A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 78

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1156

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CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 641

his fourteenth year. He then put aside his text-books and entered upon his business career and became an employe of Frederick Deibert, with whom he remained for several years. With the capital he had thus acquired he embarked in business on his own account as a dealer in sand, which he fur- nished in large quantities to a number of contractors and builders. He afterward purchased a tract of land in South Columbus, which he platted and laid out. The addition consists of one hundred and fifty lots and is known as the Karch & Wolf addition. Since that time he made a second addition, known as the Karch & Legg addition. Many of the lots have been sold and good residences have been erected upon the major portion of them.

In 1885 Mr. Karch was united in marriage to Miss Josephine Foss, of Columbus, a daughter of Joseph B. and Ann (Hosack) Foss, who resided in Franklin county in pioneer days. They were natives of Boston, Massa- chusetts, but for many years: the father was connected with the milling inter- ests of this city, the mill being located at the corner of State and Front streets, however, it has since been removed to make way for more modern buildings. Mrs. Karch was born, reared and educated in this city and by her marriage she became the mother of five children: Stella F., Jessie E., Josephine May, Robert H. and Olive N. In his political views Mr. Karch is a Democrat, and while he has never sought official preferment for himself he has taken an interest in securing the election of his friends and has served for several years as one of the judges of election in the first ward. He belongs to that class of representative American citizens who, while pro- moting their individual success, also contribute to the general prosperity. He has been largely instrumental in the upbuilding of South Columbus and has used his money and influence toward securing and locating industries in that portion of the city, among them the Columbus Chain Company, which has become one of the most substantial enterprises of the locality, employ- ing a large force of workmen. He is a self-made man, who, without any extraordinary family or pecuniary advantages at the commencement of life, has achieved both character and fortune by sheer force of will, energy, indom- itable courage, integrity and untiring effort, and has worked his way upward until he occupies an enviable position in commercial circles.

WILLIAM J. MEANS.

One of the most exacting of all the higher lines of occupation to which a man may lend his energies is that of the physician. A most scrupulous preliminary training is demanded and a nicety of judgment little understood by the laity. Then again, the profession brings its devotees into almost con- stant association with the sadder side of life,-that of pain and suffering,- so that a mind capable of great self-control and a heart responsive and sym- pathetic are essential attributes of him who would essay the practice of the healing art. Thus when professional success is attained in any instance it may be taken as certain that such measure of success has been thoroughly

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merited. Dr. Means is a prominent representative of the medical profession of Ohio and is widely known throughout the state by reason of his efficiency in the line of his chosen calling. As one of the founders and the registrar of the Ohio Medical University he has been connected with the institution since its inception, and that it has become one of the leading medical col- leges of the country is due in no small degree to his efforts.

Dr. Means is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred upon a farm in Jefferson county in 1853. He is a son of Joseph- and Margaret (Sutter) Means, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ger- many. The father was a carpenter and builder by trade, but at the time of the Civil war he put aside all business and personal considerations and faithfully served his country for four years as a defender of the Union. His death occurred in 1896.

The Doctor spent the first seventeen years of his life in the place of his nativity, where he enjoyed the advantages of a common-school and aca- demic education. For two years he engaged in teaching. In the spring of 1870 he came to Ohio and entered the National Normal University, at Leb- anon, thus further preparing himself for teaching. He became principal of the Christiansburg high school, which position he held for four years. On determining to devote his life to the practice of medicine he began reading under the supervision of Dr. Burns, of Christiansburg. and was afterward graduated in the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery with the class of 1874.

The following year Dr. Means located in Sabetha, Kansas, where he remained for nine months, returning in 1876 to Christiansburg, Ohio, where he successfully engaged in the practice of his profession until 1888. Through- out the intervening years he continued his studies and reading in order to be well prepared for the responsible duties that devolved upon him, and in 1888 he entered upon a post-graduate course in New York city. On its comple- tion he located in Columbus and with others he organized the Ohio Medical University in 1891. He became its registrar and has since held that position. He also filled the chair of surgery in the college and is surgeon to the Protestant Hospital. His professional knowledge is deep and profound and he has the added faculty of being exceptionally capable as an educator, his explanations being lucid, concise and easily understood even when he explains what is seemingly a most abstruse medical problem. He is chief surgeon for the Columbus, Sandusky & Hocking Valley Railroad Company and medical director of the American Insurance Company. The fraternity recognizes his ability and accord him a position of prominence in its ranks.

In 1876 Dr. Means was united in marriage to Miss Estelle Thomas, of Christiansburg, Ohio, a daughter of John Thomas. She was born, reared and educated in her native village, and after twenty years of a happy married life she died in 1896, leaving two children,-Hugh J. and John W. For his second wife the Doctor chose Miss Ida Huffam, a daughter of Louis Huffam, a prominent citizen of Columbus. In social circles of the city they

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occupy an eminent position, being recognized leaders where true worth and intelligence are received as passports into good society. The Doctor holds membership relations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and is also a member of the Baptist church. In the line of his profession he was formerly a member of the Champaign Medical Society, and is at present a member of the Central Ohio, the Ohio State and the American Medical Associations. Whatever tends to promote the interests of his profession and place before man the key to the mystery of that complex problem which we call life at once attracts the interest and co- operation of Dr. Means. He is an extremely busy and successful practitioner, constantly overburdened by demands for his services, both professionally and socially. He is a man of the highest and purest character, an industrious and ambitious student and a gifted teacher of surgery. He is genial in dis- position, a man of scholarly attainments and splendid endowments, who in every relation of life commands admiration, confidence and respect.

THEADORE HART.

A leading farmer of Franklin township, Franklin county, Ohio, is Theadore Hart, the subject of this sketch, who was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, March 14, 1821. Mr. Hart is able to trace his ancestry as far into the past as' 1652, and among his English forefathers were some who came to this country with William Penn. His great-grandfather, his grand- father and his father were born in the same house, in Bucks county, which witnessed his own birth. All lived out their honorable lives in Pennsylvania, upon the same land, and their descendants are scattered over the Union. The mother of our subject was named Catherine Kreusen, also a native of Bucks county, and she was of English descent, that name being well known in the land of her forefathers.

Our subject was the oldest child in a family of three children and is now the only survivor. He was reared upon the farm of his father, where he re- mained until he was eighteen years old. when he went for a four-years sojourn in Montgomery county, while there learning the carpenter trade. To the young man of that period the west offered unbounded opportunities, and Mr. Hart resolved to make his way to Ohio, accomplishing the journey on foot, in company with Hiram Puff. The comrades lived in Columbus until the fall of 1842, and while working at his trade in the city he bought the farm upon which he now lives, going back to Pennsylvania in the fall and returning to Ohio again in the spring. Upon this trip he brought with him a two- horse wagon, and hidden somewhere about it fifteen hundred dollars in silver.

The only house upon the farm was a round-log structure, in a dilapidated condition, no stable and but little fencing. He went to work with a will and put to practical use his knowledge of carpentry, immediately beginning to build a house with his own hands. The result showed that Mr. Hart was a master workman; for the planing of the boards, the making of doors and

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windows and its entire finishing were well done by his hands. So well was the work done, indeed, that ever since then the house has afforded a most comfortable residence for the family. Other buildings followed the erection of the dwelling, all of which were built by Mr. Hart. Now his farm of seventy-eight acres is in a fine state of cultivation, his fences and buildings presenting a most substantial appearance, and all reflect credit upon his in- ciustry and skill.

In the fall of 1843 Mr. Hart made another journey to Pennsylvania, this time upon horseback, and in November of that year was married to Catherine Walton, a native of the same state. With his wife Mr. Hart returned to Ohio, making this trip in a one-horse wagon, and arrived at the new home on Christmas day, 1843, and here he has lived ever since. Mrs. Hart died De- cember 15, 1891, leaving the following children: Lewis, deceased, who married Henrietta Chambers and left one son, Wallace; Thomas, who mar- ried Sarah Jane Lott; Louisa, who married J. E. Chambers and has three children,-Warren, Jennie and Melvin; Mary, who died in infancy; Willis, married Lillian Hatch and has two children,-Theadore and Eva J. : Frank, who has been twice married, the first time to Anna Wilcox, the second time to Doll Robbins, and has one son, Thomas Floyd, by the first marriage; Elmer, who resides' at home and carries on a dairy business, owning some of the finest cows in Franklin county; and Jennie, who is at home.

Mr. Hart is very well known in the county. He was early instructed in Democratic doctrine and voted for Stephen A. Douglas, but cast a ballot for Abraham Lincoln at the time of his second election, and since that time has voted with the same party in national affairs, although at local elections he prefers to select the men he feels are best fitted for the position. He has held the office of township trustee and possesses the entire confidence of his neighbors, all of whom are also his friends. Since twenty-two years of age he has consistently lived the life of a member of the Methodist church and has taken an active part in both church and Sunday-school work, being for a time superintendent of the latter. He is most highly esteemed in the section which has so long been his home, and is a worthy representative of a retired farmer of Franklin county.

WILLIAM WESTERVELT.

The history of the family of Westervelt is an old and interesting one. The earliest mention of the name that can be ascertained in Holland is that of Dirck van Westervelt, who was born about the year 1475. That historic member of the family married into the family of Van Wenkom. His son Lubbert came to America in 1662, arriving May 24, on the ship Hope, from Meppel, province of Drenthe, Holland, and settled first at Flatbush, New York, and afterward located at Hackensack, New Jersey, where he and his de- scendants acquired considerable property and where the members of his family were burgomasters for many years. Lubbert had a son named Lubbert

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Lubbertsen van Westervelt, and the latter had a son named Roeloffe van Westervelt, who had a son named Kasparus, who had a son named Cornelius, and the next in descent was Jacobus, who married Rebecca Du Bois, and by this marriage there were nine children, of whom three sons-William, Peter and Mathew,-and a daughter, named Catharine, were pioneers in Franklin county, Ohio, in 1818.

The Westervelt family in Holland still own the land there which was owned by their ancestors as long ago as 1472; but the old castle of the Wester- velts has crumbled away. The Westervelt coat of arms consists of a shield with three silver fleur de lis, helmet and crown, crest, arms in armor rising from the crown holding on fluer de lis, mounting green and silver. Motto, above in scroll, "Per crucem ad coronam:" below the shield the name "Van Westervelt."

Rebecca Du Bois, who became the wife of Jacobus Westervelt, was a descendant of the famous French family of Du Bois and a daughter of Louis Du Bois, a Huguenot who renounced his lands and titles for his faith in re- formed religion and went to Holland, whence he came in 1660 to New York, where he owned an immense tract of land and passed the remainder of his days. William, Mathew and Peter Westervelt, son of Jacobus and Rebecca (Du Bois) Westervelt, accompanied by their sister Catharine, who married Stephen Brinkerhoff, came to Franklin county, Ohio, in 1818 from Pough- keepsie, New York, where William Westervelt was born, August 8, 1792. They bought a large tract of land, nearly two thousand acres, in what has' since become known as Blendon township. The gift of land for educational, church and burial purposes at and near Westerville, the seat of Otterbein University, is referred to in the biographical sketch of Mathew Westervelt elsewhere in this work. William Westervelt joined in this benefaction and was' otherwise prominent in local affairs.

He married Sarah Bishop, August 16, 1814, a daughter of William and Sarah Bishop, of Poughkeepsie, New York. He died March 31, 1878, at the age of eighty-six years, and his wife died in 1876. They were prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, ever solicitous for its welfare and helpful to its progress. They were the parents of thirteen children, twelve of whom grew up. A son died in infancy, and the others were Jane, Lovina, Bishop, Hannah, James, Caleb, Helen, Sarah, Grover, Rebecca, Catharine and Celia. Of these Jane married David Headington, and her daughter, Mrs. Georgianna Wells, lives at Westerville. Lovina married Sylvanus Budd. James was educated in Worthington Academy, at Worthington, Franklin county, Ohio, and married Kate Knox, who bore him two children,- Milo, who lives in Iowa; and Laura, of Columbus. After the death of his first wife, James married Minerva Lawson, of Westerville, who bore him two daughters: Ada, who married John Joyce, of Columbus; and Mary, who is a bookkeeper at Deshler's Bank at Columbus. Caleb Westervelt, also edu- cated at Worthington Academy, became a merchant at Westerville and mar- ried Mary Van Derhoff, a daughter of Henry Van Derhoff. Her father

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came from Oak Ridge, New Jersey, and died soon after his arrival, in Dela- ware county. Caleb and Mary (Van Derhoff ) Westervelt had three chil- dren, named Therese Medora, Cora Dell and Herschel D. Medora was edu- cated at Otterbein University and married N. M. Hoffhines, a teacher in the Columbus schools, who died in 1889. By this marriage there was one son, Wilbur Westervelt Hoffhines, who is a resident of Columbus. In 1894 she married George Nitschke, of the firm of Nitschke Brothers, printers and bookbinders, of Columbus. Cora Dell died January 27, 1876. Herschel Douglas is a well known druggist of Columbus, and is prominent in Masonic and Pythian circles. He was educated at Westerville and taught school for a time in Delaware county, this state. He married Miss Martha Martin, of Columbus, and they have a son named Leland Earl. Grover Westervelt, who lives at Norfolk, Nebraska, married Amelia Grinnell, a member of a pioneer family of Blendon township, all of whom have left Franklin county and most of whom are living at Kankakee, Illinois. Sarah Westervelt is the widow of John Price, of Westerville. Rebecca Westervelt is the widow of Irvin Lawson and lives at Westerville. Bishop Westervelt, deceased, left a son named Freeman, who was one of the founders of an institute for the deaf and dumb at Rochester, New York, and is engaged as a superintendent there. Celia married Newell W. Grinnell and now makes her home in Kan- kakee, Illinois. They have three children,-Harry, Fannie and Darwin. Others of the children of William and Sarah (Bishop) Westervelt not here named left their native county years ago and the writer has not been able to trace their history.

CHRISTIAN BACHMANN.

This well known farmer and dairyman of Truro township, has spent his entire life in Franklin county, Ohio, his birth having occurred in Columbus, December 20, 1853. His father, Christian Bachmann, Sr., was born in Ba- varia, Germany, on the 22d of February, 1823, and was about twenty-seven years of age on his emigration to the United States, having been reared and educated in his native land. Locating at Columbus, he worked as a laborer in the Ridgway foundry for a time, and later was employed in the starch factory then located in that city. By the strictest economy he managed to save enough from his meager wages to purchase fifteen acres of woodland. This he cleared, chopping the wood into chips, which he hauled to Columbus and sold for one dollar per load. Being industrious and energetic and with the firm determination to succeed, he at length acquired a handsome property and at his death left three hundred and one acres of valuable land to his family. In 1852, at Columbus, he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Com- merson, also a native of Bavaria, Germany, and to them were born five chil- dren, namely: Christian, Henry, Katie, Mary and William, all still living The days of his boyhood and youth our subject passed upon the home farm, and he is indebted to the common schools of the neighborhood for his

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educational advantages. His school days' were over, however, at the age of fourteen years as he was obliged to aid his father with the farm work. He never left the parental roof, and is now successfully engaged in general farm- ing and dairying.

On the 12th of December, 1877, Mr. Bachmann led to the marriage altar Miss Clara Alice Krumm, a daughter of Henry Krumm, a prominent farmer and miller of Truro township. By this union were born eight children, as follows : Lydia, Harry, Rosa, Charles, Clara, Sadie, Luther and Mamie. All are living with the exception of Mamie, who died in infancy ; while Harry was in the employ of the electrical department of the United States exhibit at the Paris Exposition. All are now at home with their parents.

Mr. Bachmann is an active and prominent member of the Lutheran church and the Lutheran Aid Society, and to all religious work he contributes liberally. He is also a member of the German Singing Society, and is a stanch supporter of the Democratic party and its principles. At local elections, however, he votes for the men whom he considers best fitted for office without regard to political affiliations. On his party ticket he was elected justice of the peace by a good majority, and has also filled the offices of school trustee five years and school director for a number of years. In all the relations of life he has been found true to every trust reposed in him, whether public or private, and well merits the high regard in which he is uniformly held.

WILLIAM STRICKLER.

William Strickler, who has held the office of justice of the peace since 1893, and is widely known as Squire Strickler, is numbered among the prominent old settlers of Franklin county, his home being on section 36, Ham- ilton township. He was born in this township, November 21, 1848, and is a son of William Strickler, a native of Fairfield county, Ohio, whence he re- moved to Franklin county, in 1843, locating in Hamilton township, where he died at the age of thirty-five years. He was a descendant of an old Penn- sylvania German family. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Peters, was also a native of Fairfield county, was of Pennsylvania German descent, and died in Franklin county at the very advanced age of eighty-one years. By her marriage she became the mother of eleven children, of whom two died in infancy, while the others reached adult age and six are now living, namely : Mrs. Eleanora Hoggkins, a widow living in Columbus; Isabella, who is the widow of Joseph Stump and resides in Hamilton township; John, who is also living in Hamilton township; Susan C., who is the widow of Ed- ward Koocken and lives in Ellis county, Texas; Margaret, wife of Michael Rohr, of Van Wert, Ohio; and Maxamilia M., who resides with John.

Mr. Strickler, of this review, was the sixth of the family, and was only two and a half years of age when his father died. He was reared in Hamil- ton township, and attended its district schools, beginning his education in a log school house. He assisted in the cultivation of the fields on the home .farm

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until after the inauguration of the Civil war, when in 1864, in his eighteenth year, he enlisted as a private of Company K, First Ohio Cavalry, with which lie served until the close of the war. He participated in the Kilpatrick raid around Atlanta, together with many other small engagements, receiving an honorable discharge at Columbus when the country no longer needed his ser- vices. He then returned home and assisted in the cultivation of the farm until his marriage.

In 1869 Mr. Strickler wedded Rachel C. Rohr, who was also born and reared in Hamilton township, being a representative of one of the oldest fam- ilies of the county. Her mother was born in a little log house that stood on the farm where our subject now resides, and which was built in 1811. And in that cabin home Mr. and Mrs. Strickler began their domestic life, there living until 1879, when the present residence was erected. Eight children have been born of their union : Eva M., wife of Jesse Ranck, a farmer of Marion town- ship; Nellie B., wife of Alonzo Simms, of Columbus: William G., who is a mail clerk on the Panhandle Railroad running from Columbus to Pittsburg; Herman, who died at the age of eighteen months: Clara B., who died at the age of one year ; John Russell and Laura E., at home ; and Stanley, who passed away at the age of four years.

Mr. Strickler is now the owner of one hundred and twenty-four acres of rich and arable land, on which he carries on general farming. His pleasant home stands in the midst of well-tilled fields, and is highly improved with sub- stantial buildings. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and since 1893 he has held the office of justice of the peace, discharging his duties with strict fairness and impartiality. He belongs to McCoy Post. No. I. G. A. R., and for over fourteen years has been identified with Tent No. 55. K. O. T. M. He has a wide acquaintance in Franklin county, where he has spent his entire life, and by reason of his many sterling qualities enjoys the respect of all who know him.

FRANK THEODORE COLE.

The family in America of which Frank Theodore Cole, of Colum- bus. Ohio, is a representative, is descended from Thomas Cole, who settled at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1634 and whose descendants lived at Boxford and Harvard, some of them going to New Hampshire. Captain Theodore Cole, father of Frank Theodore Cole, was born at Westmoreland. Cheshire county, New Hampshire. May 19. 1813, and died there July 2. 1885, aged seventy- two years. He was for many years master of a whale ship sailing from New Bedford, Massachusetts, and his voyages took him to all parts of the world. He was one of the first to enter the Arctic ocean by way of Behring's strait, and was in the region of the mouth of the Yukon many years before it came to public notice. He married Miss Livilla Gleason. born March 21. 1818, a daughter of Captain Wilson Gleason, of Westmoreland, New Hampshire. Captain Gleason was one of the most prominent men in his part of the state, and was for many years active in military affairs as a captain of cavalry

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A Centennial biographical history of the city of Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio, Part 78

Author: Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1901 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1156

Author: Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1156