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 22
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county, and there married Betsey Mannery, of Revolutionary ancestry and Irish descent. To this union were born ten children, viz: John, James, Jane, Catherine, Nancy, William, Georgge, and three whose names have lapsed from the memory of the survivors, as they died young-all born in Ross county. The father was of Putnam county now known as Allen county in 1821, cleared up a small farm on the Au- glaize river about a mile south of where sub- ject now lives, but in a short time afteward sold this to Benjamin Cochran, his brother, moved two miles north of our subject and entered sixty acres, and later bought 103 acres at Middlepoint. He had been a soldier in the war of 1812. for which service he re- ceived a land warrant for 200 acres, which he located in Paulding county, so that he owned altogether 363 acres. In his old age he moved to his place in Middlepoint where he expired at the advance age of eighty-eight years, during the late Civil war. His children all settled in Allen county at a time when there were but few white men in the county, and before the Indians had been removed.
James Cochran, son of William and father of our subject, was born November 25, 1804, and died January 12, 1893. He married Julia Ann Russell September 10, 1826, and there were born to this union three children, two daughters, and one son, William R., our subject, who alone survives. Mrs. Cochran died in 1834, and in 1836 Mr. Cochran married Isabella Sunderland, who bore twelve children, viz: One son who died in infancy, Elizabeth, Julia Ann, Mary, George, James, Ellen, John, Hattie, Nancy and Allen -all born in Allen county, George, the eldest son, enlisted, in 1861, in McLaugh- lin's squadron of Ohio cavalry, was taken prisoner in Stoneman's raid and incarcerated at Andersonville and Mellon, and died at the latter place of starvation in October, 1864. The
surviving children born to James Cochran are eight in number, viz: William R., Mrs. Isaac Steman, Mrs. Henry Temple, Mrs. Robert Martin, Mrs. William Daniels, Orlando, Mrs. Clarence Hurlbott and James Cochran, Jr.
William R. Cochran was born on the home- stead in Allen county, January 6, 1829, and a farmer, came from Ross county to that part 4 was reared a pioneer farmer. January 29, 1852, he married Miss Eliza Baxter, who was born in Allen county, July 3, 1830, a daughter ef Samuel and Keziah (Cremean) Baxter, of whom further mention may be read in the sketch of Curtis Baxter. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cochran located on the banks of the Anglaize river, where they remained a year and a half, and then moved to their present farm, which at that time consisted of forty acres only and was situated in the forest. But they pros- pered, and the land has been increased to 110 acres, the forest has disappeared, and with it the log cabin, and these have been replaced by well-tilled fields and a modern dwelling and substantial barns and all farm buildings neces- sary for use and comfort. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Cochran were nine in number, and were named as follows: Clara Angeline, who was married to Moses Long and died at the age of thirty-six years, leaving two chil- dren; Keziah J., married to Willihm Long, and the mother of two children; Julia, wife of Isaac Burkholder, and also the mother of two children, James N., who married Tirza E. Myers, who has borne four children; William R., who married Belle Odom, who also has borne four children; Frances M., married to Milton Sherrick; Emma F., wife of Samuel Trusdale; Ulysses M., who married Emma M. Brand, and has two children; Isaac M.
Mr. Cochran in politics is a republican. He is one of the representative men of the township and has served his fellow-citizens in several of the minor offices, more from a sense of duty than from any gratification of political
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ambition; he is recognized as one of the ablest farmers of his neighborhood and his premises fully indicate that he thoroughly understands his vocation; he is public spirited, and is a strong supporter of the educational interests of his township, an advocate of good roads, and always take an active part in the advancement of measures designed for the promotion of the general good. His integrity has never been called into question, and his social standing is with the best people of the county, whose good will and esteem he has fairly won through his moral rectitude.
AMBERT Y. COCHRAN, the leading dry-goods merchant of Spencerville, was born in Allen county, Ohio, Au- 1 gust 3, 1849. He has been engaged in business in Spencerville for the past seven- teen years, and is the oldest merchant in the płace.
Lambert Y. Cochran is a son of Simon and Lucinda (Miller) Cochran, the former of whom died February 11, 1895, at the age of seventy-three years. The latter is a resident of Spencerville, and is seventy-five years old. The father of Simon Cochran, Wesley Coch- ran, was the first of the name to settle in Allen county, locating here about 1832, and settling four miles north of the present city of Lima. There he entered land, began to make im- provements thereon, and lived upon it until his death, at the advanced age of eighty-five years, his wife dying at the still greater age of eighty-eight Mr. Cochran was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and an en- thusiastic defender and supporter of religion and the church.
Wesley Cochran and his wife were the par- ents of seven children that grew to mature years-three sons and four danghters: John, who located in Frankhn county, and spent the
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rest of his life there as a farmer; Simon, who was the second son, and of him more will be said in this sketch; William, who was a farmer of Putnam county, during the latter years of his life; Rebecca, deceased; Susan, residing on the old homestead, wife of A. G. Pogue, now deceased; Jane, a resident of Texas, wife of a Mr. West, and Sarah, a resident of Ada, Hardin county, widow of a Mr McGuire. Simon Cochran was a resident of Allen county from the time he was ten years of age until his death, his home being on a small farm in Amanda township from the time Lambert Y. was about six years of age. Both he and his wife were consistent and earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They had a family of five children, viz: James G., a butcher of Spencerville; Lambert Y. ; William and Elizabeth, both dead, dying at the age seventeen and twenty-two years respectively, and Jasper L., a farmer and stock dealer of Amanda township.
Lambert Y. Cochran was reared on his father's farm until he attained his sixteenth year, having received by that time a good common-school education. Afterward he took a thorough course at the National Normal col- lege at Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio. Be- ing unnsnally intelligent for his age, and having made the best possible nse of his time, he began teaching school when he was seventeen years of age, and followed this profession for five years; he then formed a part- nership with Joseph August in the hardware and grocery business. This was in the spring of 1875, and the partnership continued for eighteen months. Mr. Cochran then withdrew from the firm and again engaged in teaching school, following this employment for two winters; in the spring of 1878 he purchased a stock of groceries, and opened a grocery store in a small frame building which stood on the ground upon which his present business block
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stands. The next year he purchased the lot and the building, improved the building con- siderably, making of it a fine room and adding to his stock of groceries a fine line of boots and shoes. He was prospering finely when, in 1884, the entire establishment was destroyed by fire. He then erected his present brick building, which was the second brick building erected in Spencerville. It is two stories high and 26x80 feet on the ground. This he has filled with a fine stock of dry goods, groceries, etc. ; but since then he has gradually abandoned the grocery trade and turned his attention more to dry goods, carpets, notions, boots and shoes, etc , and is now carrying the most con- plete stock in these several lines that has ever been seen in Spencerville.
Mr. Cochran is one of the live, energetic and progressive men of the town, is public spirited, and always ready to aid any cause promising to promote the public good. Iu politics he is a democrat and has held many of the minor offices within the gift of his party, having been corporation clerk two terms, town- ship treasurer two terms, and for thirteen years a member of the school board, for eight years of which time he was the treasurer of the board; has been township clerk one term and a member of the town council six years. He has also been selected by his democratic friends to represent them in county and state conventions, and withal is one of the most popular men in the place. Fraternally he is a member of Spencerville lodge, No. 251, K. of P., and was one of its charter members, and he is also a member of the uniforin rank. He and his family are members of the Baptist church. Mr. Cochran was married March 31, 1872, to Miss Margaret E. Berryman, daugh- ter of Russell and Elizabeth Berryman. Mrs. Cochran was born in Auglaize county, Ohio, July 5, 1852 By this marriage they have had five children, viz: Best C., Carre M., Jennie,
Raymond F., who died at the age of six years, and Frank W. Bert C., the eldest child, as- sists his father in the store and is a very useful and promising young man.
Thus it will be seen that Mr. Cochran is one of the self-made men in Allen county. Beginning- at the bottom of the ladder, he has "gradually climbed it step by step until now he is thoroughly established in a successful busi- ness, and all through his own efforts and per- severance. His example is worthy of study and emulation by the young. It shows that it is not impossible to become independent, and that in acquiring that independence one may be at the same time useful to one's fellow-men. Mr. Cochran lives in a residence on Pearl street, which he has remodeled and made one of the pleasantest homes in Spencerville.
ESLEY COON, of Shawnee town- ship, Allen county, Ohio, descends from a family whose members were in America prior to the Revolution- ary war. George Coon, father of Wesley, was born in Pennsylvania in 1783, and after arriving at his majority he removed to Ken- tucky and married there. Some time later he removed to Ohio, settling in Belmont county, where most of his children were born. Subse- quently he located in Logan county, Ohio, and still later, in 1832, he purchased eighty acres of land in section 4, Shawnee township. Allen county, to which he afterward added forty acres. On the original eighty acres he erected his log cabin in the woods, and cleared up his farm, and followed farming there the remainder of his days, dying in 1873. He was married twice; first, to Miss Christiana Moore, in Ken- tucky, in the year 1804, and by her had fifteen children. Phobe, who married Thomas Hall; Alexander, Wesley, Mahala, Asa. Noah, all of whom are dead; Margaret, deceased, who mar
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ried William Miller, deceased; George J., de- ceased; Abigail, who married William Cattles and died in Paulding county, Ohio; Tobias, who resides in Michigan; Amy, who married Franklin Reese and died in Amanda township; Mary, who married Thomas Young, and after his death married Thomas Gaylord, and died in Paulding county, Ohio; Elizabeth, who married Phillip Coon, and died in Shawnee township; Isaac, who resides in Amanda town- ship; and John, who died in infancy. The second wife of Mr. Coon was Susannah Wright, whom he married in 1843 or 1844. By her he had five children, viz: Maria, Martha, Joan- nes M., of Panlding county; Franklin, of Sugar Creek township, and Susannah. George Coon, the father of these twenty children, was a prominent member of the Church of God, and bes buried in the Shawnee township cemetery. He always took great interest in public affairs, but was at the same time domestic in habits and devoted his life to his family affairs. He was a good citizen and was highly respected by all who knew him
Wesley Coon, the third child of George Coon, was born in 1807, in Belmont county, Ohio. In this county he was reared and edu- cated in the old log school-house. Upon ar- riving at mature age he located in Logan county, Ohio, with his brother Alexander, fol- lowing various employments until 1832, when lie removed to Allen county. Here he entered eighty acres of land in section No. 4, which he converted into a good farm, upon which he lived the remainder of his days, his death oc- curring in 1866. Politically, in his early life he was a whig, but later became a republican. Religiously he was reared a Quaker, and through his entire life adhered to this faith. He mar- ried Mary Flynn, daughter of Thomas and Polly Flynn, who were of Irish descent, and residents ! Shawnee township, of which town -. Mr. Coon has three times held the office of ship they were among the early settlers. Mrs. . township trustee, and he has also held other
Coon died in 1856, leaving five children, viz: Joshua B .; Philena, of Van Wert county; Caleb, of Shawnee township; Sarah A., wife of Thomas Gorham, of Ontario, Canada, and Mary A., wife of Henry Nungester. For his second wife Mr. Coon married Caroline Craft, by whom he had three children, viz: Lydia, wife of William Benedum; Rachel, wife of Scott Rembaugh, and Nettie, wife of William Neley.
Joshua B. Coon, the eldest son of Wesley Coon, was born January 23, 1842, on the old homestead. He was brought up on the farm and inured to all kinds of farm labor, and he received his education in the common schools. When the war of the Rebellion broke out in 1861, he enlisted in company E, Forty-sixth Ohio volunteer infantry, and served his country as a soldier three years and nine months. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Corinth and Vicksburg, Miss .; in the battles of Missionary Ridge, of Resaca, Ga .; of New Hope Church, of Kenesaw Mountain, of Peach Tree Creek and of Atlanta, and he went on the march through Georgia to the sea. From Savannah he went on up through the Carolinas, and was a portion of the grand re- view at Washington, D. C. He served under Gen. John A. Logan, in the Fifteenth army corps, which corps veteranized in 1864. At the close of the war he returned to Allen county, and purchased his present farm in section No. 5, Shawnee township. His pur- chase comprised eighty acres of land, which he himself cleared and to which he subsequently added forty acres more, so that now he has 120 acres of excellent farming land. In 1889 he began dairying and in 1891 began making a specialty of butter making, which he has continued ever since, making on an average 3,000 pounds per year.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
minor offices. He is an active and influential member of the republican party, always inter- ested in his party's success. He is also a mem- ber of Mart. Armstrong post, No. 202, G. A. R., and of the Methodist Episcopal church, and takes an active interest in its work and success. He was married to Mary B. Buckley, daughter of William and Eliza Buckley, the . ceremony taking place in 1866. By this mar- riage he has the following children: Naocia, Maud, both deceased, Charles, Mary A., and Virgil N. Mr. Coon is, as will have been seen by those who have read this brief sketch. a most prominent, enterprising. and patriotic citizen, earnest in all good work for every honorable department of human interest.
EORGE W. CORLETT, junior mem- ber of the hardware firm of Wolford & Corlett. is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, having been born there Novem- ber 24, 1869. The hardware firm of which he is a member is located at Spencerville, and was formed August 10, 1895, succeeding to the business of J. B. Sunderland. This firm car- ries a fall line of general hardware, agricul- tural implements, buggies, etc., in fact the most complete stock of their various lines in the city of Spencerville. They occupy two rooms, having a frontage of forty-four feet, and a depth of 100 feet. They are in every way well equipped to transact a successful and prosperous business. The members of the firm are both young men, are ambitious, ener- getic, have business ability and are determined to succeed.
George W. Corlett is a son of Robert and Christiana (Caine) Corlett, the former of whom was born on the Isle of Man, and the ancestry of Mrs. Corlett, the Caines, were also from the sare esland. Mrs Corlett. however, was
born in Cleveland, Ohio, and both she and her husband are still living, near Painesville, Ohio, on a farm. George W. Corlett was reared or a farm near Painesville, and was educated in the public schools in the vicinity. When twenty years of age he entered the employ of the Lockwood, Taylor Hardware company, of Cleveland, Ohio, and by this company was employed for about five years, both in tl. house and on the road, his territory consisting of northwestern Ohio and northeastern In - diana. At the end of the five years mentioned he formed his present partnership with W. ! Wolford, and located at Spencerville. where he forms a part of one of the prominent busi- ness firms of the town. Both are well known. as active, pushing and reliable young men, a reputation which will doubtless prove to be the next best thing to their cash capital
Mr. Corlett was married in May, 1895, to Miss Eva Disbrow, of Wauseon, Ohio. He is a member of the Cleveland Travelers' associa - tion, and is well known generally throughout the state. The success with which he has so far met, is altogether due to his own efforts, and although yet young he has made and is making commendable progress in his line of business. Being one of the broad-minded business inen of the county, and acting on correct business principles, there is no reason why he should not become one of the most solid and substantial men in the country.
EVI COUNTS .- The late Alexander Counts was a Virginian by birth and his boyhood days were passed in the Old Dominion. When about fifteen years of age he came to Ohio and worked on a farm until twenty-one years of age, when he married Miss Annie Petersor and in 1835. moved to Allen county and setled on the Six Miles, north of Spencerville, but later moved
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OF ALLEN COUNTY.
near Elida, in German township, and still later to Hartford, and assisted in building the lock on the canal. In 1844 he again moved. this time to section No. 1, later called Arcadia, and now Spencerville. For two years he was employed as lock-tender on the canal, but in 1850 began clearing a farm in the woods. After getting his farm partially cleared he turned it over to his boys and returned to the canal, where he was employed in making re- pairs, at which he spent the greater part of his life, which ended in 1860. Six sons and four daughters had been born to his union, as fol- lows: Susan, John H Levi, William, Squire. Isaac, Alexander C., Mary, Augustine and Jane
Levi Counts, the subject of this biography, was born September 1, 1835. At twelve years of age he began clerking, receiving at first $5 per month, and continned in this until twenty years of age, when he began dealing in timber, hauling ties, hoop-poles, butts. shorts, etc., and has probably handled morc material of this class than any other one man in Allen county. For forty years-a half of a long life- time-he had devoted himself to this business, and in the one product of ties handles 50,000 every year, furnishing them for a number of railroads. He still owns the homestead and has made many valuable and handsome im- provements upon it. He also owns a pretty farm of thirty acres just outside the town cor- poration, where he lives, and another one of twenty-seven acres north of the village. He was twice married, his first wife being Miss Minerva Berryman, a daughter of William Berryman. Four children were born to this imion, viz: Florence, Sallie, John and Jinkey. After the death of this lady Mr. Counts mar- ried Helena E. Welch, daughter of L. D. Welsh, a native of Madison county, Ohio. Mr. Counts is a stanch prohibitionist and practices what he preaches. He is a man full of nerve, energy and push, believing in the gospel of
work and get-ahead. He and wife are both prominent in the social circles of Spencerville, in which they are held in high esteem.
PILLIAM G. CRANE, the popular and accommodating liveryman of Harrod; Auglaize townsnip, Allen county, Ohio, is a native of the Buckeye state, and was born in Union county February 14, 1862. His grandfather, James Crane, was a native of Ireland, and on coming to America settled among the pioneers of Union county, Ohio, entered lard and cleared up a good farm, on which he passed the re- mainder of his days. His son, Thomas Crane, father of our subject, William G., was born on this home in Union county, there grew to manhood, and married Almina Akinson, dangh- ter of Ralph and Hannah Akinson, to which union were born three children, named Julius M., William G. (our subject) and Hannah Adelia, deceased. After the birth of the youngest child the father entered the army, but never returned, in all probability having been killed while in the service.
William G. Crane, being left with his mother at a very tender age, found it neces- sary to begin seeking his livelihood quite early in life with an uncle, David Whitehill, of Logan county, Ohio, with whom he lived fifteen years, and by whom he was reared to farming, which calling he followed for about three years-both in Logan and Allen counties, coming to the latter county in 1891. Here, in June, 1893, he married Emma O. Winegard- ner, who was born September 28, 1870, daughter of Anthony Winegardner and wife, Elizabeth (Anspach) Winegardner, of whom a full biography is given below. Mr. and Mrs. Crane, since marriage, have resided in Harrod, and to their union have been born two chil- dren-Lena E. (who was born 22nd of April,
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY .
1894, died October 16, 1894), and Ernest D .. who was born April 24, 1895. Mr. Crane was already popular and successful in the livery business at Harrod when married, and his patronage continues to increase from day to day. His barn is commodious and substantial, well equipped in modern style, both as to vehicles and animals, and is fully worthy of the custom it always commands.
Mrs. Crane is a member of the Latheran church, and Mr. Crane is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, at Silver Creek, Hardin county, Ohio. In politics Mr. Crane is a stanch republican. This brief record of his lite shows to some extent the worthiness of an orphan who, through his own enterprise and intelligence, has lifted, himself to a position that compares favorably with that occupied by was young man in the township.
Anthony Winegardner, a retired farmer of Auglaize township, is of German origin, but descends directly from an old American colo- niał family of the Shenandoah valley, Va., of which his grandfather, Herbert Winegardner, was a native, and where Herbert was born in : 58, and where his wife, Elizabeth (Barb) Winegardner, was born in 1764. At a very carly day the pair came to Ohio and were among the pioneers of Fairfield county, where the husband entered a large tract of land, which he lived to clear up to a great extent, and on which he operated a large stillhonse, becoming one of the wealthiest men in the county. Here he lost his wife August 10, 1826, and here he died December 17, 1830 -- both highly respected members of the German Reform church.
Absalom Winegardner, son of Herbert and Elizabeth (Parb) Winegardner, and the father of Anthony, was born in Virginia in 1799, and was a mere vonth when brought by his parents to Ohio; bere he was reared a farmer, an occupation he followed all his life, with the
exception of a few years, during which he was . engaged in milling. He married Mary Stum- baugh, a daughter of John and Eve (Reed) Stumbangh, natives of Pennsylvania and pio- neers of Perry county, Ohio. Soon after mar- riage, Absalom Winegardner removed to Perry county and settled on a farin which his father 'had given him, and which was slightly im- proved, but which he subsequently devoloped to a large extent and had mostly under culti- vation, when he was seized with cholera and died, in 1833, a member of the German Re- form church and in politics a democrat. His widow kept the family together and continued to improve the farm, on which she died in Au- gust, 1893, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, having been identified with Perry county since the age of four years, and consequently widely known and respected.
Anthony Winegardner was born in Perry county, Ohio, January 13, 1831, was reared on the home farm, and in his youthful days split the logs which later formet the seats for the log-school house in which he was edneated. December 2, 1852, he married Elizabeth Aus- pach, who was born in Perry county, June 29, 1833, a daughter of George and Sarah (Swine- heart) Anspach-which union was blessed with the following-named children: Mary A., who was first married to John Witham, and is now the wife of James Vermillion, George F .; Sarah E., who died young; William A .; Lewis J .; Emma O., wife of William G. Crane. For three years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Winegardner continued to reside in Perry county, and then, in 1855, came to Auglaize township, Allen county, where Mr. Wine- gardner bought a farm almost entirely in the woods, but which he succeeded in clearing up and converting into one of the finest home- steads in the county. He is, (. has been, probably the largest land-owner residing in Auglaize township, owning at one time 399
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