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 19
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 immediate subject of this biography.
212
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
was born January 29, 1847, in Fulton county, Ohio, the schools of which he attended until his sixteenth year. At that early age he yielded to a patriotic desire to enter the army; accordingly, on the 16th day of June, 1863, he enlisted in company H, Eighty-sixth Ohio infantry, with which regiment he served for a period of nine months, re-enlisting at the ex- piration of his teri of service in the Sixty- seventh Ohio volunteer infantry. He was honorably discharged at Richmond, Va., in September, 1865, after participating in many of the bloodier battles around the aforesaid city and Petersburg.
For some time after quitting the service Mr. Handy attended school in his native county. In 1867 he began the study of law in the office of his father, and was admitted to the bar the year following. He at once became associated in the practice with his father, with whom he continued until 1875, in January of which year he abandoned the legal profession for a time and entered the field of journalism, establishing at Wauseon the Democratic Ex- positor, which he conducted a little more than two years. On quitting the newspaper busi- ness, Mr. Handy again resumed the practice of law in partnership with his father, and the firm thus constituted continued until his appoint- ment, by Gov. Hoadley, February, 1885, to till the vacancy on the common pleas bench occasioned by the resignation of Hon. J. J. Moore. In the fall of that year he was elected his own successor and continued to fill the po- sition by successive re-elections until 1894, serving in all over uine years. At the expira- tion of his judicial career, Judge Handy effected a co-partnership in the law at Ottawa with Julius S. Ogan, Esq., under the firm name of Handy & Ogan, which still continues. Mr. Handy is recognized by his brethren of the bar as one of the oldest and most painstaking at- torneys of Putnam county, and hus legal abil-
ities have caused him to be retained as counsel in many important cases requiring a thorough acquaintance with the technicalities of lgeal jurisprudence. In a trial of a case he is fair to all parties concerned, is frank and candid in his dealings with every one, and to this may be attributed in a great measure his success ever since engaging in the practice. His long retention on the bench attests his ability to fill that honorable position creditably, and during his incumbency his dignified bearing and able and impartial rulings won for lim the highest encomiums from lawyers, litigants, and all who had business to transact in his court.
Judge Handy is one of the leading demo- crats of northwestern Ohio, active in the coun- sels of his party and fearless in his advocacy of its principles; fraternally he belongs to the G. A. R. and K. of P. orders. He was mar- ried October 15, 1869, to Isabella J. Van- Arsdale, daughter of John and Marietta Van- Arsdale. Mrs. Handy was born in Wyandot county, Ohio, and bas borne her husband three children, viz: Harry L., an emplace of the Lozier manufacturing company of Toledo, Ohio; Clive C., practicing attorney of Intnam connty, to the bar of which he was admitted in 1895, and May B., who is still wea her parents.
EV. THOMAS J. HARBAUCH .-- The record of a successful life must ever prove a subject of interest to the student who would attempt an maly- sis of character, tracing back to the fountain head the widely diverging channels which mark the onward flow of such individuality, and we of this utilitarian age can not aford to hold in light esteem the record which tells of the past and its accomplishments. Through the effective offices of kev. H. Harbaugh, there was published, in the year of 1856, th .An-
213
OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
nals of the Harbaugh family in America, from 1736 to 1856." He who compiled this excel- lent work was a resident of Pennsylvania, and from these " Annals" we learn that the origi- na! progenitor of the Harbaugh family in America was Yost Harbaugh, who came from Switzerland about the year 1736, first settling in the Maxatawny valley, in Pennsylvania, and a few years after removing to a new settlement at Kreutz creek, west of the Susquehanna, where he purchased a considerable tract of Land. Yost Harbaugh was twice married, and became the father of ten children -our subject tracing his hrect lineage to Ludwig Harbaugh, the second child of the first marriage.
Ludwig Harbaugh was born in Switzerland about the year 1728 He resided in Mary- land, in the locality known as Harbaugh's Val- ley, where he died in 1809, aged eighty-two years, his wife, Christina, having died in 1797. aged seventy. They had ten children, the fifth of whom was Yost Harbaugh, who was the grandfather of our subject. He also lived in Harbaugh's Valley, and there died about 1836, having reached the age of some sixty years. Il. married Elizabeth Sweeney, and their chil ken were ten in number, and the eldest of these, Thomas, was the father of the immediate subject of this review.
Thomas Harbangh was born in Harbaugh's Valley, Frederick county, Maryland, October 8, 1796. and was there reared to manhood. In this connection it may be said that the Har- bangh family is of German extraction, the au- cestors having been driven out of their native land into one of the cantons of Switzerland, whence occurred the emigration of the original American ancestors. Thomas Harbaugh was educated in the common schools of Maryland and there learned the carpenter's trade. He manied Mary Exline, daughter of Bernard and Juba A. (B 2) Exline, and they became the parents of twelve children, as follows: Lewis,
-
deceased in infancy; a daughter, deceased in infancy; Julia A., widow of Dr. William Bell, of Fort Wayne, Ind .; Valentine, a farmer of Kansas; Elizabeth, widow of Joseph Cable, of Columbus Grove, Ohio; Irenius and Louisa, twins (Irenius died in Columbus Grove and Louisa died in Kansas); Thomas J., of this re- view; Mary E. (twin of our subject) is the wife of Sisna Boor, of Angola, Ind. : Sophronia, wife of Isaac Ludwig of Delphos, Ohio; Mar- garetta, who died in December. 1862, and William T., a farmer of Putnam county. After his marriage Thomas Harbaugh removed from Maryland to Muskingum county, Ohio, and later to Tuscarawas county, where he was oc- cupied at his trade. In 1848 he came to Put- nam county, settling near Columbus Grove, where he had previously purchased a tract of wild land. To the reclamation and cultivation of this pioneer homestead he gave his atten- tion and there remained for many years. He died in Indiana, Apid 7, 1884. He was a man of quiet and unassuming character, and an honest, industrious, and useful citizen. Previous to the war he was a member of the democratic party, but later became identified with the republican party; originally he was, in religion, a Lutheran, but eventually he be- came a member of the United Brethren cleirch. His wife was born in Bedford county, Pa., in 1803, being of Pennsylvania-German stock. Like her husband she was reared n the Luth- eran church, but died in the United Brethren faith, her demise occurring in Fe! buary, 1867.
Thomas J. Harbangh, the subject of this sketch, laid the foundation for au education before the light of a hickory bark fire in the kitchen of the old homestead, and in the dis- trict schools during a portion of the year, and afterward by attending school at Chlead, Wood county, where he was under the preceptorage of Prof. Avery.
Essentially loyal and patriotic he enlisted,
.
214
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
April 15, 1861, in company E, Twenty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, under Capt., after- ward Gen., A. V. Rice, for three months' serv- ice in the Civil war. The command was sent to Cleveland and thence to Columbus, where they received arms and ammunition, and thence proceeded, by the way of Cincinnati, to Jackson, Gallipolis, and Kanawha, under . command of Gen. Cox. At the expiration of his term of enlistment, Mr. Harbaugh re- turned home and taught one term of school, after which, on August 18, 1862, he re-en- listed as a member of company G., Eighty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, Capt. Overmeyer, for a term of three years, being appointed ser- geant of his company. He was at once sent to Corinth, Miss., where his regiment passed the winter, and then engaged in a series of raids at Pittsburg Landing and Iuka, partici- pating in all engagements in which the Six- teenth army corps took part. In the spring the command marched up the Tennessee river into Alabama, participating in the battle of Twin Creek, and engaging the cavalry under Forrest and Weaver. Thence they returned to Corinth and from that point proceeded west- ward and passed the greater portion of the summer near the Memphis & Georgia railroad at Pocahontas. In October they were sent to Tennessee, marching across the state to Pu- laski, where they went into winter quarters, his company being detailed to attend to the operation of a mill nine miles east of head- quarters, grinding grain and sending flour to the troops at the front. In the spring they marched to Chattanooga, being the Second brigade of the Second divison of the Sixteenth army corps; under Gen. Sweeney, about May 7, 1864, they reached Chattanooga, camping at the foot of the mountains, and in a few days afterward participated in the battle of Resaca. Thereafter our subject was in all the battles and marches of the army of Ten-
nessee leading up to and resulting in the taking of Atlanta, being 100 lays under fire. After Atlanta was taken he was transferred to the Fifteenth army corps, under Gen. Logan, and was sent to Rome, Ga., to recuperate, and after six weeks had elapsed, he started with Sherman on the memorable "march to the sea," being assigned to Gen. Howard's right wing and assisting in the destruction of the railroad lines. Leaving Savannah, his regi- ment crossed at Sisters' Ferry, in South Caro- lina, thence proceeding to Columbia, S. C., and Raliegh, N. C., and Richmond, V .. , and finally to the national capital, where they par- ticipated in the grand review. With the rank of first lieutenant, Mr. Harbangh was honor- ably discharged from the Union service July 21, 1865, afterward returned to his home and for a time was employed on a farm. In the meantime he applied himself, with earnestness and devotion, to study, and in the fall of 1866 entered upon his his ministerial labors, having united with the church at the age of sixteen years. His initial efforts in the ministerial field were made at Sandusky, Seneca county, and after preaching for seven years be was elected presiding elder, having filled some of the most important stations, including Fos- toria, Findlay, and Columbus Grove. He eventually returned to Fostoria, where he re- mained for some time, when failing health compelled him to relax his efforts, and in 1881 he came to his farm in Union township, Put- nam county, Ohio. After having recuperated his energies he resumed ministerial labors, and has served most of the time as eller, his efforts having been attended with a full meas- ure of success, and having advanced the cause of the church, both spiritually and temporally. For fifteen years he was president of the board of trustees of the United Brett, en col- lege at Fostoria.
Our subject is a stalwart supporters of the
.
Perry W. Harris
٠
'217
OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
principles of the republican party and has been an active worker in the cause. In 1892 he - was a candidate for the nomination for state senator on the republican ticket from the Thirty-third district of Ohio, but was defeated by the liquor element of his own party. At the present time (1895) he occupies this im- portant trust, having vindicated the principles of honesty and morality in politics by a large majority. He is thoroughly alive as to the issues of the day, and is recognized as one of the leaders of his party in Putnam county. In his fraternal relations Mr. Harbaugh is identi- fied with post No. 64, G. A. R., of Columbus Grove.
On the 26th of September, 1866, was sol- eminized the marriage of Mr. Harbaugh to Annie Scott, danghter of Richard and Margaret Linn) Scott. Mr. and Mrs. Harbaugh are the parents of six children, viz: Richard E., who resides on the old homestead; Mary and Charles (twins), the former a resident of Fort Wayne, Ind., and the latter of Washington, D. C., where he holds a clerkship in the United States treasury department : Samuel, a teacher in Put- nam county, Ohio; James, who is attending a business college at Washington, D. C., and one child who died in infancy. Mrs. Hai- bangh was born in Warren county, Ohio, No- vember 2, 1842, and was there reared and ed- ncated, bemg a devoted member of the United Brethren church, and, like her husband, held in the highest esteem, not only through Union township, but the entire county of Putnam. Mrs. Harbaugh's parents were Richard and Margaret Linn) Scott. natives respectively of Warren county, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, the former having been born on the > st of March, 1816, a son of Thomas Scott, a native of New Jersey, where his father, Jonathan, was also born, the family being of Scotch extraction Richard scott was remed to farm life and in 1837 ocemsed his matage to Margaret Lin, 12
daughter of James and Esther (Thompson) Linn-Mrs. Harbaugh being the third in order of their eleven children. In 1859 Richard Scott removed with his family to Putnam county, Ohio, where he purchased a large tract of land and there retained his abode nn- til 1875, when he purchased 300 acres near Athens, McMinn county, Ten., and there passed the residue of his life, passing away at the age of sixty-eight years. He had identified himself in the ministerial work of the United Brethren church, and being a man of pure and noble character, his efforts were attended with good and noble results. Mrs. Scott was a na- tive of Pennsylvania, being a daughter of James and Esther (Thompson) Linn, and was a mere child when her parents emigrated to Ohio and settled in Warren county. She was zealous in her church work, and was a devoted and able coadjutor to her honored husband.
p ERRY W. HARRIS, one of the most prominent of the agriculturists of Blanchard township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born October 29, 1821, in Licking county. His grandfather, Nehe- miah Harris, was a native of Ireland of Scotch extraction, who settled in Virginia prior to the Revolution. He later became a pioneer of Licking county, Ohio, settling near Newark, where he was employed by a Mr. Woodson in clearing up the forest, receiving in payment for his services one acre of tim- bered ground for every acre he cleared The land thus acquired he subsequently sold, and then entered eighty acres in Mary Ann town- ship, in the same county, to which he added eighty acres by purchase, and on this farm he ended his days. He was twice married, and by his first wife became the Father of John. Joshua, Isaac and Hannah (Mis Horn :; by his second marriage there was born several
218
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
children, whose names are unknown to the present generation.
. Joshua Harris, son of Nehemiah, was the progenitor of the Harris family of Blanchard township. He was born in Virginia, and came to Ohio with his parents. Subsequently he located on 200 acres in Mary Ann township, Licking county, cleared up this land and made a good home, where he passed the remainder of his days, dying December 19, 1865. He had married Elizabeth Siler, a native of Penn- sylvania, by which union ten children were born, viz: Washington and Andrew, of Lick- ing county; Perry W., our subject; George, of Hancock county; Margaret, deceased wife of Abram Ingraham, of Licking county; Eliza- beth, deceased wife of Jonathan Iden; Jacob, of Putnam county; Isaac, who died in Hancock county; Joshna, of Indiana, and Nancy, wife of P. McDowell, of Hancock county, Ohio.
Perry W. Harris was reared on the old homestead in Licking county, and was edu- cated in one of the primitive log school-houses of his youthful days. In 1854 he came to Putnam county and purchased 194 acres of land in sections 25 and 36, Blanchard town- ship, and to this property he added 726 acres, the whole comprising four distinct farms, which are, however, practically combined in one tract. Upon this land he has erected his elegant man- sion and all necessary barns and other farm buildings, and has cleared and put under cul- tivation the greater part of the tract
Mr. Harris was united in wedlock Novem- ber 4, 1844, with Miss Mary Ann, daughter of Joseph Pound, of Licking county, and this union resulted in the birth of the following children: George, deceased; Isaac, of Blanch- and township, Adeline, now deceased, but who was married, first, to S. B. Siler, and, secondly, 1. Henry Huber; Emily, deceased wife of Samuel Gracely ; Joseph, of Blanchard town- ship; Belle, deceased wife of E. G. Mollitt,
and Reece, of Hancock county. The first Mrs. Harris, mother of these children, was called from her disconsolate family May 20, 1889, and Mr. Harris married, July 14, 1892, Mrs. Emily S. Bebout, née Chambers, of Eden township, Licking county, Ohio.
In politics Mr. Harris has been a life-long democrat, but while he has always taken an active interest in advancing his party and its principles, he never sought, nor would accept, public position, his private business, as the most extensive farmer and stock-grower in the township, claiming all his attention. He has served, however, from a sense of public duty, as township trustee and assessor, and for a um- ber of years as school director. He has now, however, withdrawn from the cares and labors of active business and lives in comparative re- tirement, surrounded by his sons and they fam- ilies on his own and adjacent farms, and in the unalloyed enjoyment of the esteem of his nu- inerous friends and neighbors. Mr. and Mrs. Harris are devoted members of the Christian Union church, which he liberally aids from his means, and, it may be added to his credit, he is never backward in lending a helping hand to other denominations when they are in need. The cause of education has ever found ta him an ardent friend and liberal patron, and his public spirit is made manifest whenever any worthy enterprise is set afoot that needs sub- stantial financial recognition, and during his long residence in the township he has been a potent factor in bringing to a successful issue many of the public measures inaugurated for the general benefit of his fellow-citizens.
S IMON P. HARRIS, a retired farmer and merchant of Mnatanna, Jackson township, Putnam county, Ole, may be regarded as one of the most promi- neut citizens of the county. He is the om of
219
OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
William H. and Margaret A. (Martin) Harris, and was born in Putnam county December 9, 1833. The father was born in Hartford, Conn., September 3, 1803; his father was Thaddeus Harris, also a native of Connecticut. Thaddeus Harris was a stanch democrat, and came to Jackson township in 1823, where he was elected the first justice of the peace of the township He had served in the war of 1812, and was a brave and valiant soldier. On com- ing to Putnam connty he located within a mile of Fort Jennings, which is now a part of the town, and in 1839 he moved to Kalida, but returned to Fort Jennings, where his wife died.
William Harris, son of Thaddeus, came with his father to Putnam county, where he farmed with him until his marriage, in 1826. to Margaret Ann Martin, a native of Vermont, and born abont the year 1805. The children of William and Margaret Ann Harris were born as follows: Phebe, deceased in childhood; William, of Monterey township, deceased; Squire L., died while in Libby prison; Simon P., of this mention; Nathaniel, a farmer of Monterey township; Arthur, a retired mer- chant; Thaddeus, of Muntanna, Jackson town- ship, retired merchant, and Mary, wife of Amos Point, who lives on the old homestead at Fort Jennings. After his marriage the father of these children located on the home place at Fort Jennings, where he spent the remainder of his life. His first wife died in 1849, and he married for a second wife Catherine Telhusk, and at her decease the third wife was Sarah Fausler, who still survives. He was a demo- crat until the second nomination of Abraham Lincoln, when he voted the republican ticket, and ever afterward continued to affiliate with the same party. He was the first constable of Jackson township, and was for a number of Yours trustee of the United Brethren church at Fort Jembugs, of which he was a member, and donated the lot on which the church now
stands. Each of his wives was a member of this society, and all were estimable women. Mr. Harris died September 4, 1890.
Simon P. Harris was reared on the farm, and November 27, 1856, married Mina Kortier, daughter of Cornelins and Catherine (Haver- hals) Kortier, and to them eight children were born: Katie, born January 3, 1858, at home; Cornelia M., born January 3, 1860, wife of Francis M. Unruh, a farmer of Jackson town- ship; Arthur, born October 20, 1861, a farmer of Paulding county; Peter, born September 4, 1863; John Logan, born March 9, 1866, a medical student of Columbus, Ohio; Ran-Ford, born December 26, 1868, a school-teacher and merchant of Muntanna; Mary A., born lane 14, 1871, a school-teacher and wife of Michael Schinpker, farmer of Jackson township; od a daughter. born and died March 9, 1875. The mother was born in Holland, near Utrecht, December 19, 1835. At the age of thurteen she came with her father to Delphos, and is yet living. After their marriage they located in Mouterey, but later bought a home in Fort Jennings, where he resided until 1869, when he bought a farm, on which he lived until 1881, when he returned to Fort Jennings, resided there for six years, and from there came to Muntanna and engaged in the mercantile busi- ness, from which he has now retired, his sou succeeding him.
On September to, 1861, Simon P. Harris enlisted in company A, Fifth-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, served in the army three years, and was engaged in about one hundred battles, among them the famous battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Mission Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain and Atlanta, and miole the world- renowned " march to the sea' with Sherman. Like every soldier, he took his life in his hands, but proved himself a brave and valiant soblier, and received his well-earned I norable dis- charge June 17, 1865. In pobto , Mr Harris
-
22()
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
is a republican, and is one of the wide and liberal-minded men whose influence is felt for good wherever they may live. He is not a communicant of any religions denomination, but is a supporter of the United Brethren church, and is a liberal giver to all good under- takings.
a HARLES A. HARMON, a thriving farmer of Blanchard township, Put- nam county, Ohio, his native place, was born on the homestead, on part of which he still lives, December 22, 1850, and is a son of Ira Harmon, who was a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Rarey) Harmon, and was born May 27, 1815, in Fairfield county, Ohio, and in 1832 came to Putnan. county, settled on 200 acres of land in section 28, Blanchard township a portion of some 1, 900 acres which had been entered by his father, Thomas.
In 1852 Ira Harmon made a trip across the plains to California, and in the gold fields of that auriferons state engaged in farming and teaming for nineteen months. On his return to Putnam county, Ohio, he resumed his farm- ing on his homestead, and here resided the remainder of his days. He first married Re- becca, daughter of N. Buckingham, of Fair- feld county, Ohio, but this lady was called away to a better land in 1845, leaving behind her three children, viz: Darius, who died in California in 1868; Elizabeth, wife of Lewis Oren, and John B., who was born November 5, 1842, and is now a farmer in his native township of Blanchard. John B. Harmon married Miss Emma C., daughter of Jesse Mc Williams, to which nion were born six children, viz. John S., William A., Francis A., Walter E., Matthias C. and Phebe A. For Ins second helpmate Ira Harmon manied Miss
Phebe McClure, daughter of Nathaniel Mc- Chire, and this marriage was blessed by the birth of nine children, in the following order: Pulaski, Ira 1., Charles A., William H., Cas- per A., Joshua J., Mollie (wife of Bascom Montgomery), Oscar N. and Mattie, wife of Edward Rogers. The lamented death of Ira Harmon took place May 4, 1894. He was a gentleman of much prominence m his community, and his death was felt to be a severe loss to the neighborhood. Politically he was a whig in his carlier days, but on the disintegration of that party joined the ranks of the, newly-formed republican party. For a number of years he filled the office of school director, and always took a deep interest in the progress of education. He was a sincerely pious Christian, although there were, to a lim- ited extent, mutations in his religions . tews. In his earlier life he was a M hodist, but in 1859 changed his church affiliations and nated with the Adventists. He was very hberal, however, in his pecuniary support of all de- nominations, and contributed freely toward the erection of the Methodist Episcopa', Pro- testant Methodist and Adventist church edifices of Gilboa.
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.