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 1 > Part 19
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Timothy B. Bowersock was about twelve years of age when the family moved into Allen county, and he remained at home with his father imtil he was married, September 25, 1873, to Miss Ellen Kemp, daughter of Rev. J. W. Kemp. She was born in Allen county, and died December 23, 1873, at the age of nineteen. Mr. Bowersock was next married
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March 25, 1876, to Miss Margaret L. Brew- baker, daughter of Mr. G. W. Brewbaker. She was born in Allen county. Ohio, October 16. 1857. G. W. Brewbaker was born in 1 826, on the banks of Honey Creek, in Perry county, Ohio, and is a son of Jacob and Catherine (Smith) Brewbaker. When Mr. Brewbaker was seven years old his parents moved to Allen connty, settling in Shawnee township, where the father of the family leased a tract of land. After living in this township for some years, he removed to Franklin county, Ohio, where he died at the age of fifty-two years, his wife afterward dying in Illinois. They reared a family of seven children, viz: Delilalı, deceased; Daniel, a resident of Springfield, Ohio; Kate, deceased: Polly. deceased; and George W., who, as stated, came to Allen county with the rest of the family when he was seven years of age. Farm life was his portion, and to this he has always been devoted, and since 1833 he has always lived in Allen county, with the exception of abont three years. In 1852 Mr. Brewbaker was married to Miss Sarah Ridenour, danghter of Isaac and Lydia (Cotterman) Rid- enour, who was born in. Perry county, Ohio, November 22, 1829. Mr. and Mrs. Brewbaker have six children, viz: George H., a resident of German township; Emma J., wife of Abra- Ham Cremean, of German township; Margaret 1 .. , wife of T. B. Bowersock; William A., a resident of Amanda township; Viella, wife of William Clarke, of Lima, Ohio; and Winfield C., deceased. Mr. Brewbaker is one of the good honest and industrious citizens of Allen county, and is a member of the Christian church,
Mr. and Mrs. Bowersock have a family of eight children, viz: George A., born February 3, 1877; Walter M., born August 22, 1878: William H , born February 26, 1880; Nora M., born December 21, 1881; Roy E., bom May 3, 1883; Theresa, born November 21, i
1884 and died April 17, 1887; Oscar, born October 11, 1887, and Brice, born November 21, 1889. After his marriage Mr. Bowersock erected a log cabin in which he lived until 1892, when he erected his present home, a frame building 14x28 feet in size, with an " L " 14×14 feet. His farm contains twenty-three acres of land,- in section No. 33, German town- ship, and in addition to this he leases 160 acres, which he has had under lease for several years. His little farm is known far and wide as the Lima Jersey Stock farm, and here Mr. Bowersock began in 1878 the breeding of thoroughbred Jersey cattle. Of this breed he has since made a specialty and sells annually from his farm a large number of fine animals. He carried this branch of farming on alone until the fall of 1894, when he took into part- nership with him his brother-in-law, S. W. Kemp, of Kempton, Allen county. From four to five times a year they have public sales of thoroughbreds, for beside raising cattle they both buy and sell, but handle only high grades. Mr. Bowersock devotes nearly the whole of his time to the superintendedcy of his farming and stock business, knowing that if he neglects it he will soon have no business to superintend. Politically he is a democrat, and has held a few local offices, but he has no time for politics. The offices which he has held were those of assessor, two terms, and land appraiser one term. The offices he now holds are those of township trustee and president of the school board for his township. He has also been a member of the county executive committee for some time, and he has several times been a delegate to county conventions. Mr. Bower- sock is truly one of the most active and pro- gressive men in Allen county, and as such is highly respected by all. Although, as has been stated, he has but little time to A vote to poli- tics, he has always cheerfully done his duty when called upon by his fellow.citizens.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
ADISON L. BOWYER, one of the oldest living residents of Allen county, Ohio, was born in Virginia, January 12, 1826, and is the son of Isaac and Elizabeth (McMillan) Bowyer. Isaac was born in the Old Dominion in 1802; he was reared and married in this state, and in 1839, with his family, loaded in a wagon' and started for Sangamon county, Ill., but on arriving in Ross county, Ohio, he was obliged to lay up for the winter, and, hearing flatter- ing accounts of Allen county, in the following spring he came here, leaving his family in Ross county, and entered 163, acres of land in the vicinity of where Elida now stands in German township. In 1831 he moved his wife and child -- our subject, Madison L .- to their new home and erected a log cabin, where they encountered the many hardships and had nsnal thrilling experiences of pioneers and frontiersmen. Mr. Bowyer bought a black- smith's outfit, erected a rude log shop, bought a couple of cows of the Indians, and life began in dead earnest. He did all the blacksmithing for miles around and continued doing this work until 1835, when he turned his attention to farming, which occupation he continued in until the time of his death, which occurred in 1842. Politically, in early life he was a democrat, but latter a whig. He was a man of unswerving integrity, industrious, benevo- lent and kindhearted, and a true friend and good neighbor. His religious affiliations were with the Methodist Episcopal church, and his home was the place of worship in his neighbor- hood for a long time. At his death Mr. Bowyer left an estate of 258 acres. Mrs. Bowyer married twice after the death of her first husband-William Briddy first, and Will- iam Denton second. She died at the home of her son, Madison L., March 26, 1895. at the age of eighty-eight years.
Madison L: Bowyer was reared on the farm
and educated in the district schools, with two terms of select school at Lima and one year at the Ohio Wesleyan university, at Delaware. His father's death occurred when our subject was seventeen years old, but the latter took charge of affairs and operated the farm for two years, when he attended school for a short time and taught school for three terms. Oc- tober 29, 1846, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth S. Priddy, daughter of William and Eliza Priddy. After their marriage he located on the old farm and engaged in general farming and stockraising, in which he has ever since been very successfully engaged. He has become one of the largest landowners in Allen county, his estate consisting of Soo acres at one period, but at present of 600 acres only. In July, 1893, he moved to his present home, a half-mile out of the city of Lima, where he owns twenty-five and one-half acres of land, on which he has erected a handsome modern residence. Politically he is a stanch repub- lican and a substantial figure in the party of the county. He was a liberal supporter of the Union canse in the late war, giving of liis ample means ungrudgingly, has always been interested in the matter of education and in- tellectual advancement, and contributed to the endorsement of the female department of the Ohio Wesleyan university. His first wife, who was born in 1827, died March 20, 1870. The fruit of this marriage was eleven children, viz: Mary E., Anna E., Josephine E., Martha J., Isaac W., John N., Clarinda A., George A., Charles M., William A., and Amanda E. Mr. Bowyer was married a second time January 4, 1877, his bride being Miss Della Strayer, daughter of Daniel and Priscilla Strayer. She was born near Sugar Grove, Fairfield county, Ohio, February 18, 1839. One child was born to Mr. Bowyer in this marriage, a daughter. Of Mr. Bowyer it could be difficult to say too much, and yet his many good deeds are his
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best orators; as men like our subject increase in numbers, so fast does the world become bet- ter and life more worth the trouble of living.
J OHN N. BOWYER, one of the best- known men of German township, Allen county, Ohio, is among the representa- tive citizens of the township. He is a native of Allen county and German township, was born on the Bowyer homestead, July 19, 1858, and is a son of Madison L. and Elizabeth (Priddy) Bowyer. His early life was that of the majority of farmers' boys-full of farm work, school attendance, contentment and rustic enjoyment. January 30, 1885, he was united in marriage to Martha J. Craig, after which they came to Elida, where they now live, and where he is still engaged in farming, having under his supervision ninety acres of good land. He is one of the progressive men of the township and is ever on the alert and enterprising. In politics Mr. Bowyer is a re- publican, and a conscientious christian worker. Mrs. Bowyer is the daughter of John and Emeline (Vickers) Craig, both deceassd. Het father died at Point Pleasant, W. Va., May 30, 1862, at the age of thirty-two years. He was a solcher in the late war, enlisting at the beginning at Ada, Ohio. He married his wife at Fort Wayne, Ind., and she was born in Wayne county, Ind., and the daughter of Jesse and Eliza (Robinson) Vickers. She is a direct descendent of the Anneka Jans Bogardus, who came from Holland and over whose immense estate in New York city there has been so much litigation and which is still pending, iu- volving property of 175 acres of land in the center of the city, on which Trinity church How stands. The date of this grant was in 1654. Mrs. Bowser was connected with Anneka Jans Bogardis in the following order: Anneka Jans Bogardus was a daughter of the king of
Holland, who with her husband, Breloff Janson, or who was known as " Jans, " came from Hol- land in 1630, and settled in New Amsterdam, the chief Dutch settlement in the new world. Her first husband, Breloff Janson, died in 1638, and for her second husband she married Dominie Everardus Bogardus, a clergyman by profession. Her daughter Sara married Cor- nelius Van Borsun. The next in line was a Van Twiller, next a Valentine, next a Robin- son, and then the Vickers, which brings it down to the present time, and our subject, Mrs. Bowyer, who was one of four children, viz: Sarah E., Emily E., wife of Robert Wil- son, William C. and Martha J .. the wife of our subject, John Nelson Bowyer. The mother of Mrs. Bowyer married a second time, the last time to John Hommel, of Snyder county. Pa. She died in 1876, leaving five children by Mr. Hommel, one of whom died in infancy-Etta, wife of Cornelius Dusenberry, of New York city; John, deceased in 1870; Mary, deceased same year; Ora, a student in Lewiston. Penn- sylvania, college, and Wilbur, a resident of Snyder county, Pa.
EORGE BREESE, of Shawnee town- ship, Allen county, Ohio, the eldest son of Griffith Breese, was born Octo- ber 1, 1817, in Franklin county, Pa. Griffith Breese was among the carliest settlers of Shawnee township, Allen county, Ohio, and was a son of John Breese, a native of Mont- gomeryshire, an inland county of Wales. From Wales he came to the Umted States in 1800, his wife having previously died. His children he brought with him. So far as is known to his descendants his first permanent location was near Chambersburg, Pa., in Franklin county. A few years later he came to Ohio, settling near Bellefontaine, in Logan county, where he lived until his death, in 1815.
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His children were as follows: Susan, who mar- ried Humphrey Evans, and who died in Cin- cinnati; Griffith; . Mary, who married Evan Evans, and who died in Franklin county, Ky .; Robert, who married Lydia Henry, and lived and died in Logan county, Ohio, and John, who died in Pennsylvania.
Griffith Breese was born in Wales in 1790, and coming, as has been intimated, to the United States in 1800, was reared in Pennsyl- vania. He early learned the trades of mason and of weaver, working at the former in sum- mer and at the latter in winter. In company with Humphrey Evans and Evan Evans, his two brothers-in-law, he removed, in 1819, by way of the Ohio river, on flatboats, which they had purchased, to Cincinnati, Ohio, and thence he went to Butler county, Ohio, where he pur- chased eighty acres of land, upon which he carried on farming and also his trades of mason and weaver. Here he remained until 1832, when he removed to Allen county, and lived in the Shawnee council house until Janu- ary, 1833, at which time the sale of the reservation lands took place. Of these reserva- tion lands Griffith Breese purchased eighty acres in section No. 10, and an equal amount in each of sections Nos. 6 and 21, and kept on purchasing other tracts and parcels of land until before his death he owned 1, 100 acres at once, all in Shawnee township, which he ulti- mately divided up among his children. On the eighty acres in section No. 10 he settled, cleared it of its timber in part, erected a brick residence thereon, and lived upon it the re- mainder of his days, dying November 2, 1848.
Griffith Breese married Miss Mary L. Mowen, daughter of Lewis Mowen, of Frank- lin county. Pa. She died in 1852. The chil- dren born to this marriage were as follows: Nancy. who resides on the old homestead; George, of Shawnee township; John (deceased); William D. ; David M., of Shawnee township,
and Griffith, who was a member of the Ninety- ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, and died from exposure while in the service of his country. Mr. Breese was one of the most prominent men of his day in his township, and he took great interest in all matters pertaining to the development of his county's prosperity. In the early days he was a democrat, and in later life a whig. While not a member of any church, yet he favored the doctrines of the Baptist denomination, and was always upright and true in his conduct. Public office he never sought nor desired, but he was always alive to the interests of the political party with which he identified himself, and also was ready to further any movement promising to promote the public good.
George Beese came with his parents to Ohio, and remained upon the homestead until after the death of his mother. His education was such as the schools of that day afforded, which, supplemented by intercourse with the world, has always been sufficient for his neces- sities. In 1856 he settled upon a portion of his father's land, in section No. 9, containing 160 acres, and in 1862 he removed to section No. 21, on 240 acres. This latter farm he cleared and improved, making of it an excel- lent piece of property. In 1865 he removed his house to section No. 16, on the same 240- acre tract, and he there engaged in farming until 1882, when he purchased his present farm in sections Nos. 6, and 16, where he is living, retired from active business. At the time of his retirement from the active control of his property and business he owned 320 acres of land, which he has divided np among his children.
In 1855 Mr. Breese was married to Miss Sarah Yoakam, daughter of Solomon and Ruth Yoakam, of Shawnee township, and to this marriage have been born four children, viz: Charles L., deceased; Mary E., wife of
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C. D. Strawbridge; Ina, and John O. Politi- cally Mr. Breese is a republican, but cares not for office, the performance of his private duties having always been uppermost in his ambition .. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a trustee of the church of which he is a member. Mr. Breese is one of the original settlers of Shawnee township, and as- sisted in its organization. He well remembers the Shawnee Indians, who were still living on their reservation when he came into the county. That they were dissatisfied with its sale is also one of the things he distinctly remembers, and also that they spent considerable time in trying to re-purchase it, which of course they could not do. He has pleasant recollections of this tribe of red men, and says that they were hon- orable. to a high degree, which is in accordance with what many early travelers among then: and writers about them also state.
ALVA BREESE, of Shawnee town- ship, Allen county, Ohio, is a great- grandson of John Breese, who was born probably about 1780. John Breese had a son, Griffith, and Griffith Breese had a son, William D., who was the father of G. Alva Breese, the subject of this sketch, who was born December 26, 1859.
Most of the incidents of the life of William D. Breese are well remembered by his child. He was reared on the old Griffith Breese home- stead, and there received his education in the schools of his day, which were not so well sup- phed with teachers and apparatus as those of the present day. Upon this old homestead he lived the greater part if not the whole of his life, which extended much beyond the ordi- mary spas, he dying in 1892. William D. Breese was a prominent man in many ways, and was honored by his party friends with the offices of justice of the peace and treasurer of !
his township, holding the former for many years. In politics he was a republican and labored earnestly and successfully for his party's prosperity. He was a man of ideas, was a great reader, and was tolerably well versed in law, his necessities as justice of the peace requiring him to read both general and 'statute law. " In his religious convictions he was a Methodist, and he was a member of the Shawnee Methodist Episcopal church, always living consistently with his convictions as a religious man. William D. Breese married Miss Ellen Yoakum, daughter of Solomon and Ruth Yoakum, who were among the early set- tlers of Shawnee township. To their marriage was born one son, G. Alva, the subject, and they are both now deceased, lying in the cem- etery at Shawnee.
G. Alva Breese, the date of whose birth has already been stated, was, like his three di- rect ancestors, whose names have been given, brought up to a farmer's life. His education was received in the common schools of the township in which he lived. He has always followed the time-honored pursuit of his ances- tors, that of agriculture, and to that industry, as carried on by his father, Mr. Breese has added the department of dairying, keeping at the present time nineteen cows. In all he cul- tivates 130 acres of land. In this calling he has met with abundant success, and by keep- ing himself fully informed as to the improve- ments that are constantly being made, even in agriculture, he is enabled to keep abreast of the times and to make farming not only profit- able, but at the same time somewhat attract- ive, a feature which some people think it can not possess.
In politics Mr. Breese is a republican, but is not actuated in his party fealty by any con- sideration of office. His ambition does not lie in that direction, although as far as qualifica- tion is concerned, of that there is no doubt.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
But he believes the post of honor is the private station. Mr. Breese was married to Miss Iva John, daughter of Jehu John, of German town- ship, who is a descendant from Welsh Quaker ancestry, and who was among the early set- tlers of Northumberland county, Pa. To this marriage there have been born six children, four of whom are still living, viz: Clifford E :;. Vida M., Don C. and Villa I. Mr. Breese is descended from a long line of honorable ances- try, and is himself no discredit to their record. He is upright and square in his dealings with men, and desires to see all men prosper. Nothing in the shape of underhanded tricks or schemes find any countenance with him, feel- ing convinced, as he does, that what is done is done forever, and can not be recalled.
0 AVID BRENNEMAN, of . Marion township. Allen county, Ohio, is a son of Jacob and Caroline (Ogden) Brenneman, and was born in Fair- field county, Ohio, November 28, 1840. He was brought to Allen county in September, 1853, by his parents, and was here reared to manhood. August 12, 1862, he enlisted in company A, One Hundred and Eighteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, to serve three years or during the war, and was honorably dis- charged at Knoxville, Tenn., June 20, 1865. His regiment left Lima September 12, 1862, and in October of the same year was engaged in guard duty on the Kentucky Central rail- road; later, he was at the siege of Knoxville, . and was twenty-one days and nights under fire; next had a hard fight at Mossy Creek in Tennessee; then returned to Knoxville and was engaged in building pontoon boats until the spring of 1864, when he went on the At- lanta campaign, fighting at Resaca, Buzzard's Roost, Kenesaw Mountain, Snake Creek Gap, Peach Tree Creek, and at Atlanta. After the
fall of that city Mr. Brenneman was with Gen. Thomas in Tennessee, was at Strawberry Plains, Jonesboro, Morristown, and on to -Salisbury, N. C .; was also at Lynchburg, Va., and several other points, doing good work in the engineer branch of the service until his finał discharge.
Returning from the war, Mr. Brenneman engaged in the saw-mill business for four years, but in the meantime, September 27, 1866, married Phebe A. Lutz, who was born De- cember 13, 1846, a daughter of John and Sarah A. (Griffith) Lutz. John Lutz was of German descent and his wife of Welsh extrac- tion. The former was born in Perry county, Ohio, January 13, 1820, a son of John Lutz, who was born in Maryland in 1787 and mar- ried Lonisa Leese, who was born October 14, 1794. To John and Louisa Lutz were born nine children-George, John. Jacob, Solomon, Michael, Noah, Catherine, Mary and Sarah. John Lutz, the father of Mrs. Brenneman, was thrice married-first to Sarah A. Griffith, who was born March 19, 1837, a daughter of David Griffith, who bore him four children; his second wife Elizabeth Miller, who also be- came the mother of four children, and his third wife was Sarah Doner, who bore him four children, likewise.
After his marriage, Mr. Brenneman located in Amanda township, Allen county, lived there four years, and then came to his present farm of 160 acres in Marion township. There have been born to him four children, named Laura A., Irvin E., Sarah E. and Stephen A. Mr. and Mrs. Brenneman are members of the Methodist church, and for nine years Mr. Brenneman has been trustee in that body. In politics he is independent, and has served as trustee of his township four years. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Armstrong post. at Lima. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Brenneman,
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OF ALLEN COUNTY.
Laura married David Williams, a farmer of Van Wert county, and is the mother of three children, named Groen Lenora, William David and Anna; Irvin married Ollie Kircofe, and is working on the home farm; Sarah E. is mar- ried to Albert Morris, a blacksmith in the Lake Erie & Western Railroad shops, at Lima.
The Brenneman homestead was first settled by Christian Stukey, the deed having been signed by President Andrew Jackson, May 2, 1833. The next owner was Daniel Conrad, and by him it was transferred to Jacob Brenne- man in March, 1853. It is now one of the finest farms in the township, is one of the old- est settled in the neighborhood, and Mr. Bren- neman has cleared up the greater part of it. Mr. Brenneman relates many reminiscences of the Civil war, which are too voluminous for repetition in a sketch of this character. He was a brave and faithful soldier, and his con- duct in civil life has been such as to win the esteem and heartfelt regard of all who know him. He is upright, public spirited, and gen- erous in his impulses, and few citizens of Marion township stand in a better light before the public than he.
The family originally were German Men- nonites, who fled from persecution in Germany and sought shelter in the country where all religions and sects are given freedom to wor- ship in their own way. They were faithful followers of Menno Symons, and the founder of the branch of the family to which John L. Brenneman belongs was Abraham, his grand- father, who was born about 1745, so that it was probable that the family first settled in southeastern Pennsylvania, some time prior to the Revolutionary war. Abraham Brenneman first married a young lady named Maria, who was born about 1747, and died March 20. 1788, the mother of seven children, viz: Mag- dalene, born December 6, 1770; Elizabeth, born February 10, 1773; Malachi, born May
II, 1775; Francis, born October 18, 1777; Barbara, born January 13, 1780; Daniel, born March 24, 1782, and Abraham, born April 10, 1785. Abraham, after the death of his first wife, married Magdalena Schenk, who was the mother of seven children, viz: Henry, John, Jacob, Catherine, Mary, David and Abraham. " .. . Abraham Brenneman, when grown to man- hood, left the home in Pennsylvania, and set- tled on a farm in Rockingham county, Va., where he prospered and reared his family, and there died March 8, 1815, in his seventy-first year. He was well remembered by many peo- ple of his latter day, as he was noted for his hospitality and liberality to all poor people; he always kept a large store of wheat on hands to give to the poor and needy, and many were those who could look to him as their bene- factor. He was honored and respected by all, and from him fourteen children have descended, of whom all grew to manhood and womanhood and raised families, excepting Catherine, who had no children. All the Brenneman family who are settled in Allen county, except Chris- tian Brenneman, who lives in Sugar Creek township. trace their descent back to this Abraham Brenneman, while Christian Brenne- man traces his descent to a brother of Abraham.
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