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 60
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The marriage of Mr. Uphaus took place October 26, 1858, to Miss Clementine E Dre- rup, who is a daughter of John B. and Annie L. (Werning) Drerup, and was born in Putnam county, Ohio, February 14, 1837. To this felicitons union have been born twelve chil- dren, in the following order: Frank H., born May 9, 1860-died June 4, 1860; Bernard H., born June 11, 1861 -- died May 23, 1862; Mary E,, born October 28, 1862, wife of John H. Moening, farmer of Ottawa township; George H., born February 5, 1865. managing the woolen mill in Glandorf; Charles W., born Oc- tober 24, 1866, at home; Mary A., born De- cember 7, 1868-died June 2, 1871; Bernard J., born December 24, 1870, at home; Caro- line C., born October 18, 1872, wife of Will- iam Heckman, of Glandorf; John F., born December 8, 1874, at home; Anthony F., born January 8, 1877-died January 15, 1877; Charles A., born December 9, 1878, at home;
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Anna M., born June 19, 1881, also at home. Mr. Uphaus is one of the most public-spirited men of the township and county, and an act- ive politician, having been time and again elected to the various conventions of the dem- ocratic party-state, district and county, and for a long time has been a member of the democratic state central committe. His son, George H., is also very active in the politics of the county.
B ENEDICT WANNEMACHER, of the firm of Schulien & Wanneniacher, millers of Ottoville, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Prussia, March 19, 1843, a son of John and Theresa Wannemacher, and came to America with his parents in 1852. After attending school the proper length of time, he was employed on the Miami & Erie canal for four years; he then engaged in the saw-mill business with his present partner at Ottoville, and for ten years carried on a very profitable trade. In 1878, the firm bought the flouring-mill belonging to H. W. Beckman, and put it in thorough repair, put in new ina- chinery, and increased its productive capacity from twenty-five to seventy-five barrels per day. About 1885 the roller process was intro- duced, and a first-class grade of flour manufac- tured, that was shipped throughout Ohio, and some of the middle states and Baltimore and the eastern states. The capital invested in the mill and its working amounts to $15,000 or $20,000, and it keeps seven men in constant employment.
Mr. Wannemacher was united in matri- meny, February 2, 1868, at Ottoville, with Miss Regina Sellet, who was born in Lorraine, France, in October, 1848, and is a daughter of Morent and Catherine (Wolfe) Sellet. On coming to America, Morent Sellet, the father, first settied on a farm in Seneca county, Ohio,
whence, in 1860, he came to Putnam county and settled on forty acres that he bought, about a half-mile west of Ottoville, where he had a neat as well as profitable farm. He was the father of four children, viz: Mary, Regina, Josephine and Oliver, and died in the seventieth year of his age. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Benedict Wannemacher have been born six children, named, Edward, Mat- thias, Mary, Rose, Louis and Agnes (deceased). The entire family are consistent members of the Catholic church, and Mr. Wannemacher has been a consistent member of the church council for at least twelve years; he aids liber- ally with his means to the support of the holy institution, and contributed in no small way to the erection of the present Saint Mary's Catho- lic church edifice, which is one of the most stately in northwestern Ohio. Mr. Wanne- macher has been treasurer of this church ever since its erection. In politics he is a demo- crat, and has filled the office of township clerk for many years. He is entirely a self-made man, and a gentleman of ability and un- doubted integrity, commanding the respect of all who know him.
PILLIAM W. WATKINS, a promi- nent citizen of Sugar Creek town- ship, Putnam county, Ohio, and the honored head of a highly respect- able family, is of sterling Welsh ancestry. His grandfather, Evan Watkin, was born m Mont- gomeryshire, Wales, in 1766. He was a car- penter by trade, and in his native county he was married to Margaret Davis, who was born April 10, 1775, in the same county. To them there were born nine children, viz: William April 28, 1795, and died in Delaware county, Ohio, May 22, 1871; Evan, May 17, 1798, and died in Delaware county, Ohio, July 31, 1831; John, February 1, 1801, and died in Allen
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
county, Ohio, April 26, 1883; Margaret, born May 14, 1803, and died at Columbus, Ohio, October 20, 1865; Thomas, born December 30, 1805, and died in Delaware county, Ohio, De- cember 30, 1829; Watkin, January 28, 1809, and died in Delaware county, Ohio, February 22, 1844; David, March 17, 1812, and died in Tennessee, March 21, 1822; Edward, March 12, 1815, and is yet living in Delaware county, Ohio; Israel, born in May, 1817, and died in Wales in 1818.
Evan Watkins, the father of this large fam- ily, was a remarkable man in many ways. He and his wife were members of the Church of England, and as he had a good voice for sing- ing he was choir leader. He died when fifty- five years of age. He had two brothers and one sister: Thomas, Watkin and Mary. Thomas, the elder brother, was born in 1768, in Wales, and married Ann Thomas in that country. They came to the United States in 1822, settled in Delaware county, Ohio, and Thomas died there in 1824. He was the father of the following children, viz: Thomas, Watkin, Ann, Mary, Elizabeth, Jane, Ellen, Margaret, Harriet, Susanna and Susan. All are now dead, but left large families, the mem- bers of which are scattered throughout the western states. Watkin Watkins, the other brother, came to the United States in 1807, and settled first in Philadelphia. Previous to his emigration he had married Elizabeth Evans, and they were the parents of nine children. Their two eldest children died while on the ocean, and the remaining seven were born in this country. Their names were Evan, Robert, Mary, Margaret, Robert, Thomas and John. All married, reared large families, and are now dead. Their descendants are scattered far and wide. The sister, Mary, died in Wales.
John Watkins, son of Evan, and the father of William W. Watkins, was born in Mont- gomeryshire, Wales, February 1, 1801. Ed-
ucated in his native country, and learning the trade of carpenter, he came to the United States in June, 1822. He sailed from Liver- pool, England, and landed in Baltimore, Md., after a voyage of six weeks. From Baltimore he went to Philadelphia, whence he traveled on a stage coach to Wheeling, Va., crossing the Alleghany mountains, armed guards being on the coach to protect the passengers from robbers, which then infested those mountains. From Wheeling Mr. Watkins came on to Del- aware county, Ohio, his mother and all his brothers and sisters that were living being with him, except Evan, who came across the sea the next year. For two years after his arrival in Delaware county Mr. Watkins worked at the carpenter trade, and at the end of this time walked to Butler county, and for a time worked at his trade at Paddy's Run, and here he was married to Miss Jane Griffith, in August, 1826. To this marriage of Mr. Watkins and Miss Jane Griffith there were born twelve children.
In December, 1834, Mr. Watkins moved to Sugar Creek township, Putnam county, Ow Allen county, and settled on 160 acres of land which he entered and which was covered over with heavy timber. By working hard and with the aid of his sons, he cleared up this farın. For many years he lived in a log cabin which he himself erected. Then the woods were full of game and wild beasts, and many a wild turkey and deer found their way t. Mr. Watkins's table, and furnished excellent living for his family; and many a night were the family lulled to sleep by the hooting of the owls and the howling of the wolves that filled the woods around their log cabin By indus- try and thrift Mr. Watkins increased his landed possessions until he owned a farm of 360 acres of fine land, and became one of the prominent farmers of his township. Both he and his wife were members of the Welsh Congrega-
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
tional church, and he was a trustee for many years. He assisted to found the church of that denomination at Gomer, and to erect its edifice, which was constructed of hewn logs. But this building was in later years superseded by a brick church, which again in its turn gave way to the present tasteful edifice. Mrs. Watkins was a most devoted christian woman and was deeply interested in all church mat- ters. She was of excellent character in every way, and was so recognized by all. She died in 1850, at the age of forty-two.
Joseph Griffith, the father of Mrs. Watkins, was born in Wales, and was a substantial farmer in that country. In 1824 he brought his family to the United States, settling in Butler county, Ohio, where he remained until 1836, when he removed to Allen county, lo- cating at Gomer. Here he became a prosper- ous farmer and an extensive owner of land. His children were as follows: Daniel, Jane, Joseph, Elizabeth, Abraham, Thomas, Ellen, Mary, Evan, Edward, Samuel and Benjamin. He was a well-known and highly esteemed citizen, and lived in Allen county until his death, when he was seventy-six years old.
John Watkins, after the death of his wife, mentioned above, married Miss Ellen Evans, by whom he had three children, viz: Margaret, John and David. He was one of the sturdy, hard-working pioneers of Allen county, hon- est and upright, highly respected by all. Per- haps his greatest misfortune, during his entire life, was the affliction of blindness for the last seventeen years that he lived. After his sec- ond marriage he spent the remainder of his life upon his farm, and died at the age of eighty-two years, two months and twenty- A& days.
William W. Watkins, the subject of this sketch, was born March 25, 1835, in Sugar Creek township, Putnam county, Ohio, on the ok John Watkins homestead, and was the
first Welsh child born in northwestern Ohio. The school-house in which he received his education he well remembers. It was of logs and had greased paper for windows to let in the light. This education was well supple- mented by attendance in the preparatory de- partment of Oberlin college for two terms, he going there after he was twenty-two years of age. The carpenter trade he learned of his father, who had learned it of his father, and so on back through several generations, and thus perhaps it may be said he inherited the trade from his father, as well as learning it from him.
At the age of twenty-four he was married to Winifred Hughes, who was born October 2, 1840, at Parisville, Portage county, Ohio, and is a daughter of Richard and Mary (Williams) Hughes. The marriage occurred March 18, 1859. Richard Hughes was born in Cardigan- shire, south Wales, April 15, 1813, and was a son of Richard and Winifred (Lloyd) Hughes, who were the parents of the following children: Daniel, Phillip, Thomas, John, Martha and Richard, the latter the father of Mrs. Wat- kins. Of these six children, John and Rich- ard carne to the United States; the rest re- mained in Wales. There Richard and Wini- fred, the grandparents of Mrs. Watkins, died at an advanced age.
Richard Hughes, the father of Mrs. Wat- kins, was well educated in his native country, being intended for the ministry of the Church of England, but he ran away at the age of twenty-two to marry Mary Williams. She was born March 29, 1817, and their marriage occurred in October, 1834. She was the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Morgan) Williams. To Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hughes were born eleven children, viz: Elizabeth, David, Winifred, Jane, Gomer, John, James, Thomas, Mary J., Daniel and Martha. The eldest two were born in Waks, the others in the United States. To this country Mr.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Hughes came in 1838, embarking in Liverpool on a sailing vessel, and landing in New York, on July 4, that year. He camne direct to Ra- venna, Portage county, Ohio, and there for some time worked on the canal, going thence to Youngstown, and there worked in the coal mines for Governor Tod. There he remained until 1855, in April of that year removing to Putnam county, and in Sugar Creek township buying 110 acres of land. This land was partially cleared; the remainder he cleared himself, and by hard work and industry so prospered that he finally owned 600 acres of land, being thus able to give to each of his children a farm. He was a man of great natural ability and great force of character, and by his own energy and foresight became one of. the wealthy meu of Putnam county. But his good fortune did not end here. In his old age, in 1887, after he had purchased all of the above-mentioned 600 acres of land, he in- herited, by the death of his brother Thomas, a London merchant, nearly $10,000. In his younger days he was a strong abolitionist, but in his later life, there being no further neces- sity for an abolition party, he naturally be- came a republican. He had three sons in the Civil war-Gomer, David and John. David was in the Twenty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, and served three months in Virginia, and Gomer was in company D, One Hundred and Eighteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, having enlisted for three years. He was in one battle, and died of disease in the hos- pital at Knoxville, Tenn. John was only seven- teen years of age when he enlisted in the Eighty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry for three years, and served at Camp Chase, Ohio. Richard Hughes was an honored citizen, and held the office of township trustee. He lived te. the great age of eighty-two years, dying July 26, 1894, thus showing that he had a most remarkable constitution. His wife died
in Putnam county, at the age of fifty-six, truly mourned by her relatives and friends.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wat- kins settled in Gomer, where he had previously erected a house. There they lived four years, and then removed to his parents' home in Vaughnsville. To them there were born six children, viz: John H., William, Mary J., Rossie B., Cora E., and Winnie M. The last mentioned died at the age of four months; the others still live to bless the declining years of their parents.
John H. Watkins, the eldest son, married Mary Williams, by whom he has two children. They live at Lima, Ohio, where he is engaged as an oil tester. He is a young man of integ- rity, well reared and of good education. Mary J. married John W. Kemper and with her hus- band, who is a contractor, lives at Lima. Rossie B. married Robert Melloy, a mechanic, and they live at Vauhgnsville. They have two children. Cora E. is a young lady and lives at home. William married a Miss Snyder. He is a resident of Columbus Grove, Putnam county, and stands high for his general good character and genial manners. He worked for his father on the farm until he was twenty-two years of age, then started out for himself, and by faithful attention to business and by strict integrity he has met with deserved success-a reward that ever accompanies industry.
William W. Watkins, since 1853, has been engaged in the carpenter and contractor's business, and has met with most gratifying snc- cess. He now owns 231 acres of land, be- side real estate in Lima. He is a well known and highly respected citizen of Putnam county, of many sterling qualities of character, and is entirely a self-made man. He possesses ? kindly heart and an intelligent mind. All' through life he has been known to be inter- ested in the development of his county, and as a most unusually public-spirited man.
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
J OHN WATTERSON, a prominent farmer of Jackson township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Chester county, Pa., November 11, 1819, a son of Samuel and Lydia (Weeks) Watterson. The father, a native of Ireland, came to Amer- ica at the age of sixteen years, grew to man- hood in Chester county, Pa., and about 1798 married Miss Weeks, a native of Wales, the union resulting in the birth of James, Mrs. Margaret Broomer, Eliza, Samuel, all de- ceased, and John, our subject. Samuel Wat- terson carried on his farm in Chester county, Pa., until 1832, when he retired to Philadel- phia to pass the remainder of his days with his laughter.
John Watterson, our subject, was reared a carpenter in Chester county, Pa., and in 1847 went to Columbia, Lancaster county, Pa., where he worked five years in machine shops. The same year, 1847, April 30, he married Margaret Harper, who was born in Chester county, Pa., February 16, 1823, a daughter of Alexander and Margaret (Rigg) Harper. Alexander Harper was a native of Ireland and a hatter by trade, and Margaret Rigg was born in Pennsylvania. During the war of 1812 both Samuel Watterson and Alexander Har- per, refusing to forswear their allegiance to the king of England and to become natural- ized citizens of the United States, were sent " back" to the interior of the state by the military authorities. To the marriage of our subject were born eight children, viz: Rachael Ann, deceased; James Alexander, born Oc- tober 30, 1850; Samuel, October 2, 1853; William Harper, April 9, 1855, deceased; Sarah J., December 30, 1856, wife of Wallace Vail, of Kalida, Ohio; George Owens, March 30, 1859, on the home place; John Davis. physician of Kalida, Ohio, and Charles Sher- man, born May 6, 1865, deceased. He has also reared and educated his grandson, E. B
Watterson, a teacher at Leipsic, Putnam county, Ohio.
In 1852 John Watterson came to Ohio, and for eighteen months worked in machine shops in Columbus. During his stay there he made a trip to Putnam county and entered 160 acres of government land in the wilds of Jack- son township, and had a part of it cleared. About 1854 he located here and built his log cabin, and farmed and worked at his trade for eight years, when he sold out and bought an- other farm in Jackson township, on which he lived two years, and then moved to Union township, renting his farin for four years, and making a trip through Kansas, where he had intended to settle, but was prevented from so doing through the ill-health of his wife. He then returned to his present home, and con- tinned at his trade and at farming until 1880, after which he devoted his attention solely to the farm until the death of his wife, which sad event occurred November 27, 1894, she being a devout member of the Presbyterian church. In politics Mr. Watterson is a democrat, and has held the office of justice of the peace six years. He was township treasurer for several terms, but resigned on account of his wife's health. He was also townslup trustee for several years, and a member of the I. O. O. F. lodge, No. 80, at Columbus, Ohio, and while intrusted with public office performed his duty faithfully and honestly.
George O. Watterson, son of above, was married June 5, 1892, to Miss Emma L. Col- lert, who was born May 4, 1872 (see sketch of George Collert). February 14, 1894, the union of George and Emma Watterson was made more happy by the birth of a child named Claude P., and since then an infant not yet named has been born to them. Mr. Watterson now has charge of the home farm, and is one of the prominent citizens of the township, being now a trustee.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
J 'OHN D. WATTERSON, M. D., of Ka- lida, Ohio, one of the most prominent physicians of northwestern Ohio, was born in Putnam county December 3, 1862, a son of John and Margaret (Harper) Watterson. The father was born in Chester county, Pa., November 11, 1819, of Irish descent, and was reared in Philadelphia, where he learned the carpenter's trade and worked in the car shops, and where he mar- ried Miss Margaret Harper, a native of Ches- ter county, Pa., born in 1823. To their union were born the following children: Ra- chael A., died aged thirty-three years; James A .; Samuel; William H., died at twenty-one; Sarah Jane; George O .; John D., our subject, and Charles Sherman, died at twelve years of age. The mother of this family died in Put- nam county. Ohio, November 27, 1894, a inember of the Presbyterian church.
About the year 1852 John Watterson brought his wife and surviving Pennsylvania- born children to Ohio, and worked at his trade in Columbus for several years, then came to Putnam county, in 1854, bought a farm in the forest, which he cleared, still working at car- pentering, and made a good home. About 1861 he sold this place and bought another in the same county, and still later another, which is located in the forks of the Auglaize river and Hog creek,, and on which he still re- sides. Politically he is a stanch democrat, was justice of the peace for six years, and has served both as township trustee and township treasurer. He is not allied to an church or- ganization, but is a man of strictly moral habits and of unimpeachable integrity, and an Odd Fellow.,
Dr. John D. Watterson, our subject, was reared on the home farm and received his pre- liminary education in the common schools of Putnam county. He fully qualified himself, however, for teaching, and in 1881 began the
profession and followed it for nine years, teaching his first school in Monterey township and his last in Jackson township, and holding the latter for six consecutive years.
In 1885 Dr. Watterson was united in mar- riage with Miss Delia Rinkel, who was born in Putnam county, Ohio, December 11, 1867, a daughter of Michael and Barbara (Simons) Rinkle, the foriner a native of Germany, a shoemaker by trade, and a republican in poli- tics, and the latter a native of Ohio. To the marriage of the doctor have been born three bright children, viz: Ray, December 7, 1887; Lou, March 15, 1889, and Ima, February 22, 1893. In 1889 the doctor went to Ann Arbor, Mich., and entered the medical department of the university of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1892, and then came to Kalida, Ohio, and here he has since enjoyed a full share of patronage, being recognized as one of the most competent physicians and surgeons in northwestern Ohio. Politicality he is a democrat, but has no special ambition for pub- lic office, his large professional practice inhib- iting any infringement ón his time; he is not a member of any religious organization, but is a moral, high-toned gentleman, highly respected, not only for his professional ability, but for his endowment with the power of thinking for himself.
ETER P. WELTY, of Riley town- ship, was born in Pleasant township, Putnam county, Ohio, August 2. 1863, and is a son of Peter and Fanny (Bixel) Welty. Peter Welty was among the early settlers of Riley township, being the first of his family to come here, and was followed, a year or two after his arrival, by his father and the rest of his family. Peter here bought land and cleared up a farm, enduring the many hardships of pioneer life, so often described in
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Peter. P. Welly --
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these pages. He died Jume 23, 1888, but his widow still survives at the age of sixty-eight , years. To this venerable couple were born fourteen children, of whom six died young, the survivors being named as follows: Daniel. Peter P., John J., Mary (Mrs. Godfrey Burry), Solomon, Christian, Elizabeth (Mrs. C. Baum- gardner, deceased mother of six children), and Anna, who died unmarried.
Peter P. Welty, subject of this sketch, was reared on the home farm, received a good German and English education, and lived with his father until he reached his majority. In 1885 he married Miss Annie Zuercher, dangh- ter of Isaac Zuercher, of Adams county, Ind., and settled down on a farm of eighty acres, that came to him from his father. he also ran a saw-mill, to which he afterward attached a pianing-mill; in 1892 he disposed of the saw- mill, and from that time on has given all his attention to the planing-mill. renting out his farm in order that he may devote his whole time to his business. He buys all kinds of lumber, makes frames, blinds, and, indeed, everything that pertains to a building, and also manufactures a fanning-mill, an automatic grain and seed separator, and also contracts for the erection of buildings. He recently built the addition to the Putnam county in- firmary, and has built for himself a commodi- ous residence at Pandora, where he also owns some residence property. Mr. Welty is the maker of his own fortune, having received but $3,000 in land from his father's estate. His plant is of brick and frame-one building be- ing 43x42 feet, and two stories high, and the other 16x30 feet, and one story high, all covered with iron, with fuel room in the base- ment. He carries a large stock of humber, st.ingles, lathis, posts, etc. He has two large lumber sheds -one 16x48 feet, and the other 8\60; he is provided with cisterns and water tanks, but carries a policy in the Home Mutual 30
Insurance company. Mr. Welty has a full line of the latest improved machinery in his plant and turns out nothing but first-class work.
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