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 58
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
Sarah Black, who is still living, hale and hearty, at the age of eighty-seven years.
Mr. and Mrs. D. W. Troyer reside upon a fine farm of eighty acres which they purchased in 1893. It is a productive and well tilled tract of land, and comfortable buildings have been erected thereon. Our subject affiliates with the republican party, although he is in no sense a rabid partisan. The worthy young couple have by personal effort made the major portion of their possessions, and in this portion of the county they have the reputation of being upright citizens, who are possessed of even more than the usual amount of push and enterprise.
UMPHREY TUDOR, a progressive agriculturist of Sugar Creek town- ship, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Wales in March, 1839, and was reared there to farm work. At the age of eigliteen years, in 1857, he came to America with his mother and step-father and their fam- ily, who located in Van Wert county, Ohio, and soon afterward our subject found work as a farm hand, chiefly in Allen county, where he grew to manhood, saved his earnings and was soon able to purchase a tract of forty acres. October 7, 1862, he married and then rented a farni for four years, in the interval selling his purchase; in 1867 he bought 104 acres of his present farm, to which he later added twenty acres, and of the whole there were sixty acres cleared, but there was no house on the tract. He began its cultivation and In- provement at once, however, and now has a comfortable frame house and out-buildings, barns and fences, and has ninety acres cleared, ditched, tiled and cultivated. In 1883 he pur- chased another farm near by, but located in Allen county; it contains eighty acres, has a good house, barn, etc., and he is thus busily
employed in conducting both places, breeding graded cattle and doing general farming.
The first wife of Mr. Tudor bore the maiden name of Sophia Davis; she was born Septem- ber 19, 1840, near Gomer, Ohio, and was a daughter of Thomas and Mary Davis, natives of Wales, but now deceased. To this union were born nine children, of whom six grew to maturity, as follows: Mary, born September 19, 1864, married Owen B. Owen, of Van Wert county, and died March 22, 1894; Mag- gie, born March 21, 1867, died July 16, 1891; John, born June 11, 1870, is married and is farming; Jane, born October 31, 1871, mar- ried Elmer Rees, and died August 17. 1894, and left one son; Lizzie, born March 30, 1874, died June 7, 1891 ; and William, born July 12, 1876, is still with his father. The mother of this family was called to her heavenly home April 12, 1883, a devoted member of the Con- gregational church. Mr. Tudor remained a widower until March 27, 1895, when he was united in wedlock with Miss Catherine Jones, who was also born near Gomer, Ohio, the date of her birth being January 27, 1856. Her parents, Cadwallader and Ann (Reese) Jones, were natives of Wales. The father came to America in 1834, at the age of nineteen years, located in Putnam county, Ohio, and was there married in 1846. He became a large land- owner, was very prominent as a citizen and was a church deacon. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jones were nine in number, viz: Susan, Francis, Amelia, Samuel, all died young; Mary J. is the wife of J. R. Thomas, merchant of Blocton, Ala .: Richard W., farmer and justice of the peace; Catherine, now Mrs. Tudor; Frank W, on the home- stead; John C., of Ottawa. The father of this family died September 19, 1881, and the mother February 19, 1894.
In politics Mr. Tudor is of republican pro- clivities but is rather indifferent to party poli-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
tics, yet he has filled some of the ininor offices and has also served as township trustee. In all other respects he is quite public spirited, and is always ready to assist any enterprise of merit intended for the public good. He was one of the first to contribute to the railroad company in its incipiency, donating $200; is free with his purse in aid of all the churches, and to the Gomer church, of which he is a member, he has contributed most liberally. He is regarded as one of the best citizens of Sugar Creek township and is esteemed as one should be, who is the "architect of his own fortune. "
0 ANIEL VANDEMARK, one of the most prominent farmers of Union township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Franklin county January 31, 1835, a son of Daniel and Sarah (Hubbell) Vandemark. The father, Daniel, Sr., was born in Luzerne county, Pa., April 13, 1790, and was a son of Jeremiah, a native of Hol- land. Daniel was reared a farmer and also was taught shoemaking. About 1811 he mar- ried Sarah, daughter of Hezekiah Hubbell. She was born in Pennsylvania February 10, 1791, and died April 12, 1869, a member of the Christian church, as are all her children, who were born in the following order: Agnes, deceased wife of Futhey Barfell; Jeremiah, deceased; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Samuel Harmon; Esthier, deceased; Nancy, deceased wife of Daniel Hipshire; Alvira, deceased wife of Isaac Clevenger; William, who died in Au- gust, 1891; Mary J., deceased wife of Lewis Stover, and Daniel, the subject of this sketch.
After his marriage Daniel Vandemark, Sr., remained in Pennsylvania some years, and then came to Ohio and located in Franklin county, where he farmed and followed shoe- making until 1837. He next moved to Allen county, where he lived one year, and in 1838
came to Putnam county and leased land in Sugar Creek township for ten years. He then bought an uncleared farm in the same town- ship, on which he lived until his death, Janu- ary 8, 1857. He was a member of the Chris- tian church, and a republican in politics, serv- ing as constable for several years in Putnam county, and was a soldier in the war of 1312. Our subject's maternal grandfather, Hezekiah 2 Hubbell, served through the Revolutionary war, living to the extremne age of 100 years, one month and twelve days.
. Daniel Vandemark, whose name stands at the head of this biography, was educated in the common school of Vaugnsville, was reared to manhood on a farm, and June 23, 1857, inarried Miss Ruhama Maybury, a daughter of James and Polly (Jamison) Maybury, of Irish descent. To this marriage were born six chil- dren, as follows: Loretta E., wife of Evan Anderson, of Sugar Creek township; Eliner E .; W. A .; John, of Sugar Creek township; Lillie May, wife of Seymour Benroth, of Union toown- ship, and Jesse G., on the home place with his father. The mother of this family | assed away January 13, 1882, a devout member of the Christian church. Two of the brothers of this lady, William and Alfred Maybury, were members of company A, Fifty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, in which they had enlisted for three years-William dying in the service -- and another brother. Theophilus, was a inember of a 100-day regiment.
Mr. Vandemark, after his marriage, located in Vanghnsville, where he lived until 1873, when he moved to Union township and bought his present farm, which was but partly cleared, but which he has since put under an excellent state of cultivation, and in 1884 erected his present fine dwelling, and a little later a sub- stantial barn. April 26, 1883, Mı. Vandemark took for his second wife Miss Lina Evans, who was born in Miami county, Ohio, Febru-
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
ary 12, 1847, a daughter of Isaac and Eunice (Hubbell) Evans, her father being a native of Virginia and her mother of Shelby county, . Ohio. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Evans, Thomas served in the late war in the Twenty-first Ohio volunteer infantry. Six of their family are still living, as follows: Mary Ellington, of Iowa; Martha Valentine, of Nebraska; Lina, wife of subject ;. Jane Sheets, of Lima, Ohio; Isaac, a carpenter of Pleasant township, Putnam county, and Will- iam, of Iowa; with whom the mother is mak- ing lier home.
In politics Mr. Vandemark is a republican, and has served as township trustee for three years, as well as filled a number of minor offices. With his wife he is a consistent meni- ber of Maple Grove church, also a member of Columbus Grove lodge, No. 464; I. O. O. F. He is one of the most progressive and useful citizens of the township. He is entirely a self-made man, having been only possessed. when he first married, of $22 in cash, but is now the owner of one of the best farms in the county.
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SAIAH VARNER, a prosperous and prominent farmer of Greensburg town- ship, Putnam county, Ohio, is a native of the township and was born May 8, 1842, a son of Jacob and Eliza (Guyton) Var- ner. The father, a native of Virginia, was born in 1805, was of German parentage, and was reared a farmer, and also worked in a dis- tillery. In 1832, he came to Ohio and was among the early settlers of Putnam county. lo- cating 'on the north bank of the Blanchard river, and clearing up a farm. He married Eliza Guyton, daughter of Vincent and Annie (Davis) Guyton, and to this union were born nine children, viz: Mary A., Ellen, Isaiah, William J., Barbara (deceased), Elizabeth,
Ruth, Asa, and Rebecca. Mrs. Eliza (Guyton) Varner was born in Maryland in 1814. Her mother, Mrs. Anna (Davis) Guyton, was a second cousin of Jefferson Davis, president of the so-called Confederate States of America. Mrs. Varner was of English descent and was a child when her parents came to Ohio, and lo- cated in Fairfield county, whence they came to Putnam county, where her father entered government land and farmed until his death, which occurred about the year 1855 ; his widow, who was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, died February 16, 1892. Mr. Varner was originally a democrat, but in 1856 joined the abolition party, and later be- came a republican. He was intrusted with several township offices, and was a potent fac- tor in clearing away the forest and in develop- ing the agricultural interests of the township, and his was a life well spent; he died August 21, 1895, in his ninety-first year.
Isaialı Varner, our subject, was reared to the hardships of frontier farm life, and followed the vocation as an assistant to his father until he enlisted, September 2, 1861, in company A, Fifty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry. He participated in the campaigns of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. At the battle of Shiloh he was wounded by a minie ball in the left hip, was treated in the hospitals at Savannah, Tenn., and Cincinnati, Ohio, and then furloughied home for ninety days. Rejoining his command at Memphis, Tenn., he took part in the siege of Vicksburg, the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, and then at Memphis, Chattanooga and Mis- sionary Ridge, as well as taking part in many skirmishes and battles in northern Georgia. July 22, 1864, he was captured in front of At- lanta and sent to the pen at Andersonville, where he suffered for two months, and on Oc- tober 1, following, he was exchanged and hon- orably discharged, his teri having expired.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Mr. Varner was married, in 1865, to Fan- nie J. Landers, daughter of Abraham and Margaret (Fender) Landers, and to this union have been born the following children: Emma (deceased), Maggie, Mary, Charles, S. J., Jerry M., Martin W., Curtis, Grace and Ches- ter. The mother of these children was born in Putnam county, Ohio, in 1843, her parents having been among the very early settlers from Pennsylvania. In 1886 Mr. Varner purchased his present farm, and has since given it his en- tire attention, rendering it one of the best in the township. Mrs. Varner is a strict member of the Methodist church, and Mr. Varner is a member of Weiser post, No. 93, G. A. R., of Dupont, Ohio. Politically he is a republican, and he and family stand among the most highly respected citizens of Greensburg township.
PILLIAM J. VARNER, one of the young and progressive farmers of Greensburg township, Putnam coun- ty, Ohio, and in fact one of the self- made men and up-to-date citizens in all that term implies, dates his birth from the year 1847 and is one of the native sons of Greensburg township, being the second son, but fourth child, born in a family of nine children to Jacob. and Eliza (Gnyton) Varner, of whom further mention is made above in a sketch of Isaiah Varner.
William J. Varner, the subject of this sketch, was reared upon the home farm and assisted his father in improving same until a man grown. He was early inured to hard labor, industry and economy, which traits of character were indelibly stamped in his make-up. He received a liberal education from the common schools in the home district, and being of an observing disposition and blessed with a retentive mem- ory, has greatly added to his fund of knowl- edge, which he finds a valuable factor in the
progress of life. He remained under the roof of his honored parents until twenty-two years of age, during which year, on the 21st of No- vember, 1869, he was married to Miss Anna Simon, one of the most worthy young ladies of Greensburg township. Soon after marriage the young and hopeful couple settled on the old Varner homestead, where they resided for three years, after which, in 1872, he located upon the farm on which he now lives, on which he has made many valuable improvements, and to-day enjoys one of the most comfortable and pleas- ant homes of the township.
Mr. Varner has been one of the successful farmers, giving his attention largely to the culture of grain and other farm products, and in connection with his agriculture interests, which are not neglected from any standpoint, he has dealt extensively in live stock and has for several years been a shipper to the castern markets. He is well posted upon the topics of the day, reading some of the best farm jour- nals, and finds time to experiment in the raising of grain and stock as well, and there is no reason why he should not be a leader m his most honorable calling in the county of Putnam. Politically, Mr. Varner is a stanch republican, and at present is township treasurer, having been elected by the people, overcoming a very large adverse majority, which shows his popu- larity in the vicinity where he has spent his entire life. He is honored and respected by all wherever known, and none can speak ill against him. Fraternally he is a member of the Ottawa lodge, F. & A. M. Religionsly he is not a member of any church, although he gives very liberally to the support of religions and all charitable enterprises.
To the marriage of Mr. Varner and Miss Simon have been born five children, viz Nettie, Gertrude, Carl C., Zoe and Lanra. Mrs. Var- ner is a member of the United Brethren irch, and is very popular m the social world. She
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a. 2 Thomas
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
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dates her birth from the year 1849, and was reared and educated in her native township, where she has passed her entire life. She is the daughter of John P. and Savillia (Gen- shmier) Simon, whose sketch appears at length in this volume.
ON. AMOS Z. THOMAS, who is the present judge of the probate court of Putnam county, has been an honored resident of Ottawa since the month of June, 1866. Judge Thomas is a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, and was born Novem- ber 29, 1829, a son of David M. and Elizabeth (Fry) Thomas, who were born in Montgomery and Perry counties, Pa., respectively. On his father's side the judge is of Welsh descent, his great-grandfather having come to America in a very early day, and settled in Virginia. John Thomas, the judge's grandfather, was born and reared in the Old Dominion, and in an early day moved to Montgomery county, Pa., where he engaged in farming. He had a family of seven children, all of whom, with the excep- tion of the father of the subject, lived and died in the latter state. One of the sons of John Thomas, whose name was also John, served with distinction in the war of 1812. David M. Thomas, the judge's father, moved to Trumbull county, Ohio, in early inanhood, and became the head of a family of six chil- dren, whose names are as follows: Julia A., deceased wife of Frederick Cratsley; Elizabeth, widow of Elam Bentley; Amos Z .; Hanna, deceased. Mary J., wife of Amos Bentley, and David J .. , who died at the age of thirty years.
The mother of these children was a daugh- ter of Joseph Fry, who was born in Chester county, Pa. Mr. Fry afterward located near Millerstown, in his native state, where he mar- ried and where for some years hie carried on the tailor's trade. He reared a family of nine 29
children, seven sons and two daughters, whose names, in the order of birth, were as follows: Henry, Daniel, Joseph, Abraham, Frederick, Mary, John, Elizabeth and David. Of these sons Daniel, Joseph, Abraham and Frederick served in the war of 1812, and earned the reputation of brave and gallant soldiers. Jo- seph was killed while in the service; Abraham moved to Lafayette, Ind., where he became a prominent factor in political circles, having served as treasurer of Tippecanoe county, that state, besides holding other positions of pub- lic trust.
Judge Amos Z. Thomas's early experience was upon the home farm in his native county, where he remained until his eighteenth year, at which time he began a course of study pre- paratory to entering college. In 1854 he be- came a student of Meadville college, Pa., from which he was graduated in June, 1859, in a class of seventeen, and for two years there- after taught in the academy at Carrollton, Ohio. In the meantime, having selected law as his profession, Mr. Thomas began studying the same at Warren, Ohio, with Messrs. Bur- chard & Moses, and he was admitted to the bar in that city in 1865. Several years after finishing his professional studies, Mr. Thomas was engaged in teaching, and he continued educational work for some time in Putnam county, to which part of the state he removed in 1866. In 1870 he effected a co-partner- ship in the law, at Ottawa, with Stansberry Sutton, under the firm name of Sutton & Thomas, and after the death of his partner, in 1879, the judge practiced alone until becom- ing associated with W. W. Sutton. The firm of Thomas & Sutton continued until 1891, in which year Mr. Thomas withdrew, in order to enter upon his official duties as judge of the probate court, to which position he was elected in the fall of 1890. The ability with which Judge Thomas discharged his official
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
functions was duly appreciated by the citizens of the county, who, in 1893, honored him by re-election to the same position, which he now holds. He has served as a member of the board of school examiners, was for some time active in promoting the municipal legislation of Ottawa as a member of the city council, and has represented his county in various political conventions. He is a representative demo- crat, a leader of his party in Putnamn county, and was chosen alternate delegate to the dem- ocratic national convention at Saint Louis in 1888. From the time he adopted law as a life-work Mr. Thomas has been devoted to it, and his chief aim has been to adorn the pro- fession. He has always been a close and care- ful student of law, going into wide rescarch for atithorities. As a judge, he is popular alike with lawyers and litigants and few, indeed, have been his decisions which have met with reversal by the higher courts.
Judge Thomas is a Mason of high degree, belonging to the Blue lodge and chapter of Ot- towa, and council and commandery of Lima. He was married in Greene county, Ohio, March 19, 1876, to Miss Anna R. Hagenbaugh, daughter of John and Eliza Hagenbaugh, of Fairfield, Greene county, Ohio. The judge has been successful in a financial sense, having accumulated a comfortable competence, in- cluding valuable real estate in Ottawa, and farm property in the country. He is a self- made man in the true sense of that term, full of energy and determination, and a list of Put- nam county's representative men would be in- complete without a mention.of his name.
[It here becomes the melancholy duty of the publishers of this volume to state that since the above sketch of Hon. A. Z. Thomas was prepared for publication, the lamented subject was called to his final rest, February 11, 1896-dying peacefully at home on the date mentioned.
RS. CLARA A. VAN VLERAH is the occupant of a fertile farm in Monroe township, Putnam county, Ohio, and a lady highly respected by all who know her. She is the widow of Enos Van Vlerah, whose father, Samuel Van Vlerah, was a reputable and well-to-do farmer of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, but who, in 1852, moved to Defiance, where he bought a farm three miles from the city of the same n .. me, and there soon afterward died. He had mar- ried Sarah Schoonover, to which union were born the following children: Abraham (de- ceased), Elizabeth (also deceased), James (who died an infant), Anna (deccased), Amanda (wife of Jacob Spansler), Enos and Lucinda, also deceased. The father of this family died in 1853, and the widow afterward married Jacob Spansler, Sr., and died June 11, 1879. Enos Van Vlerah was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, May 19, 1847, and was reared to farming. On account of the early death of his father, his education was not exceptionally good, but he acquired sufficient book-learning to carry him successfully through life. His marriage took place July 11, 1872, and his union with our subject resulted in the birth of one daughter, Lucinda, who was born August 19, 1873, and on August 20, 1889, was nar- ried to B. Franklin Getz, who settled on the homestead now occupied by our subject, and died October 15, 1891. When Mr. Van Vlerah first made this farm his home, there were no improvements whatever on the place, not even a cabin; but he went manfully to work and made the place what it is to-day-one of the most fertile sixty-acre farms in the township and well improved in every essential way. Mr. Van Vlerah was in politics a democrat, and was a public-spirited citizen, always ready to aid church and school with his means, and to assist in every enterprise intended for the common good. He died June 25, 1892. His
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
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widow, our subject, has never been behind in forwarding of the progress of the township and connty, as far as her opportunities offered themselves, and she now lives in a retired sphere of life that is encircled by a host of ad- miring friends, who respect her most sincerely for her many womanly virtues.
RS. ELLEN (LAMB) VAUGHN, of Jackson township, Putnam county, Ohio, is the widow of Michael Vaughn, and was born in Kings county, Ireland, between Christmas and New Year's day, 1835, a daughter of John and Ellen (Carty) Lamb. The father, a farmer, was born, lived and died in the said county of Kings, and there Mrs. Vaughn received a limited education and was reared in the faith of the Catholic church .. In her seventeenth year, accompanied by an elder sister, Mrs Catherine Bracken, she came to America and for five years worked at gaiter binding in the city of New York, and in 1847, in company with another sister, Ann, and a cousin, went to York Ridge, Dearborn county, Ind., where she was married in July, 1847, to the late Michael Vaughn, which union was blessed with six children, viz: John, who died in in- fancy; Mary, who died at the age of four and one-half years; Joseph, of Sugar Creek town- ship, Putnam county, Ohio; Thomas, deceased; Stephen, of Jennings township, and Michael, deceased.
Michael Vaughn, the deceased husband of our sketch, was born in county Linerick, Ire- land, on Michaelnas day, 1814, a son of Anthony and Margaret (Lorilla) Vaughn. He was educated in his native county, and in youth shipped before the mast, and for several years visited most of the seaports of the world. About 1842 he landed at New Orleans, La , where he worked on the levees for some time,
and also on various sugar plantations in that state, and thence made his way northward, working as a day laborer. After his marriage . he located in Guilford, Ind., where for twelve years he was employed as a watchman by the Big Four Railroad company. During this period he saved some money, with which, in 1867, he purchased from his brother, Anthony Vaughn, eighty acres of woodland in Sugar Creek township, Putnam county, Ohio. Here he built a house of logs, cleared up his land, and from time to time until his death was iden- tified with the agricultural interests of the township, bringing his place into a state of good cultivation and improving it with good, substantial farm buildings. He was industrious and enterprising, and won the respect of all who knew him. A devout Catholic in religion and in politics a loyal democrat, he lived an active and useful life, and died at his home in Kalida, December 29, 1894. His widow has passed her three score and ten years, and is much esteemed by her neighbors as a pious and kind-hearted matron. Her brothers, Michael, of Cincinnati, and John and James, of Ireland, are still living, as are her sisters, Margaret and Ann, the former in Ireland and the latter in Lima, Ohio. Of the family of Mr. Vaughn, one brother, Anthony, is also a resident of Lima.
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