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 18
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
land eight acres had been partly cleared. Of course, Mr. Griffith manfully continued the good work, and has now a commodious two- story frame dwelling, large barn, out-buildings, etc .; his land is mostly all cleared, his fields ditched and being tiled, and he has made a most desirable home, all with his own hands, where he enjoys in comfort and peace the fruits of his labor and deprivation.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Griffith has been blessed by the birth of five children, one of whom, however, died in infancy, the sur- vivors being John, who is in the feed business at Lima; Mary, wife of Jonathan Roberts, manager of the homestead of Mr. Griffith; Hugh, a farmer, and Margaret A., wife of John Vandemark, also a farmer. The family are all members of the Calvanistic Methodist church; Mr. Griffith is in politics a republican and has filled some of the minor offices of the township. He is regarded by his nighbors with great respect as an upright, industrious citizen, who would be a credit to any community.
J. GRIFFITHS, a leading farmer of Sugar Creek township, Putnam county, Ohio, is a native of Cam- bria county, Pa., was born June 18, 1827, and was reared a farmer. In 1852 he came to Ohio, located in Allen county, near Delphos, was employed by the month at farm- ing and at carpenter work for two years, and then bought eighty acres of raw land in Marion township, Allen county. December 12, 1854, he married Miss An Hughes, daughter of Jenkins and Jane (Morgan) Hughes, natives of Wales, where, also, Mrs. Griffiths was born January 5, 1830. Upon his marriage, Mr. Griffiths settled upon his farm, of which he cleared sixty acres; and after having under- gone all the toil and hardships of the frontier farmer, sold his place and bought the Hughes
farm in Union township, Putnam county, on which he made a home for twenty-one years. This magnificent estate of 240 acres he divided in January, 1893, among his children, except- ing only a small portion, which he disposed of by sale, and then retired to Vaughnsville to pass in quietude his declining days, after con- quering a country with no roads and facing inalaria for years, and successfully struggling with the giants of the forest and winning from the stubborn soil the choicest rewards that Mother Nature had to bestow.
W. J. Griffithis, the subject of this sketch, is the third of the ten children born to John and Jane (Lewis) Griffithis, natives of Wales, who came to the United States about the year 1822, settled first in Pennsylvania on leased land, cleared up a farm, and afterward bought the farm on which the mother died in 1866 and the father in 1885, in Cambria county, Pa., in the Congregational church. Their ten children were born and named in the following order: Evan and Catherine, both deceased; W. J., our subject; Mary, deceased; Jane; Elizabeth, deceased; Sarah, John, Edward; and Margaret, deceased.
Jenkins Hughes, father of Mrs. Griffiths, was born October 13, 1802, and his wife April 22, 1806. In 1833 the family came to the United States, landed in New York, came to Ohio and lived in Newark three years, then came to Putnam county, where Mr. Hughes entered a farm, on which he made his home until his death, April 19, 1887, having lost his wife January 29, 1886. Of their nine children, eight were reared to maturity, viz: Ann (Mrs. Griffiths), Ellen, wife of Christopher Krause, of Arkansas; John M., deceased; Mary J., deceased; David, a member of the One Hun- dred and Eighteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, died at Chattanooga from wounds received in battle; Evan, died in the sice . of Vicksburg; Margaret M., wife of Hugh E. Hughes Leah,
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who died single, and Joseph E., deceased. . Mr. and Mrs. Hughes were sincere Christians and devoted members of the Calvinistic Methodist church, of which he was an ekler. He was constantly engaged in church work-inauguat- ing the first Sunday-school in his neighbor- hood, holding its sessions in his own house, and assisting in inaugurating the first congre- gation and in building the first church edifice.
Of the five children that blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Griffiths, two died in infancy; of the three that grew to maturity Mary J. is the wife of Evan T. Reese, farmer; Margaret A. is married to James P. Jones, of Columbus Grove, and Sarah E. is the wife of Richard Foulkes, a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths are members of the Congregational church, and in politics Mr. Griffiths is a repub- lican. He has filled a few minor offices as a matter of public duty, but has never had any desire for official position. He has been a true man in every sense of the term, and is univer- sally honored for his upright character, his enterprising spirit and his unaffected and gen- tle manners.
LARENCE W. GRISWOLD, the effi- cient agent of the Findlay, Fort Wayne & Western railroad at Ot- tawa, is a native of Summit county, Ohio, and was born in the town of Cuyahoga Falls on the 11th day of November, 1871. His parents, Willard M. and Susan L. (Under- wood) Griswold, are both natives of the same county and state, and reside at this time at Cuyahoga Falls. Willard M. Griswold is de- scended from an old Connecticut family, and has been identified with railroading the greater part of his life, having held the position of agent with the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus railroad company for a period of thirty years. He began as telegraph operator, and continued
in active service until his retirement in the year of 1887. His father was a farmer, and a man who made many friends wherever his lot was cast. Willard and Susan Griswold are the parents of two children, Clarence W .- whose name introduces this biography-and Ellen M. By a previous marriage with a Miss Demming, daughter of Seymour Demming, Mr. Griswold was the father of two children -- Mary E., wife of Fred Dyer, and Charlotte E., deceased wife of H. E. Hickox.
Clarence W. Griswold received a high- school education in Cuyahoga Falls, and at the early age of sixteen began clerking in a clothing house of that town, in which capacity he continued for a period of two years. At the end of that time he became bookkeeper for the Brunswick Cigar company of Findlay, which position he held for a few years, end in September, 1891, entered the service of the Findlay, Fort Wayne & Western railroad as agent at Creswell, Ohio, where he remained a short time, being transferred from that place to Cloverdale, where he had charge of the office until March 1, 1892. In the latter year he was transferred to Ottawa, where he has since liad charge of the company's business, and he is now recognized as one of the most competent and obliging agents of the above line. When a lad of twelve Mr. Griswold learned telegraphy, in which he acquired great proficiency. Besides his duties as railroad agent he has charge of the American Express company's office at Ottawa, and has also had considerable experience at different times as extra, in railroad work, for the Cleveland, Ak- ron & Columbus and Baltimore & Ohio roads.
Mr. Griswold was married April 27, 1593. to Miss Mary J. Hoffa, of Ottawa, daughter of John M. and Lena (Zimmerman) Hoffa, a union blessed with the bath of one child, Ella Milly. Mrs. Griswold was born in Palmyra, Pa. She is a member of the Lutheran church,
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WILLIAM GUFFY.
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
and is very popular in Ottawa, both she and her husband moving in the best circles of society.
a PILLIAM GUFFY, one of the oldest and most prominent farmers of Sugar Creek township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Franklin county, November 22, 1806, the younger of twins, the first-born children of John and Nancy ( Pendle- ton) Guffy. natives of Kentucky. Henry Gnffy, father of John Guffy, with two brothers, came from Ireland and settled in Kentucky at a very early date in the history of the state, and was killed by Indians. John Guffy, father of our subject, had one full brother, one full sister, and hve half-laothers and sisters. Of these, the full brother, Henry Guffy, was killed by the Indians near Terre Haute, Ind .. in 1812 or 1813. The father, John Guffy, was quite a young man when he came to Ohio with his mother and step-father, who settled in Franklin county. John was there married and lived on leased land; in 1829 he came to Putnam county and entered a tract of land in Sugar Creek township, but did not come to permanently reside until 1831, when he en- tered additional land, making a total of 304 acres, on which he made his home until his death, which occurred July 1, 1874. He had risen to be a gentleman of considerable im- portance in his township and county, and died a greatly respected and honored man. Of his land, forty acres were obtained with a warrant granted him for his services in the war of 1812; this tract was increased to 304 acres, and he owned, beside, 120 acres in Kansas.
William Guffy, the subject of this sketch. was reared to all the hardships of pioneer life, and, like af the male members of the family, he acquired great skill as a lunter. In those days the frontier forests were filled with game
and beasts of prey, all, when slaughtered, yielding a double source of revenue -- the for- mer for food, and both the former and latter peltries, that were easily exchangeable, partly for cash and partly for the commoner kinds of dry goods and groceries. Flour and meal, how- ever, were obtained with difficulty, and the latter consisted chiefly of grated corn-and even for this, at one time, our subject had to travel to mill eighty-one miles, taking seven days for the round trip. When he had eventu- ally settled down to farming, he was compelled to haul his surplus products 100 miles to market, a trip requiring ten days. To group the Guffy children together, it may be tated that to John and Nancy were born a family of ten, in the following order: Isaac and William, twins, of whom Isaac died in Kansas Febru- ary 2, 1885; Margaret, deceased wife of Sam- uel Parker; Henry, deceased; Jane, married to James McKinley; Joseph, who was killed by a falling tree in 1835; Aquilla, who died and left a family of six children; Sarah, wife of Jacob Rhodes; Nelson, now of Michigan, and Elizabeth, married to William McLain, a fariner. To our subject, who married Miss Mary A. T. Jacobs in 1834, have also been born ten children, of whom two died in in- fancy, those who grew to maturity being named as follows: Samuel, in Kansas; Eliza- beth, wife of James Rhodes; Alexander, who died a prisoner of war; Anetta, married to Noah Myers; George and James, farmers; Sarah, wife of John Cratty, a farmer, painter and teacher; Alice, wife of Christopher Sake- iniller, with whom our subject is now making his home, the mother of the family having died November 8, 1864.
On his marriage, in 1834, Mr. Guffy en- tered eighty acres of land in Sugar Creek township, and here built a hewn log cabin, in which he lived fourteen years, and then built a good frame dwelling that was an ornament
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
to the neighborhood. Changing to other farms, which he also cleared up and improved, he added to his possessions until he was owner of over 500 acres, of which he sold a portion and divided the remaining acres of what he had reserved for himself among his children, excepting sufficient to yield an in- come which, added to the interest from his in- vestinent in other ways, would maintain him- self, enabling him to live in independence by paying his way with his daughter, Mrs. Sakemiller, with whom he has a more com- fortable home than he would have, without her filial care, under any other circumstances. Mr. Guffy has never aspired to public office, but as a matter of duty as a citizen, has served as township trustee, and has filled, also, inany of the minor township offices. Samuel Jacobs, the father of Mrs. Mary A. T. Guffy, was a native of Kentucky, who moved to Champaign county, Ohio, where Mrs. Guffy was born, and later moved to Allen county, where he died about 1853, having served as coroner under whig auspices, and having been a faithful member of the Methodist church.
Christian Sakemiller, with whom our subject has now his happy home, was born in Allen county, Ohio, January 14, 1852, and is a son of Benjamin and Mary (Sherrick) Sake- miller, natives, respectively, of Pennsylvania and Fairfield county, Ohio, where they were married. Benjamin was of German descent and came to Allen county, Ohio, with his par- ents, in 1830, was reared a farmer, and died in February, 1889. His wife, a daughter of Christian Sherrick, was also a native of Penn- sylvania, of German descent, and came to Ohio, with her parents, about the year 1833. Mr. Sherrick was a carpenter by trade, but was also a farmer, the former trade being his chief occupation. He reared a family of se ven children, his parents having had born to them eleven children; the living are named:
Rachael, Christopher, Jane, Samps, Charley, Rebecca, William, Benjamin F., and James W.
Christian Sakemiller, after his marriage with Miss Guffy, settled to farming on 100 acres of land, which he has brought under a good state of cultivation and improved with every modern convenience, including his ele- gant residence and commodious barns and out-buildings. He raises sufficient live stock for home use, but his chief attention is given to general farming, from which he makes a decided profit. He has been a democrat in politics, and has filled a number of township offices, including that of trustee. Of ins five children, Elnora, who was born April 17, 1876, died at the age of nine months; William D., born May 18, 1879, is still at home; Elsie M., was born 'November 26, 1882; Mary A., May 11, 1884; and Ray, September 4, 1890, The parents of these children are devoted members of the Christian church, and also members of the Patrons of Husbandry
Of all the residents of Sugar Creek town- ship, the probability is that no one has at- tained a higher degree of respectability or met with a more successful career as a farmer than William Guffy, whose life, in Putnam county, we have, in a feeble manner, attempted to de- lineate. At the venerable age of nearly nmety years he commands the respect of all who know him, and for the very efficient part he has taken in the development of the county from a wild and barren wilderness to one of the most beautiful and fruitful counties in the state of Ohio, no thanks of the present gener- ation can be too fervent.
EORGE W. GUFFY, a well-known farmer, is a native of Sugar Creek township, Putnam county, Ol ,, his present place of residence, was born August 18, 1844, is a son of William and Mary
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
A. Guffy, and was reared to agricultural pur- snits. He acquired a very good education in the schools of the township and assisted on the home farin until 1869, when he went west, stopping about one year in Clinton county, Iowa; then went to Brown county, Kans., farmed three years on rented property, then bought a farm of 165 acres, and in December, 1874, was married, after which event he broke up his raw prairie farm, built a frame house, stable and crib, but in 1882, sold out and came back to Putnam county, Ohio, and purchased that part of the old John Guffy farin on which he still lives. He has remodeled this place considerably-moving the large barn, building a fine two-story frame dwelling, and by ditch - ing and tiling has placed the fields in an ex- cellent state of cultivation. He has also given especial attention to the grading up of live stock, such as Clydesdale, Percheron and Nor- man horses and choice breeds of hogs.
As previously stated, Mr. Guffy was mar- ried in December, 1874, in Kansas, the lady being Miss Cassie A. Hyde, who was born in Missouri September 16, 1857, a daughter of James L. and Mary (Pace) Hyde. The father, James L. Hyde, is a native of Kentucky and the mother of Illinois, and they were married in Missouri; in 1860 they moved to Kansas, where the former had been engaged in teaching, and also as a carpenter and farmer; he was an old resident of that state and was familiar with the events of the border ruffian days and with those of the John Brown, Quantrill and Jim Lane raids; he was a well-educated gentleman. and was formerly a democrat, but of late years has affiliated with the populists; he has served as justice of the peace and has filled many other offices, but, though religiously inclined, is a member of no church. Of his seven chil- dren, five are still living, as follows; Cassie, wife of our subject: Anna, married to Samuel R. Guffy, of California; John, a farmer of
Missouri; May, wife of O. E. Hardesty, of Oklahoma, and Maud, at home. In 1883 Mr. Hyde returned to Missouri, bought a large farm, remained until 1890, then rented his farm and went to Oklahoma, where he improved a farm on which he still lives. Although born in 1835 and his wife in 1837, both are still hale and hearty and have been prominent in every com- munity in which they have lived. In 1893 Mr. Guffy and his wife also made a visit to Oklahoma, remained three months and were very favorably impressed with the country.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Guffy has been blessed with five children, of whoin, how- ever, one died young. The survivors are named as follows: Ola, born May 29, 1879; Vernon, April 5, 1882; Clara, June 30, 1884, and Ralph, August 31, 1886. Both parents and their eldest danghter are consistent mem- bers of the Christian church, and their social standing is second to none in the county Mr. Guffy has always been republican in his poli- tics, but he has never aspired to office. lle is one of the best and most progressive farmers in the county, and for further particulars re- lating to this pioneer family the reader's atten- tion is called to the sketch of William Guffy. to be found on a preceding page.
J OHN W. HALKER, a well-known cit- izen of Glandorf, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Union township, in the same county, February 3, 1855, a son of H. W. and Catherine (Beucher) Halker. 11. W. Halker, the father, was born in Glan- dorf, Hanover, Germany, where he spent his life until about thirty years of age, when, in 1843, he came to America. He bought a farm of 120 acres in Union township, Putnam county, on which he made his home until 1860, when he moved to Glandorf, in the same county, and engaged in the grocery, and saloon.
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business, and here passed the remainder of his days until his death, in August, 1890, at sev- enty-seven years of age. He was married in this county and had born to him a family of seven children, viz: Mary, who died January 1, 1895, the wife of Henry Nolte, of Delphos, Ohio; David, clerking in Ottawa; John W., our subject; Katie; Matt; Aggie, wife of Law- rence Bohn, of Hamler, Ohio, and Henry, a clerk of Glandorf. His wife survives him and resides at Glandorf. Mr. Halker, during his residence in Glandorf, established a reputation that his descendants may well feel proud of and enjoy.
John W, the subject of this sketch, was educated in his native town and at Cincin- nati, and began life for himself by opening a grocery and saloon at Glandorf, and he has been in this line of trade ever since, and being of a sociable and good natured disposition, he has made hosts of friends. He is the leading democrat of Putnam county and very popular with his party, whom he has represented in several conventions. He is a gentleman of unimpeachable integrity and served as treas- urer of the Glandorf Building & Loan associ- ation for five years, as township treasurer for four years, and as treasurer of Saint John's Benevolent association. He also filled the office of clerk of Ottawa township for two years, and in every instance has given the utmost satisfaction to all concerned. He is one of the broad-gange, progressive citizens of Glandorf, and always foremost in enterprises calculated to benefit the public at large.
October 10, 1894, Mr. Halker was married to Miss Lizzie Franke, a native of Glandorf, and a daughter of Fred and Catherine Franke. Mr. and Mrs. Halker are consistent members of Saint John's Catholic church, are liberal in aid of its support, and are punctual at their devotions and in the fulfillment of their church duties.
ILLIAM HANAWALT, a prosper- ous and thrifty young farmer of Palmer township, Putnam county, was born in Union county, Ohio, December 4, 1858, and has always been en- gaged in farming. George Hanawalt, grand- father of our subject, was a native of Germany, and with his family came to the United States at an early day and first located in Pennsyl- vania, whence he moved to Ohio and settled in Ross county, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their days.
George Hanawalt, son of the George . bove mentioned and father of William. our subject, was born in Ross county, Ohio, September 4, 1815, and was also always engaged in agricult- ural pursuits. He married, in Ross comty. Miss Rebecca Latta, who was born in the same county September 17, 1812. Four years after marriage, in 1842, he moved to Union county, bought a good-sized farin and sercess- fully followed his callmg until his death, Janu- ary 14, 1886, his wife having preceded him to the grave September 14, 1881. George Han- awalt was a hard-working man, made his fortune through his own unaided efforts, and was greatly respected by his neighbors for his strict morality. In politics he was first a whig and afterward a republican, and in religion a consistent Methodist, to which denommation he contributed liberally of his means, as well as to other christian sects. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hanawalt were born in the following order: Phebe, wife of Moses Laird; Allen; Hester, wife of George Wait; John; Mary, wife of Benjamin Bergman; William, our subject; Sarah, wife of J. M. Wilson, and Thomas.
William Hanawalt, the gentleman with whom this biographical sketch has most to do, and whose name stands at the head of the opening paragraph, received a good common- school education and was fully trained to the vocation he has followed throughout hus life.
OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
March 18, 1883, he married Miss Maggie Kin- caid, who was born in Bath county, Va., De- cember 14, 1861, a daughter of Charles L. and Martha A. (Terrel) Kincaid. Charles L. Kincaid was born September 9, 1814, and his wife April 8, 1838, and were married in Bath county, Va., March 2, 1854. The father dying November 6, 1874, the mother brought her family to Ohio and located, first, in Madison county, and afterward moved to Union county, and was remarried and is still a resident of the county last named. Mrs. Maggie Hanawalt is a highly educated lady, having been fitted for school-teaching at Ada (Ohio) Normal college, and for three terms taught successfully. After his marriage Mr. Hanawalt settled on his pres- ent farm in 1884, and here have been born to ban the four children who have brightened his home, to-wit: Alma K., Joe B., Thurman Bruce and Mabel Agnes. Mr. Hanawalt has a pleasant home on forty acres of land, which he has earned through his own industry. In pol- itics he is a democrat, and is now a township trustee, taking much interest in the affairs of his township as well as the success of his party. He and wife are members of the United Breth- ren church, and both are teachers in the Sun- day-school, in which work they are untiring. As a farmer Mr. Hanawalt has few equals of his age in the township, and few farms of the size of his are better improved and cultivated. His social standing is an enviable one, and he shares with his wife the exalted respect of the community in which he and she are passing away the prune hours of a happy life.
J UDGE WILLIAM H. HANDY has been a resident of northern Ohio all of his life, and since 1868 has been a lawyer, whose ability has won for him distinc- tion throughout the northern part of the Buck- eye state. Judge Handy's paternal ancestors
were Welsh people and he traces; the family . history back through several generations to his great-great-grandfather,. Michael Handy, who came to America prior to the war of in- dependence and settled in. Vermont. Each, succeeding descendant down to the judge's: father was named Michael, but the family is by no means numerous in the United States.
Michael Handy, father of the subject, was born in December, 1812, in Tompkins county, N. Y., and in early life he was a teacher. Later he read law in Fulton county, Ohio, to which part of the state he moved in 1838, and was. admitted to the bar at Maumee, Lucas county, in the year of 1850. He began the practice of his profession at Ottokee, the original county seat of Fulton county, and when the seat of justice was removed to. Wanseon, located at the latter place, where he conducted a success- ful legal business until his death. He served: as prosecuting attorney, also as mayor of Wau- seon, and at the time of his death, in March, 1866, was the oldest member of the bar of Fulton county. Michael Handy was a self- made man, having been his, own preceptor in the law, and he became a very successful practitioner. His life was untinged by the slightest stain of anything dishonorable, his integrity was proverbial among his professional associates, and he always had an undisguised contempt for sham and, hypocrisy. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary A. Bryan, was born in 1812 and departed this life in the year 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Handy had a family of six children, all living with the exception of one' that died in infancy; the survivors are named as follows: C. F., who served in com- pany A, Sixty-seventh Ohio infantry, is now a claim agent; Mary E., widow of Harry L. Aldrich; Roxie M., wife of David A. Rice, of Michigan: William H., and Frank H, a painter residing in Wauseon ..
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