired help. It consists of one hundred and thirty-nine acres, now under a high state of cultivation and improved with good and substantial buildings.
Mr. Stephens has been twice married. February 13, 1851, in Greenville township, he wedded Miss Maria Dininger, of Darke county, who died August 15, 1865. Of the seven children born of this union two died in infancy, and only four are now liv- ing, namely: William, who married Miss Sarah Johnson; Margaret, the wife of II. S. Bookwalter; Lewis C., and Lydia, the
wife of John Sando. For his second wife Mr. Stephens married, October 4, 1868, Ma- tilda Finfrock, widow of Jacob Risser, and to them have been born three children : Alva A., who married Hattie Gurlin; John C., who married Malinda Johnson; and Clara, who married Stephen Rose.
Though nominally a Democrat, Mr. Stephens may be said to be independent in politics, voting for men and principles rather than party. Both he and his estimable wife are members of the Lutheran church, and have a wide circle of friends and acquaint- ances in the community where they reside.
CAPTAIN JOHN T. HERSHEY.
John T. Hershey, deceased, was born in Gettysburg, Darke county, Ohio, August. 16, 1844, and in this little town passed his life, for many years occupying a leading place among its representative citizens.
He was a son of Jacob Ilershey, who came with his father from Pennsylvania to Ohio at an early day and selected a location in Darke county, where they laid out the town of Gettysburg, with which they were identified during the rest of their lives. . Jacob Hershey married Mary McCune, in Darke county, and John T. was the first born and only son in their family of three children. He was reared at Gettysburg. At the time the civil war broke out he was yet in his 'teens, but, young as he was, he was among those who were first to enlist. He enlisted from Darke county, state of Ohio, on September 10, 1861, and was in11s- tered into the United States service at Camp Clark, state of Ohio, on September 12, 1861, as a private of Company B, Forty-fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Captain J. C. Langston and Colonel S. . ..
316
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Gilbert, to serve three years, or during the war. He took part in the battle of Lewis- burg, West Virginia, May 23. 1862, where he was severely wounded through the ex- plosion of a shell; Dutton's Hill, Kentucky, and others. He was honorably discharged January 5, 1864, at Strawberry Plains, Tennessee, on account of re-enlisting as a veteran in Company B, Eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, under Captain An- son N. Thompson and Colonel A. S. Moore, to serve three years or during the war. The Eighth Cavalry was assigned to the Second Brigade, Third Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, and he participated in the following engagements, viz: Coving- ton and Otter Creek, Virginia; Lynchburg, Liberty, Maryland Heights, Winchester and Martinsburg, West Virginia; Fisher's Hill, Winchester, and North Shenandoah valley, or Luray, Virginia: Cedar Creek, and Bev- erly, West Virginia, October 29, 1864, where he was captured and confined in Libby prison for about three months and a half, when he joined his regiment. He was appointed sergeant February 19, 1865, and commissary sergeant June 1, 1865. He received his final discharge July 30, 1865, at Clarksburg, West Virginia, on account of the close of the war. Afterward he recruited Company B, Third Ohio National Guards, and was made its captain, a position he filled for a period of eight years, and throughout his life he took a deep interest in military af- fairs. For a number of years he was a mem- ber of the G. A. R.
In many ways he was identified with the business interests of Gettysburg. He was at one time the postmaster of the town, also at various times filled numerous other offices, and for a number of years previous to his death was engaged in general merchandis-
ing, conducting a successful business. He died March 13, 1900. A man of many laud- able traits of character, generous and unsel- fish, he had many warm friends, and was respected by all who knew him or in any way had dealings with him. For many years he was prominently connected with the Methodist Episcopal church of Gettysburg, active in both church and Sunday school, serving as the superintendent of the latter. His political affiliations were with the Re- publican party.
Mr. Hershey's widow, Mrs. Celia Jane ( Hoover) Hershey, resides at the home- stead in Gettysburg, she being, like her hus- band, a native of this place. Her father, Absalom Hoover, was born, reared and mar- ried in Miami county, Ohio, and from that place came to Darke county in pioneer days and established his home in the woods, in Franklin county, southeast of Gettysburg, where he acquired the title to one hundred and sixty acres of land. Shortly after his settlement here he was killed by a falling tree. He was a member of the Christian church, and was an active and efficient worker in both the church and the Sunday school, having served as superintendent of the latter. Politically he was first a Whig and afterward a Republican. The Hoovers, originally Quakers, came to Ohio from North Carolina in the early history of the Western Reserve. Mrs. Her- shey's mother, before marriage Sarah Fatty, was born and reared in Miami county, Ohio, and her father, David Fatty, like the Hoovers, came to this state from North Carolina. The Pattys
also were Quakers. Absalom and Sarah Hoover were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters, namely : Noah, a resident of Adams township, Darke
317
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
county; Bell, deceased; Celia Jane, now Mrs. Hershey; Charles; Albert, a teacher in the Union City schools; and Mary, who died in early life. Mrs. Hershey was reared in Gettysburg, where she received her edu- cation in the common schools, and in 1865, at the close of the civil war, she was united in marriage to John T. Hershey. Their union was blessed in the birth of three chil- dren, as follows: Mabel, the wife of J. L. Selby, who is the principal of the Green- ville schools; Wilbur, who died in early life; and Gertrude, a teacher, residing with her mother. Mrs. Hershey is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
FRANK L. RYAN.
The subject of this sketch, a well-to-do agriculturist of Greenville township, is a typical self-made man, and in the following record of his career there is much to arouse respect and esteem. He has placed his reli- ance on industry and perseverance rather than "luck," and by making the most of cir- cumstances, however discouraging, he has made his way to a substantial success.
Mr. Ryan was born March 3, 1840, in the township where he still makes his home, and is a son of Rudolph and Ellen (Hamilton) Ryan. The father was a native of Virginia, but his early life was passed in Maryland, and in the early '3os he came to Darke coun- ty, Ohio, where he died in 1847, at the age of forty-five years. By trade he was a shoe- maker and followed his occupation here. His widow was left with nine children, and with true motherly devotion she reared them in re- spectability and inculcated in them the ways of industry and usefulness. She died in May, 1886, at the age of seventy-five years. The children of the family still living are: Emily
Gilliam, Mrs. Mary Thorn, Daniel and Frank L., all residents of Darke county; G. W., of Miami county, Ohio; Mrs. Eliza J. Potter, of Reno county, Kansas; and Mrs. Amelia Griffin, of Nebraska. William en- listed during the civil war for three months' service in the One Hundred and Fifty-sec- ond Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died in the hospital at New Creek, West Virginia; and John, who enlisted for three years in the Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was seriously wounded and captured at Chattanooga, and it is supposed he died in Libby prison, although nothing was heard of him after being captured.
During his boyhood Frank L. Ryan ob- tained a very limited education, as his mother needed his assistance in caring for the fam- ily. He, too, was one of the "boys in blue" during the Rebellion, enlisting September 6, 1861, at the age of twenty-one years, in Company K, Thirty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for three years. He first went to Camp Piatt on the Ohio river, and soon af- terward crossed the river into Virginia, where his regiment saw much service. He participated in all of the engagements in which the regiment took part, numbering thirty-two in all, including the battles of Witheville, Virginia, Cloud Mountain, Stras- burg, and the two engagements at Cedar Creek and Winchester. At the last men- tioned place, July 24, 1864, he was captured just before his term of service expired, and for five days he was held within the rebel lines. One morning he saw his opportunity to escape, of which he took advantage, creep- ing away in a ditch full of briars and lying all day in seclusion near the rebel camp. That night he walked twenty-one miles, and fell in with a negro who cared for him eighteen days, all the time being within gun-
318
GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
shot of rebel soldiers on North mountain. He struck the Union lines at Martinsburg, Virginia. In the meantime his regiment had returned to Ohio to be mustered out, and he followed in time to be mustered out with them, being discharged at Columbus, September 13, 1864.
Returning to his home in Darke county, Mr. Ryan engaged in farming on rented land for a time, but in 1870 purchased sixty- two and a half acres in Greenville township, which he has converted into one of the best improved farms of that locality. He was married, January 26, 1865, to Miss Mary Potter, a daughter of Daniel and Catherine (Cumerine) Potter, early settlers of Darke county, their home being the farm on which our subject now resides. By this union were born four children, namely: Mary C., the wife of Owen Curtner, of Hamilton, Ohio; John D., a prominent salesman of Dayton, whose wife died leaving two chil- dren, Agnes and Frankie; Cora, at home with her parents; and Minnie, the wife of William Appenceller, of Greenville. For many years Mr. and Mrs. Ryan have been active members of the Coleville Christian church, and they are held in high regard by all who know them on account of their ster- ling worth. Politically he affiliates with the Republican party, and socially is an hon- ored member of Jobes Post, G. A. R., of Greenville, and the Horse Thief Protective Association, of Darke countv.
Daniel Potter, the father of Mrs. Ryan, was born January 26, 1809, and died Sep- tember 20, 1862, while his wife was born December 15, 1817, and died April 7, 1861. They came to Darke county in early life and were married there. They took an active part in church work, and were among the organizers of the Christian church in this
county. In their family were the follow- ing children : William, a resident of Reno county, Kansas, enlisted as a private in 1861, in: Company G, Fortieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and passed the grades of pronto- tion to a first lieutenancy. He participated in many hard-fought battles, and was hon- orably discharged in 1865. Mrs. Phœbe Vail is a resident of Oklahoma .. John en- listed in 1862 in Company K, Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was killed in the battle of Resaca, Georgia, May 14, 1863. Jonas died when small. Charlotte and Mrs. Ryan complete the family.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.