USA > Ohio > Putnam County > A Portrait and biographical record of Allen and Putnam counties, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Ohio, pt 2 > Part 15
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
The mother of Mr. Gander, Lydia (Gray) Gander, was born September 18, 1812. She was a woman of many excellent traits, a sincere Christian, and her name appears among the charter members of the Christian church at Vanglmsville, organized in 1850. She was the second of a family of eleven, whose names are as follows: Daniel W., Lydia, Lewis W ..
10
.
182
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Jackson, Elizabeth A., Benjamin, Phebe, Sarah, Mary J., Thomas and Catherine.
George S. Gander, the immediate subject of this biography, was born January 23, 1847, grew to manhood on a farm and at intervals attended the district schools of his neighbor- hood. He remained under the parental roof until his enlistment, in November, 1864, in company K, Sixty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he served until mustered out at Richmond, Va., November of the fol- lowing year, participating in the meantime in the campaigns in the vicinity or Petersburg and Richmond. In the spring of 1865 Mr. Gander returned home, and for some time thereafter was engaged in various kinds of manual labor, and later acted as agent for the sale of farm machinery, books and other arti- cles. In 1871 he accepted a clerkship in a general store at Columbus Grove for two years, and at the end of that time became agent for the sale of sewing machines, in which capacity he spent one year in traveling throughout dif- ferent parts of northwestern Ohio. Mr. Gander next turned his attention to the manufacture of luunber, at which he was engaged continu- ously until 1882, from which date until 1885 he was not identified with any particular busi- ness. In the year last mentioned he again began the manufacture of Inmber at Columbus Grove, where he operated a mill very success- fully until his removal to Ottawa, five years later.
Gander & Co. are the largest manufacturers of lumber in Putnam county, and do a very ex- tensive business throughout northwestern Ohio, Mr. Gander superintending the entire business of the firm. In addition to the manufacture of lumber they buy and sell all kinds of lumber and timber, handling yearly over a million and a half feet. The mill at Ottawa has a daily capacity of 10,000 feet, the greater part of which is shipped to outside markets. In the management of the large and extensive busi- ness with which he is connected, Mr. Gander displays ability of a high order, and the suc- cess of the firm is almost entirely due to his well-developed judgment and business sagac- ity. He understands, thoroughly, every de- tail of the lumber trade, and it is a compli- ment well merited to class him with the most enterprising and progressive men of the county of Putnam.
Politically Mr. Gander is a supporter of the prohibition party, and in religion a Presbyte- rian, holding, at this time, the position of ruling elder in the church at Ottawa. He was first married, in 1867, to Miss Nancy Bert. . tt, who died June 26, 1870. leaving one child -- Edward J. His second marriage was solerm- ized April 23, 1873, with Miss Lydia Sims, who bore him three children, viz: Orita, Georgia and Jessie. MI. Gander married his present and third wife, Mrs. Ruff, whose maiden name was Emma Husson, in 1891.
In 1887, the firm of Crawford & Co. was organized at Columbus Grove, Mr. Gan- ILLIAM S. GARRETT, mine host of the Dupont Hotel, of Dupont, Perry township, has the distinction of being the oldest citizen of the place. He was born on the banks of the Sus- quehanna river in Lancaster county, Pa. Oc- tober 14, 1814, and is the son of Dr. William S. and Mary (Berentz) Garrett. Dr. G.ott der being a member of the same, and it did business at that place until 1890, when the plant was sold, and the mills at Ottawa pur- chased. In 1892 a mill at Avis was purchased, also one in the county of Allen, all of which were operated imtil 1894, when Mr Crawford withdrew from the firm, which was then reor- ganized under the name of Gander & Co. I was born in Albany, N. Y., and his father,
1
183
OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
whose name was also William, was by trade a shoemaker, and was of English descent. Two sons were born to him: Isaac, who died at the age of seven years, and Dr. William S. The latter was educated in the common schools of Albany, N. Y., studied medicine and be- came a physician of more than ordinary stand- ing, and also served as surveyor during the war of 1812, under the command of Gen. Harrison in the army of the northwest. At the close of the war he eloped with Miss Mary Berentz, a native of Lancaster county, Pa,, and to this marriage were born William S. Garrett, of this biography, and Caroline L., deceased wife of Allen Walters, of Mercer county, Ohic. The wife and mother was a na- tive of Lancaster connty, and was a member of the German Reform Church, in which faith she lived and died in Indiana in 1887. After his romantic marriage Dr. Garrett resumed the practice of medicine at Marietta, Pa., where he was very successful, continuing in his pro- fession until his death. He was a Presbyterian in religious belief and affiliated with the repub- lican party in politics. He was a master Mason in good standing and a highly esteemed mem- ber of the order. After the death of Dr. Garrett the widow married Robert Manley, a native of Pennsylvania, and to this marriage the following-named children were born: Rob- ert and Mary, deceased; Hannah, wife of Henry Shnepp, of Decatur, Ind .; Harriet; Rebecca. deceased; Henry, of Lansing, Mich., and Benjamin, who died at Warsaw, Ind.
house soliciting work, and making shoes for the family at each stop. In the year of 1836 he married Mary E. Wilder, the daughter of Chauncey and Elizabeth (Davis) Wilder, and to this union ten children were born: Dwight, deceased; Sarah, wife of Daniel Conkle, of Anglaize county; Caroline, deceased wife of John Gordon, of St. Mary's; Valentine H .; Mary, deceased; Alvin; John W., of Van Wert, Ohio; Henrietta, deceased wife of Will- iam Boltz; Laura A., wife of Martin Griner, of Auglaize, and Edward W., of Dupont. The wife and mother of these children was born in Vermont, March 10, 1814, and died in 1875.
In addition to his occupation of shoemak- ing Mr. Garrett engaged in farming and also assisted in building the locks in the Erie canal. From Harrison county, Ohio, Mr. Garrett re- turned to Pennsylvania, where he was married to Miss Wilder, and remained there until 1844, when he came to Van Wert county, Ohio, and a few years later to Mercer county, where he cleared a farm from an unbroken forest and engaged in farming. In 1865 he moved to Auglaize county, where he purchased a farm of 108 acres in the corporate limits of Saint Mary's, on which he lived until 1882, when he disposed of his farm and purchased the Dupont House, where he has since been successfully engaged in the hotel business. Mr. Garrett's second wife was Mrs. Elizabeth Hurless, of whom mention is made in the biography of the late Leroy H. Hurless. Mr. Garrett is a member of the Christian Union, a democrat politically, and a thoroughgoing, successful business man, respected by all who know him.
W. S. Garrett, of this sketch, laid the foundation for his education in the excellent common schools of Pennsylvania, but in early Elizabeth Garrett, wife of William S. 1 Garrett, of Dupont, Putnam county, is a native of Fayette county, Ohio, born July 22, 1833, and is the eldest child of Armstrong and Jane ( Mellenry ) Allen. The father was a native of Fayette county, also, bern in the year life was apprenticed to John Smith for nine years to learn the shoemaker's trade, but after serving five years and mastering his trade, he purchased material and started business on his own responsibility, setting up business in Harrison county, Ohio, going from house to . of 1808, while his father, Adam Allen, was a
-
-
184
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
relative of Ethan Allen of Revolutionary fame, and of English ancestry. He was a pioneer of Fayette county, where he was a much honored resident and a very successful farmer. In pol- itics he was an old-line whig and lived to be more than 100 years of age, dying in Fayette county, mourned by his admiring associates. Armstrong Allen was the fifth son of above, received the education of a pioneer woodsman, and for many years was a teamster, visiting the eastern markets for provisions for the new settlers of Fayette county. In about the year 1831 he was happily united in wedlock with Miss Jane McHenry, daughter of Isaac Mc- Henry, of Madison county, Ohio, and this union was crowned by the birth of nine chil- dren, viz: Elizabeth Garrett ( whose name opens this paragraph); Rachael, deceased wife of Solomon Hurless; John C., ex-soldier, hold- ing a captain's commission, and now a resi- ident of Missouri; Mary, wife of William Rankin, also a resident of Missouri; William C .; who died in 1892; Josephine and David, of Joplin, Mo. ; Isaac M., living near Dupont, and Frank, of Washington C. H., Ohio. All these sons demonstrated their patriotism by serving the Union during the late Civil war. The wife and mother was a native of Madison county, Ohio, born in 1809, of stanch Irish parentage, her parents being among the very early and most prominent pioneers of Madison county. She was a life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in this faith she passed to her eternal home in 1895, at the age of eighty-seven years, spending the last thirty years of her life in total blindness.
After his marriage, Armstrong Allen en- gaged in farming, teaming and stock-driving, being quite successful. He was a member of the Ohio state militia, an earnest supporter of the old-line whig party, and fraternally he was a Mason. He was a man much respected and honored, and died about 1846 December
25, 1849, Elizabeth Allen was united in mar- riage to William Hurless, and to them were born the following children: Marion Scott Hurless, born March 12, 1852; Leroy H., born January 22, 1854, and Alice J., deceased wife of M. McClure, born June 10, 1862. Mr. Hurless died in 1864, and three years later Mrs. Hurless moved to Kalida, Putnam county, where she successfully engaged in the hotel business. January 7, 1876, she was married to William S. Garrett, with whom she now lives at Dupont.
ENJAMIN F. GARRISON .---- In the subject at hand we have the descend- ant of a family which has had repre- sentatives in every one of the wars in the history of the United States, he himself being a veteran of the Civil war. Although the Garrisons have for over a hundred years been known as an American family, neverthe- less they came originally from Germany, while our subject's maternal ancestry is from France. The record which they leave behind, however, shows them to have been possessed of natures which were loyal to the country of then adop- tion, and that they were ever ready to go forth in defense of its flag.
John Garrison, our subject's great-grand- father, was a native of Germany, who emi- grated to this country when a young and single man. He was known as a fimnous hunter in his day, and many are the thrilling tales of his prowess in this direction which have been handed down from generation to generation of the family. He participated in the Revolutionary wir, afterward marrying and founding the tanuly which was well known in the early colonial days, and which has sent so mans brave sons to the defense of the country.
Benjamin J. Garrison, our subject's grand-
1
185
OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
father, was born in New Jersey in 1790. He was still a young man at the time of the war of 1812. but participated in this war, and was present at the surrender of Gen. Hull. Be- lieving that further west than New Jersey there lay opportunity for greater advancement in life, he undertook the journey, on foot, to Clinton county, Ohio, where he decided to locate. Here he was united in marriage to a Miss Garrison, a distant relative. He was among the very earliest settlers of Ohio, and when he first entered the northwestern terri- tory was penniless, but by indefatigable indus- try he lived to become the wealthiest man in Marion township, Clinton county, being the possessor of fine farms comprising hundreds of acres. He was a self-made inan in every sense .of the term, and the head of a family whose influence was widely felt throughout that sec- tion. Politically he was a Jacksonian demo- crat, and in religious belief he found his ideal in the Society of Friends. His death occurred December 7, 1859.
Benjamin J. Garrison, son of Benjamin J. and father of our subject, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, August 9, 1820. He was reared upon the home farm, and followed agricultural pursuits through life, achieving the reputation of being one of the most successful farmers of the place and period. His education was not an elaborate one, as far as books go, but he possessed a large fund of practical common sense, and was known as a leading and influ- ential citizen. He experienced military service in the Mexican war, and received an honorable discharge. He was twice married-his first wife beig Miss Mary Bozart, a native of New Jersey, whose parents, William and Mary (Petitt) Bozart, came from France to this country. Three children were born to Benja- min and Mary Garrison; Carlotta, who mar- ried James Finley, now deceased; Benjamin F. and Nancy M. The mother was a lady of
lovely character, and belonged to the Society of Friends, in which faith she died. The sec- ond marriage of our subject's father was to Miss Margaret Layman, daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Sloan) Layman, and to them were born five children, in order of birth as follows: Esther (deceased), Rebecca, Jo Marion, Amanda and Alice. The father was a member of the Christian Union church. Politically he was a democrat, being an active local worker. His death occurred December 12, 1871.
Benjamin F. Garrison, our subject, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, November 10, 1846. He was reared upon his father's farm, and made agriculture his occupation until he was twenty-eight years of age. When less than eighteen years old, April 27, 1864, he enlisted in company H, First Illinois light artillery, and faithfully served until the close of the war. He was in the campaigns through Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala- bama, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, and from May 5 to September 8, 1864, took part in the memorable campaign through northern Georgia, from Chattanooga to Atlanta; was present at the capture of Fort McAllister, De- cember 13, 1864, and bears the memorable record of never having lost a day's duty during the period of his enlistment. He received at Jonesboro, Ga., a slight wound. At the close of the war he was honorably discharged, hav- ing fully sustamed the reputation of the Garri- son family.
Benjamin F. Garrison was united in mar- riage September 8, 1866, to Miss Demaris Smead, who was born in Clermont county, Ohio, June 24, 1849, a daughter of John F. and Eliza (Snead) Smead. Six children have been born to them: Annie, James M., Benjamin F., Maude, Arthur and Ralph. Only the last two named are now living. Mr. Garrison was a charter member of W. T. Sherman post, No.
-
186
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
13, G. A. R., organized at Athens, Ala., and was first sergeant of the post. He is identified with the Masonic order, being a master Mason, but now non-affiliating. At Hamler, Ohio, he organized Tekopa lodge, No. 715, 1. O. O. F., and has filled every chair in the two lodges with which he has been identified. Our subject was, so to speak, reared in the democratic cradle, and it was but natural that he should become a firm ad- herent of that political faith. He has always been an active local worker, and, although not a seeker after political preferment, has never- theless been honored with public office. At present he is serving his second term as town- ship clerk, to the eminent satisfaction of his constituents. He is the possessor of a farm of eighty acres, located near Athens, Ala., beside a small tract of land near Continental, Ohio. Although a resident of Continental only since February, 1892, he is well and favorably known in this vicinity, and is counted as one of the live business men of the place.
ILLIAM GASSER is a prominent business man of the thriving vil- lage of Ottoville, Monterey town- ship, Putnam county, Ohio, and a member of the firm of Gmeiner & Gasser, pro- prietors of a planing-mill and manfacturers of all kinds of dressed lumber. He was born in Bregeny, Austria, December 23, 1859, a son of Ferdinand and Rose (Flatz; Gasser, the former of whom was born August 18, 1828, at the same place, and was a farmer and hotel keeper. The farm comprised nineteen acres and the hotel was of brick, two and a half stories high, and Mr. Gasser 'was a man in good circumstances. His marriage took place with Rosa Flatz in 1854. This lady was born September 4, 1820, a daughter of Gebhardt Flatz, and this union resulted in the birth of
thirteen children, nine of whom are still living, viz: Mary A., Catherine, Annie M., Johanna, Gebhardt, Anna S., William, Rosa and Mar- tina. In 1883, in the month of February, Ferdinand Gasser came to America and lo- cated in Monterey township, Putnam county, Ohio, buying a farm of 167 acres, on which he passed the remainder of his days, dying August 18, 1885, a member of the Catholic church.
William Gasser, our subject, received an excellent education in the old country, learned the carpenter's trade, and at the age of twenty-two years came to this country, leav- ing Rotterdam, Holland, September 10, 1881, on the steamer W. A. Scholten, and landing in New York, September 24, 1881. Some ten days later he came to Putnam county, Ohio, and engaged in the cultivation of fifty acres of land three miles north of Otto- ville. A year or so later he sold this land and bought eighty acres four and : half miles north, of which sixty adres had been cleared. Mr. Gasser married, October 25, 1887, Theresia Gruber, who was born May 25, 1867, a daughter of Joseph and Mar; (Jacklin) Gruber, the former a sabstantial farmer of Jackson township, Van Wert county Ohio. This union has resulted in the birth of six children, named Joseph F., Theresia E .. Rose, Mary, William, and Victoria.
In 1889 Mr. Gasser sold his farm, moved to Ottoville, and bought an interest in the planing-mill with Frank Gmeiner, since which time they have been doing a most successful business. He has built for himself a neat and tasteful residence in Ottoville, and is very pleasantly situated. He is a member of the Roman Catholic church, to which he is a lib. eral contributor, and he is also secret iry of the order of Catholic Knights of Ohio. He is a democrat in his politics, a member of the town council of Ottoville, and is township treasure:
-
187
OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
of Monterey; he is also first assistant foreman of the fire department, and is a useful citizen generally. He is popular in the community and with his party, and as a business man stands high in the esteem of his customers and all others with whom he has any dealings, whether as buyer or seller.
RANK HENRY GIESKEN, a sub- stantial farmer of Monterey township. Putnam county, and at present school director of his district, was born in Glandorf, Ohio, February 21, 1849. His father, John Giesken. was born in Hanover, Germany, October 11, 1805, and at thirty- three years of age became a pioneer of Glan- torf, Putnam county, settling on eighty acres of land, which he bought in the woods. His wife, Clementine Reaman, whom he married in 1834, was born March 19, 1820, in Oldeu- burg, Germany, a daughter of John and Eliza- beth (Schan) Reaman, also pioneers of Glan- dorf, and the parents of three children-John, Mary, and Clementine. John Giesken, the father of our subject, increased his eighty-acre farm to 160 acres, cleared up a first-class farm, and died June 29, 1893, in the faith of the church of Rome, and the father of ten children, viz: John, Elizabeth, Clara, Mary (who died an infant), Henry, Katie (who died a married woman), Clementine (who died at the age of thirty-three years), Joseph (who died when thirty-one years old), Frank H. (our subject) and Bernard.
Frank Henry Giesken was educated in both the German and English languages, and was reared to farm life. At the age of twenty- three years he was married, at Glandorf, to Miss Wilhelmina Schmidt, who was born in that village, November 30, 1855, a daughter of Jacob and Wilhelmina ( Harb) Schmidt. Jacob Schmidt (or, as the name is now spelled, Smith)
was born in Rhine Biron, Germany, in 1821, and came to America with his father (also named Jacob) and family, about 1838, and set- tled near Sandusky city, Erie county, Ohio. May 15, 1848, he married, in that city, Miss Harb, who was born in Baden, Germany, about 1828 or 1829, a daughter of Hubbard and Cecilia (Anselm) Harb, who settled on forty acres of land near Sandusky city about 1842, and there Hubbard died at the age of eighty-three years, the father of the following children: Louis, Wilhelmina, Antone, Appolonia, Cecilia, Amelia and Hubbard. Mr. and Mrs Jacob Smith, Jr., after their marriage, settled at Glandorf, on 100 acres of woodland, but Mr. Smith was here taken sick and died, June 19, 1866, the father of the following family: Jacob, Hubbard, Cecilia, Wilhelmina, John, Antone (died in infancy), Mary and Theresa. After a widowhood of ten years, Mrs. Jacob Smith, Jr., married, November 14, 1876, at Glandorf, William Rampe, a shoemaker by trade, who died November 30, 1893. Mrs. Rampe is now a resident of Glandorf and is much re- spected for her many virtues.
After his marriage Frank Henry Giesken went to housekeeping in a hewn log cabin on a tract of eighty acres, ten of which had been cleared. Through his industry he has in- creased this farm to 120 acres, and through the exercise of the same commendable quality he has now ninety acres cleared. To Mr. and Mrs. Giesken have been born five children, named as follows: Harmon J., William, Louis, Katie and Cecilia-the family being all members of the Catholic church, and the father having been a liberal contributor to the building of the present magnificent Catholic edifice at Ottoville. In politics Mr. Giesken is a democrat, and has the full confidence of his party. For the past four years he has been a member of the school board. He is a gentleman of nuwonted energy and industry,
-
188
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
and, aided by his faithful wife, has, through persistent labor and thrift, gained the property that now places him and his family beyond the reach of pecuniary suffering. He stands high in the estimation of his fellow-citizens, and his homestead gives evidence that brains and good management have brought it to its present excellent condition.
J OHN H. GEORGE, a very enterprising farmer and business man of Van Buren township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Kreis-Dill, Germany, March 13, 1834. He learned wagon-making in his native land, and in 1852 came to America, landing in New York, soon making his way to Ohio, and for two years working at his trade in Crawford county. In the spring of 1854 he went to Hancock county, where he worked at his trade until 1862, in the meanwhile, in 1855, being married to Miss Mary N. French, who was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, January 22, 1834. She was a daughter of Grover French, a farmer of Irish descent, who died in Hancock county in 1857, his widow surviving until March, 1884, when she died at the home of our subject at the age of ninety years. Mr. and Mrs. French were the parents of seven children, viz: John, a United Brethren minis- ter; Elizabeth, deceased; Lucinda (Mrs. Wiek- ham), a resident of Behnore, Ohio; George, a United Brethren minister at Bentonville, Ohio; Reuben; Mary N., wife of our subject, and Sarah, deceased.
John and Mary (Kemper) George, parents of our subject, had born to them four children, named as follows: John H., Elizabeth (wife of August Hessy, a farmer), Johannes and Wil- helin, also farmers. Jolin George, the father, w is a cooper and farmer, and died at the age of thirty-five years, of small-pox, in his native Jand, and his widow died at the age of thirty- | in partnership with Capt. Matthias, he opened
seven. To our subject and wife have been born seven children, named as follows: Gen- evre, wife of Peter Zeller, a carpenter; Sarah A., who was married to L. Swaninger, became the mother of two children, and is now de- ceased; Reuben, in the hardware business in Belmore; Elizabeth, wife of William Cook, a farmer; Grover, who died at the age of seven- teen years; William, postmaster at Belmore and keeper of a grocery and meat market, and Ida, who died when seventeen years of age. After his marriage Mr. George continued to work at his trade in Hancock county, as above stated, until the spring of 1862, when he came to Putnam county and bought a tract of . ighty acres of land in the woods, on which he built a cabin and had cleared about twenty acres and placed them under cultivation, when he entered the Fifty-fifth Ohio volunteer infantry, in 1864, as a substitute, and was assigned to the army of Tennessee. He was with Gen. Sherman in his famous march to the sea, was in a number of severe skirmishes, and fought in the last two battles in which his regiment took part at the close of the war. He was mustered out at Louisville, Ky., and at ( leve- land, Ohio, received an honorable discharge, when he returned home and resumed his clear- ing and farming, and of the 400 acres he now owns all but thirty-five acres are ch ared, ditched and tiled. His 400 acres comprise five tracts of eighty acres each, four of which tracts he rents out, reserving the fifth tract for. a homestead, which he has placed in a most admirable condition.
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.