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 61
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
Isaac Zuercher, father of M: Anna Welty, is a native of Germany, where his danghter was also born, May 24, 1864. He came to America in 1872, and first located in Wayne county, Ohio, but afterward removed to Indi- ana, where he still resides. He is a farmer and carpenter and he and family are members of the Mennonite church. His first wife, mother of Mrs. Welty, died in Germany, and he is now living with his second helpmate. The children born to the congenial union of Mr. and Mrs. Peter P. Welty are named Philipp, who was born March 3, 1887, and Josiah, born August 27, 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Welty are members of the Mennonite church, and in their social relations mingle with the most substan- tial and most respectable citizens of Riley and Pleasant townships. Mr. Welty is rec- ognized as a practical business man, filled with enterprise, and whose transactions are always strictly honest and whose word may be fully relied upon on all occasions.
S AMUEL P. WEAVER, one of the old and well known citizens of Put- nam county, is a son of Jacob and Mary (Strouder) Weaver. The sub- ject's maternal grandfather, Joseph Strouder, was one of the early pioneers of Fairfield county, Ohio, and Jacob Weaver, the paternal grandfather, a native of Holland, came to the new world a number of years prior to the war of independence, and settled in Pennsylvania, By his first wife, whom he married in the old country, Jacob Weaver, Sr., reared a family of children whose names, as far as now known, were Leonard, John, William, Jacob, and Mary (Mrs. Carty). The lather first removed from Pennsylvania to Frederick
572
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
1
county, Va., where he remained for some years engaged in farming, and in 1806 removed to Ohio, settling in the county of Fairfield, where he spent the remainder of his days
Jacob Weaver, Jr., father of the subject of this sketch, was born about the year 1767 in Pennsylvania. He accompanied his parents to Virginia, where he grew to manhood, and after the close of the war of the Revolution served, under Gen. Washington, in the sup- pression of the whisky insurrection, in western Pennsylvania. In 1806 he immigrated to Fair- field county, Ohio, where he purchased a tract of 320 acres, which he improved, and upon which his death occurred in 1852. In addition to farming he was also engaged in the distil- lery business. In his religious convictions, Mr. Weaver was a Lutheran, and assisted in the organization of the Zeigler (now St. Peter's) church, one of the oldest religious societies in the county of Fairfield. Jacob Weaver was twise married; first to a Miss Smith, by whom he had ten children, viz: Mary, John, Cather- ine, Jacob, Elizabeth, Leonard, Peter, Annie, Sarah and Margaret. By his second marriage (with Mary Strouder), he had a family of nine children, whose names are as follows: Frances, married to George Pope; Samuel P .; Christina, wife of Sylvester Shepperd; Adam, Daniel, Solomon, Maria, wife of Henry Myers; David and Emma. Of this family 'only the subject of this sketch, and his brother Daniel, survive; both Jacob Weaver, Jr., and his wife, who died about 1856, were laid to rest in the okl Zeigler Grove cemetery, Pleasant township, Fairfield county.
Samuel P. Weaver, whose name introduces this biographical sketch, was born January 20, 1820, in Fairfield county, Ohio. His element- ary education was obtained in the primitive log school-house, and he entered, at the age of twenty-one years, the academy at Greenfield. The year following he taught in the schools of
his township. and in the winter of 1845-6 became a student of Granville college, Licking county, Ohio. For fifteen years thereafter, Mr. Weaver was engaged in educational work in the county of Fairfield, but spent a part of of two years of that time in delivering books in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. In October, 1849, Mr. Weaver settled in Putnam county, upon 160 acres of land in Blanchard township, which forms a parts of his present home place. To his original purchase Mr. Weaver subse- quently added 120 acres, the greater part of which, like his first tract, was at the time covered with a dense forest growth. He became one of the leading farmers of the county, but recently divided the greater part of his possessions among his children, all of whom now have comfortable homes.
Politically, Mr. Weaver has been a promi- nent factor in the councils of the democratic party; for ten years was upon the county board of school examiners, and in 1860 was ap- pointed land appraiser of his township. In 1864, Mr. Weaver was elected county auditor, and discharged the duties of that position most efficiently until 1869. In 1872, he was elected a member of the constitutional convention of Ohio, which held its first session, in 1875, at Columbus from June till August, and later con- vened at Cincinnati from December 7, 1873, to June of the following year. In 1853 Mr. Weaver began agitating the matter of public drainage in northwestern Ohio, and called meetings in Putnam and other counties for the purpose of discussing the feasibility of the same. As early as 1843, he had succeeded in obtaining from the courts authority for the ap- pointment of a board of drainage commission- ers, of which he was appointed a member. This board was authorized, under the law. to institute a system of drainage, and it operated under said law for two years, when the legisla- ture passed an act placing the matter ir the
ـة
573
OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
hands of the township trustees. Mr. Weaver was elected trustee of his township, and con- tinned, under the new law, the work so well begun, and to him is largely due the credit of reclaiming large tracts of land. While a member of the constitutional convention, he brought the matter of drainage before that body and succeeded In securing several amend- ments to the constitution, which would have proved greatly beneficial to the drainage sys- tem, had that constitution been adopted by the people. In his religious convictions Mr. Weaver was originally a Lutheran, nniting with that church at the age of sixteen, and continuing a member of the same until in re- cent years. He served as elder of the Luth- eran congregation at Leipsic, and represented his church in the synod. Withdrawing from the Lutheran denomination, Mr. Weaver be- came identified with the Methodist Protestant church, and in 1890 was the prime mover in securing the organization of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Protestant church, in which he now holds the office of trustec. He also represented his circuit in the general confer- ence at Westminster, Md., in 1892. Mr. Weaver married, the first time, Louisa Wick- ham, who died two weeks after the celebration of the ceremony. His second marriage was solemnized with Savilla, daughter of David Pence, to which union have been born the fol- lowing-named children: David M., Ahnina D., widow of R. P. Tulless, James N., and Anna, deceased wife of J. B. Rozenberger. Mr. Weaver is recognized throughout Putnam county as one of its enterprising citizens.
J AMES M. WEAVER, second son of Samuel P. Weaver, whose biography appcars above, was born April 17, 1859, on the home farm in Blanchard town- ship. His early years were passed on the farm,
and he received his education in the district schools and schools of Ottawa, and began life for himself as an agriculturist in 1882, settling upon his present place, consisting of seventy- eight acres of finely improved land. He sub- sequently made additions to this place, and his home farm at this time embraces an area of 118 acres, upon which are some of the best improvements in the township, including a beautiful residence, supplied with many modern conveniences. Mr. Weaver believes in the dig- nity of the farmer's calling, in which he has made a most encouraging success, and in addi- tion to tilling the soil he pays considerable attention to the rearing of fine stock, especially Shropshire sheep and Poland China hogs. These he raises and sells principally for breed- ing purposes, and he has a widespread reputa- tion as one of the most successful stockmen in Putnam county. He is a member of the Ameri- can Shropshire association, of Lafayette, Ind., and has done much toward introducing supe- rior breeds of live stock among the farmers of his township. Mr. Weaver inherits in a marked degree many of the noble characteristics of his ancestors, and is justly considered one of the intelligent and progressive citizens of the town- ship of Blanchard. In politics he is a sup- porter of the democratic party, but is not an aspirant for political honors, prrferring to give his entire attention to his business interests. He subscribes to the creed of the Protestant Methodist church, belonging to the Pleasant Grove congregation, in which he is an active worker. Mr. Weaver was married, in 1882, to Nola, daughter of John and Nancy Miller, of Blanchard township. To them have been born four children; Eva P., Carrie E., Charles C. and Annic.
David M. Weaver, brother of the preced- ing, and elder son of Sammuel P. Weaver, was born in January, 1851. He is one of the lead- ing agriculturists of Blanchard township, re
1
574
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
siding upon a part of the old homestead, and is a man widely and favorably known in the community where he lives. From 1867 to 1870 he was deputy county auditor under his father, in addition to which he was also en- gaged in other business, previous to locating upon his present farm. Politically he believes in the people's party which he supports with his ballot, and the Protestant Methodist church represents his religious creed. His wife, whose maiden name was Gennetta, daughter of James Monroe, has borne him two children, viz: Samuel J. and George, the latter deceased.
F. WENDELL, editor of the Leipsic (Ohio) Tribune, was born in Bates- ville, Noble county, Ohio, December 2, 1867, a son of Daniel F. and Hannah L. (Schaub) Wendell. The paternal grandfather, Harrison Wendell, was born in the Shenandoah valley, Va., in 1816, and is a descendant of one of the pioneer families of that state. In 1823 he was brought to Ohio by his parents, who settled in Noble county, where he grew to manhood, purchased a farm and married Melissa Hopkins, of West Vir- gmia, the union resulting in the birth of the following children: Daniel F. (deceased), Will- iam (deceased), Joseph, John, Charles, Frank, Lucy (deceased), Hattie, and Mollie (deceased). The mother of this family died in 1893; the father, at the ripe old age of eighty years, still resides on his original purchase, and is recog- nized as one of the most prominent citizens of Batesville, adjoining which town his farm is located, and is considered one of the most practical and successful of the farmers of his township.
Daniel F. Wendell, the father of the gen- tleman whose name opens this biographical notice, was born May 23, 1844, in Nobk:
county, Ohio, passed his early years on the home farm, and in February, 1861, enlisted in company D, Seventieth Ohio volunteer in- fantry. At the battle of Pittsburg Landing, when he had been in the service a little over one year, he was wounded in the foot, an in- jury from which he never recovered, but which eventually terminated his life in August, 1870. He married, in 1866, Miss Hannah L. Schaub, of Noble county, which union was blessed by the birth of two children -- H. F. and Jessie M. Mrs. Hannah L. Wendell was married at Findlay, Ohio, in 1894, to Dr. Anson Hurd, a prominent Findlay physician.
H. F. Wendell was educated in the com- mon schools of Batesville, Ohio, and at Cam- bridge. In 1883 he witnessed typesetting for the first time, and at once fell in love with the printing business. In 1884 he enter. 1 the office of the Daily Guernsey Times at Cam- bridge, where he learned the printing business, and learned it thoroughly, after which he held the position of foreman in several towns throughout the state. In March, 1894, he purchased an interest in the Leipsic Tribune, and that journal was for four months con- ducted under the firm name of Horn & Wen- dell. In July, 1894, Mr. Wendell purchased his partner's interest, since which time he has carried on the business on his sole account. The paper is independent as concerns politics, although Mr. Wendell is a republicar He wields a facile yet trenchant pen, is gifted with a keen perception and retentive memory, and his literary tastes are far above the aver- age. The columns of the paper are newsy and spicy, and as a local journal it has no superior in northwestern Ohio. The marriage of Mr. Wendell took place August 15, 1892, at Newark, Licking county, Ohio, with Miss Laura Gallogly, daughter of Jacob Gallogly, and both Mr. Wendell and wite are consistent members of the Presbyterian church of Leipsic.
.
A
575
OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
W. EDWARDS .-- Eminent among the sucessful bankers and business men of Putnam county is the sub- ject of this biography, whose life for some years has been closely interwoven with the history of the city of Leipsic. His parents, T. W. and Isabel Edwards, were natives of Licking county, Ohio, but became residents of the county of Putnam a number of years ago, settling in Van Buren township, thence later removing to Leipsic.
W. W. Edwards was born December 19, 1847, in Licking county, Ohio, and grew to manhood in the township of Van Buren, Put- nam connty, to which part of the country his parents moved when he was a mere child. After attending the common schools for about the usual number of years, Mr. Edwards be- came associated with his brothers in the man- facture of staves, and has since been promi- nently identified with this business, at Leipsic, the well-known firin, composed of himself, John Edwards, Joseph H. Edwards and I. N. Bushong, being styled W. W. Edwards & Co. The enterprise from the beginning more than met the expectations of the promoters, and it is now. one of the best known and most suc- cessful enterprises of the kind in northwestern Ohio. In addition to the plant at Leipsic, the firin operates stave-mills at Columbus Grove, Anis. Kalida, Pleasant Bend, Centerville, Elm Center, Ohio, and Gladstone, Mich., and an idea of the volume of business transacted may be ascertained from the yearly output, which consists of 80,000,000 of staves, 1,800,000 heads, and 1,500,000 hoops; to manufacture which the services of over 600 men are re- quired. The mills are all of the latest pattern, supplied with the most approved machinery, and the business is constantly on the increase. The firm owns about 8,000 acres of land, and its reputation for square and honorable dealing is well known in business circles throughout
Ohio and many other states. In March, 1887, the firm purchased the banking business estab- lished at Leipsic, in 1885, by A. Rosencrantz, and in 1890 established a branch bank at Con- tinental, both of which they still control and which have proved very successful institutions.
W. W. Edwards has been the leading spirit in the management of this gigantic enterprise, a fact which speaks much for his good judg- ment and rare executive ability. He first sought a fortune within himself and found it in an earnest will and a large industry. He has been, throughout life, a thorough business man, noted for honesty and integrity, and as a self-made man stands ont prominent as one who, amid the cares by which he has been con- stantly surrounded, has ever preserved his repu- tation for honesty and fair dealing -- who has never neglected the higher duty to his fellow- man, which he prizes above all others.
Mr. Edwards has been three times married; first, to Mary Reeves, by whom he had one child-a danghter, Lillian; his second wife was Alice Johnson, who bore him two children, Claude and Maud. By his present wife, whose maiden name was Harriet Donaldson, Mr. Edwards has a daughter, Ruth. In politics Mr. Edwards is a republican, and fraternally he belongs to Leipsic lodge, F. & A. M., and also to the Pythian order.
John Edwards, member of the aforesaid firm, was reared and educated in Van Buren township, of which he is a native, and since 1878 has been associated with his brothers in manufacturing, and since 1890 in the banking business. Like his brother, W. W., John Ed- wards is one of the leading business men of Leipsic, and has much more than a local repu- tation among business men in Putnam county, and throughout Ohio. He can be properly classed with the representative men of the northwestern part of the state, and the comity of Putnam certainly has no more successful or
576
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
more trustworthy citizens. Mr. Edwards en- tered into the marriage relation with Miss Mary Lenhart, and has a family of four interesting children: Clyde, Charles, Earl and Pearl.
Joseph H. Edwards, brother of W. W. and John Edwards, with whom he is asso- ciated in business, is a native of Putnam county, within the boundaries of which the greater part of his life has been passed. He is a business man of high standing, possesses excellent judgement and business tact, and has contributed not a little to the success of the well known firm with which he is connected; he is a man of unimpeachable integrity, honor- able in his dealings, and in a marked degree enjoys the confidence of his fellow-citizens of Leipsic and Putnam county. Mr. Edwards has a wife, whose maiden name was Mary Fouck, and who has borne three children. namely: Flossie, May and Helen.
ICKEY FAMILY .- Thomas or Will- iam Hickey, the first name not being certainly known by his descendants, was a native of Castlemain, Ireland. He was a tanner by trade and was sold for his passage money to America prior to the Revolu- tionary war, and taken to Frederick, Md., by a tanner of that place. He served five years in the war of the Revolution, and after its close settled in Winchester, Va. There he married, and after the close of the war of 1812, in which he also took part, he removed to Muskingum county, Ohio, when he died. His wife was a native of England, and his children were named as fol- lows: Ellwood, who served as a captain in the war of 1812, from Virginia, located in New Orleans, and is supposed to have died there; Henry, who settled in Circleville, Ohio; James, who settled in Illinois; William; Thomas, of Indiana, and one daughter, who married a Mr.
Neff, who owned the salt works near Zanes- ville, Ohio.
William Hickey was born in Virginia about 1797. He served in the war of 1812 from Vir- ginia, and about 1815 settled in Muskingum county, Ohio, and later purchased in Licking county, Ohio, in Mary Ann township, a tract of school-land of some 200 acres, to which he added until he owned about 1,000 acres. He died upon his land in Mary Ann township in 1890. In politics he was first a whig and then a republican, and served as justice of the peace for many years. He was a member of the Christian church and was twice married. His first wife, Sarah Shambaugh, became the mother of five children, viz: Edward, of Utica, Ohio; Henry and Joseph, deceased; Rev Allen, of Knoxville, Ohio, and Malinda, d. ceased wife of Jackson Rowe. The second wife, Har- riet Moore, became the mother of three chil- dren, viz: David, of Newark, Ohio; Eliza- beth, wife of Henry Metz, and William, on homestead.
Henry Hickey, the second son of William, was born in 1820 in Licking county, Ohio, settled upon fifty acres in Mary Ann township, given him by his father, but in 1850 moved to Putnam county, and located upon 120 acres in section No. 35, Blanchard township, but later removed to sections No. 36 and 26, on 172 acres; and in 1870 in section No. 34, on forty acres -- owning altogether 440 acres in one tract. This land he improved and placed good build- ings upon the different farms, and upon his last-settled farm he died in 1871. He married Mary, daughter of Henry Wickins, of Licking connty, Ohio. She died in 1865, the mother of five children: Dr. William H., of Leipsic, Ohio; Reese; Lyman, deceased; Rollia, of Lima, Ohio, and Magdaline, wife of Chas. Slotzenbaugh, of Lima, Ohio. His second wife was Sarah Haines, of Licking county. She survives him and resides in Bluffton, Ohio,
.
577
OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
the mother of one child, Edward, of Bluffton. Politically a democrat, he filled the offices of trustee of the township and county commis- sioner. He was a member of the Protestant Methodist church, at Gilboa, Ohio, and his remains are buried in Clymer cemetery, Han- cock county, Ohio. Dr. W. Hickey, the old- est son, was born July 29, 1848, in Licking county, Ohio, and his education was acquired in the cominon schools of Blanchard township, Putnam county, and later he attended . the Hayesville academy. Mr. Hickey taught school in the county for some time and subsequently read medicine with Dr. T. Paul of Ottawa, Ohio, and graduated from the medical depart- ment of the Western university of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1870. He commenced the practice of medicine at Leipsic, where he has since resided and where he enjoys a large and lucrative practice. The doctor owns a fine farm of 220 acres near the city of Leipsic, which he devotes to stock-raising largely, and here he is breeding standard trotting horses and Poland China hogs. Upon this farm the doctor has raised and owned some of the best I orses that the county has produced, of which there were registered, viz: Thelo A., Korn Kobb, and George Wood; the head of the swine herd is Nero, and is registered No. 12,193.
Politically a democrat, Mr. Hickey has filled the office of mayor of Leipsic, and also has served as a member of the council and of the school board; he has also been a member of the United States board of pensioner exam- mers. He is fraternally a member of the Leipsic lodge, F. & A. M. Mr. Hickey was married in 1870 to Miss Rachel Creighton, daughter of John E. and Elizabeth Creighton, of Liberty township, and they are surrounded by an interesting family of children, who are each a credit to their parents and the society of the city of Leipsic.
ANIEL W. SEITZ was born Sep- tember 16, 1850, in Putnam county, Ohio. His great-great-grandfather, a native of Baden, Germany, after serving his country in the army and being hon- orably discharged, emigrated to America, about the year 1764, and settled on a farm in York county, Pa., where he reared a family of six daughters and three sons, the latter being named Lewis, John and Andrew. Of these, Andrew located in Virginia, but, not liking the institution of slavery, moved to Ohio in 1801, where he reared a large family. The second son, Daniel, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1791, in Virginia, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was married to Elizabeth Heit June 1, 1813, and settled on a farm in Fairfield county, Ohio, where he reared a large family, of which David, father of our subject, was born December 12, 1819, and was married to Lydia Hufford, born June 17, 1823. She is a daughter of Damel and Nancy Hufford, of Perry county, Ohio.
Having received a common-school educa- tion, our subject began teaching school in 1871, and followed this vocation for fourteen years, spending his vacations at farming, or attend- ing school. He attended school at Lebanon, Ohio, several terms, graduating in the com- mercial department of that school, as well as completing some of the higher branches of mathematics. From 1879 to 1882, in connec- tion with Prof. J. L. Geyer, he conducted a normal school at Kalida, Ohio, and during this time, in addition to teaching, carried him- self through a course of surveying and civil engineering. Familiarizing himself with the practical part of that profession during the four succeeding years, in 1886 he was elected county surveyor, which office, having been re- elected in 1889, he held until January 1, 1893. In 1885 Mr. Seitz became a member of the Ohio Society of Surveyors and . wil Engineers,
578
BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
a society organized by civil engineers of high standing and professional ability, for the inter- change of new ideas and the advancement of the profession, of which society he is still a member. He has been city engineer of Leip- sic, Ohio, since 1891, and in 1894 construced for that town the first brick street improve- ment in the county.
On October 17, 1882, Mr. Seitz was mar- ried to Miss Josephine R. Carey, who was born October 17, 1860. She is a daughter of Sim- con and Catharine J. (Wetherell) Carey. To them have been born Raymond Carey, No- vember 30, 1883; Bessie Irene, December 19, 1885; Lydia Lenore, May 22, 1890; Cloyd Hufford, February 5, 1893. In 1895 and 1896 . Mr. Seitz published an atlas of Putnam county, which has proved to be of great value to its patrons. (See sketch of D. Seitz, page 496.)
J ACOB WERNER, prominent attorney and counselor at law, of Leipsic, Ohio, is a son of Christian and Christiana Werner, both parents natives of Ger- many .. Christian Werner was born in Wur- temberg in 1808, was reared and educated there, and in 1826 immigrated to the United States, locating at the town of Sandyville, Ohio, where he resided until 1838. In the lat- ter year he removed to the county of Hancock, where he purchased land which he improved and upon which he spent the remainder of his days in agricultural pursuits, dying May 10, 1859. His wife, whose maiden name was Christiana Heck, also born in the province of Wartemburg, bore him the following children: Louisa, wife of Peter Ohlers; Thomas J .; Jacob; Mary, who first married W. S. Robb, and afterward became the wife of David Sim- mons; Bruce; George, and Enuna, who became the wife of James Mills.
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.