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 24
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He erected the first house in Hume, Allen county, and in that hamlet operated a general store for three years. His first purchase of land was in 1879- fifty-five acres in section No. 31, German township. To this he added seventy-five acres on July 25, 1884, in Amanda township, and in November, 1889, he pur- chased eighty acres in the same township. In 1892 he purchased twenty acres more in sec- tion No. 5, Amanda township His landed estate, therefore, at the present time, con- sists of 230 acres, and it certaint is among the
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best in the county. In 1879 his house was destroyed by fire and was a total loss, as it carried no insurance. He erected in its place a pretty, neat cottage, which is his present residence. Besides this dwelling he has erected good barns and other out-buildings for stock and grain. He carries on general farm- ing, but makes the raising of corn a specialty, in 1894 cribbing 2, 800 bushels. He has a fine herd of Shropshire sheep, a kind of horned sheep peculiar to Shropshire, England, pre- vious to their introduction into this country. He also raises a fine grade of the Jersey red hog. In company with his brother, S. D. Crites, he some years since handled Yoggy's anatomical charts, placing them in every school-house in Allen county. He also spent two summers with this chart in southern Iowa, selling several hundred of them in that state. Politically Mr. Crites is a democrat, and has been a member of the school board for several years; fraternally he is a member of Lima lodge, No. 581, F. & A. M.
Mr. Crites was married November 11, 1875, to Miss Eliza R. Anderson, daughter of Dr. R. G. and Adelia Anderson; she was born No- vember 30, 1856, and died September 23, 1893. To this marriage there were born two children, viz: Ora B., born January 8, 1877, and Bessie V., born October 12, 1887. Mr. Crites married for his second wife, August 9, 1894, Miss Lillie N. Hennon, daughter of Daniel and Ella Hennon; this lady was born in North Washington, Harding county, Ohio, April 27, 1873. Mr. and Mrs. Crites are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and of high standing in church and other circles. He is one of the most progressive Young men of the county, and the success with which he has met in life is wholly due to his own efforts and industry. While he has, hke others, met with reverses, sufficient perhaps in many cases to discourage most men, yet he
has always risen superior to misfortune, and has in reality made such reverses stepping- stones to higher planes of success. His career has been such as to give encouragement to others, and is and must continue to be a credit to himself and to his entire family.
J AMES ALLEN CULP .- The history of this distinguished family extends back of the Revolutionary war, the grand- father of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch having been born about 1765, in Berks county, Pa. He married i Miss Hinely of the same county, and about 1803 removed to Pickaway county, Ohio. In this county he located upon a farm upon which he lived the rest of his life, dying at the great age of eighty-seven years. Following are the names of his children: Henry, who died in Fairfield county, Ohio; Sebastian, who died in Pickaway county, Ohio; Peter; Conrad, who died in Pennsylvania; Mary, who married a Mr. Stumpt; Hannah, who married a Mr. Def- fenbaugh; Sally, who married a Mr. Dum.
Peter Culp, the third son of the above, and the father of our subject, was born in Berks county, Pa., in 1791. With his parents he removed to Pickaway county, Ohio, where he was reared to manhood, accustomed to all pioneer work and ways, and when the second war with England came on entered the army of the United States, and fought through the war. After his marriage he purchased, in Salt Creek township, land to the amount of 500 acres, and became largely engaged in stock- raising. He was one of the extensive drovers of those days, purchasing for and driving to the eastern markets. He was also a very ex- tensive farmer, among the most prominent of his county, and spent the greater portion of his life upon his farm. Religiously he was a Lutheran, and was much interested in the
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work of his church. He was married, in 1817, to Miss Susan Brancher, daughter of Conrad and Rachel (Richeldapher) Brancher. Mrs. Culp died November 13, 1871, leaving a family of children as follows: Juria, Mrs. Samuel Saylor; James A .; Helen, Mrs. Adam Faust; Conrad D., deceased; Henrietta, deceased; Susannah, deceased; Hester, who was married twice, first to William Crow, and secondly to a Mr. Monuett; Rachel, deceased; Henry B., of Pickaway county; Charles, of Lancaster, Ohio, Thomas, deceased; Noah, of Pickaway county: Mary S., and Lewis H., who died in Texas. Peter Culp died May 14, 1864.
James Allen Culp, the second child of the above marriage, was born August 31, 1819, on the homestead in Pickaway county, Ohio. He was reared a farmer boy, and received such education as the times afforded. Arriving at manhood's estate, he removed to Anglaize county, in 1848, and there purchased 160 acres of land in Logan township, upon which he lived thirty years. Beside carrying on gen- eral farming operations he was extensively engaged in breeding and raising stock. At the expiration of the time above mentioned Mr. Culp removed to Duchequet township, same county, where he lived thirteen years. Mr. Culp is one of the most extensive owners of land living in Allen county, owning some 500 acres in Auglaize county, and also 500 acres in Macon county, Ill. In 1882 he set- tled on his present farm in Shawnee township, Allen county, upon which he has made all the improvements, and is now living retired from the active cares and duties of life.
Politically Mr. Culp is a republican, hav- ing been in early life a whig, and casting his first vote for Gen. William Henry Harrison for president in 1840, and voting for every whig and republican candidate for president ever since. In religious matters he is a Luth- eran, and takes a prominent position as a sup-
porter of that church. He was married, in 1841, to Miss Ann Crouse, daughter John Crouse of Ross county, who came to Ohio from Blair county, Pa. To this marriage there were born children as follows: Jerome, of Illinois, Theodore, of Van Wert county, Ohio; George and John, both of Illinois; Ann M :;- deceased; Henry, of Illinois; Mary C., deceased; Jacob, of Auglaize county, Ohio; Susan, wife of William M. Bowsher, and Emily J., wife of H. N. Beeler. Mrs. Culp's death occurred March 31, 1894.
In matters of business Mr. Culp has been more than ordinarily successful. He has been an honest man, straightforward and fair in all his dealings, and has lived consistently with his religious faith, and as a natural result stands high in the estimation of all who know him. At the age of seventy-seven years, he is still in good health and in the possession of all his faculties, and it may be said, with his career in mind, that " gray hairs are a crown of glory if found in the way of righteousness."
HOMAS J. CURTIS, one of the most trustworthy citizens of German town- ship, Allen county, and a successful farmer, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, August 7, 1845. He is a son of Lewis and Mary (East) Curtis, who were among the earliest settlers in Fairfield county, where they reared their family and where Mr. Curtis died. He was a teamster and worked for a distillery company. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, viz: John, a resident of Kansas City, Kans., where he follows the busi- ness of house and building moving; Enoch, now deceased, who during the war was a soldier in the Confederate army; Sarah, wife of David East, of Allen county; Harriet; Louisa, deceased; Thomas J .. the subject of this sketch, and two that died in infancy.
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Thomas J. Curtis was bnt ten years of age when he came to Allen county, with John East, with whom he lived until March 24, 1862, when he enlisted in company K, Sixty- sixth Illinois infantry. He served in this regi- ment until April 25, 1865, when he was inus- tered out of service. During the term for which he enlisted he participated in the battle' of Shiloh, siege of Corinth and the fight at Iuka, and was with Sherman on the march to the sea. Though never severely wounded, yet he received several slight wounds from the rebel bullets.
After returning from the war he located in German township, Allen county, Ohio, and there began work on his farm; but soon en- tered the employ of the Easts in their grist- mill. Not long after this, however, he entered the employ of the D. & M. railroad company. as brakeman, at which work he continued for three years. He was then made conductor of a train carrying local freight, which position he held for seven years, when he was made conductor of the mail train running from Day- ton to Toledo. Afterward he accepted a posi- tion with the P., Ft. W. & C. Railroad .com- pany, remaining with them some three years, when he took a position with the L. E. & W. Railroad company as night yard man, remain- ing thus employed six months. He then re- turned to the Fort Wayne Railroad company, and was placed in charge of a switch engine in the yards at Lima, and later returned to the 1). & M. Railroad company, for which be worked one year.
Giving up railroading in February, 1890, he in the following month moved to his farm in German township, for which he had traded, and upon which he has made numerous im- provements. This farm is located in section! No 34, and is a very valuable piece of prop- erty, of forty acres. Here Mr. Curtis follows
these lines to any mere specialty. Mr. Curtis was married in April, 1867, to Miss Martha Comer, who was born in Lancaster, Ohio, in 1846, and who died in 1890, on the 20th day of June. By her he had a family of six chil- dren, viz: Annie, Alma, Lewis, Emmet, Freddie and James. Annie, the eldest of the ·family, is a graduate of the city schools of Lima, and is a most estimable young lady. Mr. Curtis is a member of the Disciples' church, and also is a member of Lima post, No. 202, G. A. R., and is in every way a good citizen and a most worthy man.
H. CUSTER, the subject of this brief biography, is one of the al- together alive business men of Allen county, Ohio. He is a native of the county and was born July 5, 1849. His parents are Jonathan and Sarah J. (Leatherman) Cus- ter, the latter still living at the age of sixty-five years, residing near LaFayette, Allen county. The father died in 1863 at the age of forty-five years. In occupation, he was a blacksmith and farmer and came to Allen county at an early day, when quite a young man, from Lick- ing county, Ohio, which was his birthplace. He was of German descent and possessed of many good qualities. He owned a good farm of some ninety acres, on which his family were born and reared. His marriage occurred in this county, and five children were born to them, as follows: William H .. our subject, Elizabeth, wife of Griffith Thomas, of Amanda township; Michael L., a farmer of Rooks county, Kans; Jane and Jonathan A., deceased.
William H. Custer was reared on a farm and received his education in the schools of the county, but at an early age sixteen years -he began life for himself. He hired ont as a farm hand by the month and followed this general farming and stock raising, preferring : until twenty-one years of age, when he rented
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the home place and afterward purchased sixty acres in Amanda township, on which he spent some twelve years engaged in general farming. In 1889 he sold his farm and purchased a mer- cantile house at Conant, which he sold in Oc- tober, 1895, and purchased another store in Spencerville, since which time he has success- fully conducted this business. He carries a general stock and successfully caters to a large and increasing trade. He was appointed post- master at Conant and made an efficient and trustworthy officer. Politically Mr. Custer is a prohibitionist and practices the creed of his profession. He has been a member of the lodge of Knights of Pythias of Spencerville, No. 251. (on the past five years, and has proved a valuable acquisition to the order. Angust 3, 1874, he was married to Miss Ne- bryska Burbage, who was born in Paulding
county, Ohio, in October, 1854. She isa mem- , a year and a half, and then began work in the ber of the Methodist church and an active worker in that society. Mr. Custer is a rep- ! resentative man of this enterprising and pros- perons county and is one among many who 1 make it a banner section of the state.
B ERNARD W. DALK, one of the well- known citizens of Delphos, Ohio, and proprietor of one of the largest black- smith establishments in the city, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, May 24, 1857. this parents are Joseph and Anna Simons) Dalk. The father was born in Westphalia, Germany, in 1828, and the mother was born in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, she being the daughter of Nicholas Sinons, one of the carly citizens of that city. The parents were married in Cleve- land, where the mother died in 1858, when our subject was but cleven months old. The father learned the carpenter and cabinet- maker's trade, but he has followed railroading most of lus life, and for twenty years was in
the employ of the Lake Shore railroad at Cleveland as a carbuilder. He left Cleveland in 1880 and located at Fostoria, Ohio, and two years later came to Delphos, and went to work in the Clover Leaf shops at this place. He is a member of St. John's Roman Catholic church.
B. W. Dalk was the only child born of his parents' marriage. He was reared in Cleve- land, his grandmother Simons taking him as an infant at his mother's death and rearing him until his fourth year, when his father, having married again, took charge of his son. The latter received his schooling in the Ger- man Catholic school in Cleveland, receiving a good German and English education. After leaving school he ntered the Lake Shore railroad shops with the intention of learning the machinist's trade, at which he worked for
' blacksmith shop of James Cullen, in Ci ve- land, where he worked for about six months, starting there to learn the trade, but finishing up at Delphos. In 1873, being on his way to Fort Wayne, Ind., he stopped off at Delphos to visit a friend, and concluded t . locate here, and in 1874 he began an apprenticeship of. three years with August C. Grothaus, a blacksmith. After finishing his apprentice- ship he continued to work for Mr. Grot- haus until September 19, 1891. when he left his shop, and the next week began getting timber on the ground, preparing to build a shop, and beghming blacksmithing for hint- self. On the ioth day of October, the same year, he had his shop up and was ready for business. He was not long in building up a trade, as he was always well hked and had a reputation as a first-class workman, and from year to year his trade has grown until he now has one of the leading shops of the city. Ile contemplates erecting a large brick shop in the near future on his lot, on the corner of
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First and West Canal streets, where he will run a complete carriage and wagon manufac- tory. His present place of business is on the corner of West First street and the canal, where he employs two men besides himself. He does a general blacksmithing and repair business, but makes a specialty of fine horse- city that turns out a hand-made iron or steel shoe. Mr. Dalk also owns a handsome cot- tage residence, a story and a half, on the cor- ner of Cleveland avenue and Pierce street, and also owns well improved residence property on the corner of Pierce and Jackson streets.
shoeing, his shop being the only one in the -cember 20, 1841.
Mr Dalk was married August 28, 1883, to Miss Anna Schwartzengraber, who was born in Delphos on May 29, 1861, and is the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Schwartzengraber, old citizens of Delphos, her father having been the first brewer in the city. Mr. and Mrs. Dalk are members of Saint John's Roman Catholic church of Delphos, and he is a mem- ber of the Royal Arcanum. He is a democrat in politics when it comes to voting for a presi- dent or a governor, but when it comes to minor office he votes for the best man. Mr. Dalk has met with deserved success in his business. He is full of energy and enterprise, ambitious to improve his business and himself, and is considered one of the leading and active citizens of Delphos. He has many warm friends and is universally respected by all who know him.
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RANCIS Y. DAVIS, one of the best- known and most experienced agricul- turists of Perry township, Allen county, Olio, was born in Orange county, Vt., October 29, 1827, and is of Scotch and Welsh extraction.
Franci. Davis, grandfather of our subject, was born May 26, 1758, but it is not positively
known whether he was a native of Scotland or Vermont. He was a soldier in the war for American independence, married Philena Thurber in Vermont, and had born to this marriage five sons and two daughters. He died in Vermont October 30, 1840, and his faithful helpmate died in the same state De-
Francis Davis, son of the Francis mentioned above and the progenitor of the Davis family in Allen county, Ohio, was born in Vermont March 7, 1788, and was reared on his father's farm and also learned the trade of stone-cut ting, becoming an expert and artistic monu- ment-maker. He served in the war of 1812 and took part in the battle of Plattsburg, N. Y. For this service he received, in part compensa- tion, a warrant for one-quarter section of land, which was located or entered in the state of Missouri. In 1834 he removed from Orange county, Vt., to Coshocton county, Ohio, where he purchased a tract of 100 acres in Bethlehem township, which he cleared up and resided upon until 1845, when he came to Perry town- ship, Allen county, where he had already pur- chased a tract of forty acres in section No. 2, but settled upon an eighty-acre tract in section No. 3. now owned by Joseph Tapscott. After coming to Allen county, Mr. Davis sold his Missouri land to T. K. Jacobs, of Lima, and after a residence of some twenty-odd years, he disposed of his eighty-tract in Perry township, and retired to Defiance, Ohio, where he passed the remainder of his days in peace, dying March 31, 1875, honored by all who knew him. Francis Davis had been twice married --- first, to Lydia, daughter of Greshom York, of Brookfield, Vt. Of the children born to this union seven died young and four lived to adult age, viz: Roxanna, deceased wife of Ira Fox; Francis Y., the subject of this sketch; George E., and Fannie, deceased wite of John Bond. The mother of this family died March 1. 1863,
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at the age of seventy-one years, a highly re- spected lady and universally beloved for her many christian virtues. The second marriage of Mr. Davis was with Mrs. Elizabeth Hatcher, while he was a resident of Perry township; it may be added, Mr. Davis, who was first a whig in politics and later a republican, filled some of the township offices and was in every way a public-spirited and useful citizen.
Francis Y. Davis, whose name heads this biography, is the elder living son of Francis Davis, whose life has been sketched in the foregoing paragraphs. He was reared in Co- shocton county, Ohio, whither he had been brought when an infant, from Vermont, by his parents. He was educated in the common schools and brought up a frontier farmer, be- ing early inured to the hard toil of forest life. In 1852 he purchased forty acres of land in section No. 3, Perry township, Allen county, now owned by William Roberts. This tract he cleared up from the forest and had con- verted into a fruitful farin before disposing of it. In 1863 he settled upon an eighty-acre tract in section No. 16, but about this time, also, enlisted in defense of the integrity of his country's flag-a brief military record being given below. On this eighty-acre tract Mr. Davis also made all the improvements, and in 1882 purchased 160 acres in section No. 19, and this highly improved farm is now occupied by his son, Charles L. This farm is also the result of the skill and industry of Mr. Davis, who made all the improvements thereon, re- claiming it from the forest, and made it his home until 1894, when he purchased his pres- ent farm of forty acres in section No. 8, on which he has erected a handsome modern residence and made many other improve- ments as well as placed it under a thorough state of cultivation. On this farm are two pro- ducing oil wells, while on his other farms there have been found fourteen oil producers
The enlistment of Mr. Davis took place in September, 1861, in company D, Fifty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he served until August, 1862, when he was honorably dis- charged for disability occasioned by explosion of a shell at the battle of Pittsburg Landing. In September, 1864, he enlisted in company A, One Hundred and Eightieth Ohio volunteer infantry, and served until the close of the war, his last battle being at Kingston, N. C. He received his second and final honorable dis- charge in August, 1865. In politics Mr. Davis is a republican and is a member of Mart. Arm- strong post, G. A. R., of Lima.
The marriage of Mr. Davis took place May 5, 1852, with Sarah, daughter of Rufus and Nancy (Dawson) Coats, but this lady died April 1, 1893, the mother of the following children: Lydia R. M., born July 26, 1854, and wife of Jefferson Shade, of Perry town- ship; Ira E., born January 31, 1856; Albert E., born November 30, 1857; William F., born January 19, 1867, and now residing in Franklin county, Kans. ; Clara B., born July 25, 1868, and wife of John Howbert, of Allen county, Ohio; Charles L., born November 25, 1869; Herman C., born October 15, 1875, and Daniel E., born May 28, 1873.
Perry township has seen few better farm- ers that Francis Y. Davis, and fewer still have done as much as he toward the development of the township from a wilderness into a broad expanse of fertile and wealth-producing fields, and none deserves better the high respect in which he is held as an ex-soldier and useful citizen.
Q® HARLES L. DAVIS was born on the homestead on which he still lives in Perry township, Allen county, Ohio, November 25, 1869, is one of the most enterprising farmers of the county, and
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a rising young man in all respects. His genealogy will be found in the biography of Francis Y. Davis, his father, which appears in close connection with this sketch. Charles L., besides becoming a practical farmer, received a first-class education in the common schools of his district and in the Normal college at Ada, Ohio. He resned with and aided his father until April 20, 1894, when he settled upon his present farm of 160 acres, where he is engaged most successfully in general farming.
The marriage of Mr. Davis took place De- cember 25 (Christmas day, 1892), with Miss Libbie L., daughter of David Sellers, of Perry township, of whom a biography appears on another page. To this union was born one child-David F .- who, it is sad to add, is now deceased. In his politics Mr. Davis, like his father, i, 1 republican, has served as constable of Perry township, and is fast rising in popu- larity and in the esteem of his fellow-citizens
RANK L. DAVIS, the efficient and accommodating operator of the Pitts- burg, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad at the quiet but prosperous village of Elida, in Allen county, Ohio, was born in Preble county, Ohio, November 28, 1869, and is the fourth born in a family of eight chil- dren, of whom seven are yet living. His parents were Henry P. and Sarah J. (Renner) Davis, both of whom were natives of Butler county, Oho, where they grew to man and womanhood and there married. Mr. Davis, the father of our subject, was identified with agricultural interests for a time, but a few years later located in the adjoining county of Preble, where he continued the honored call- · ing as a tiller of the soil, rearing his family to man and womanhood, and teaching them many valuable lessons of industry and ecou- omy, bespie giving them the best school ad- ' there was sent to Troy, Ohio, where he re-
vantages to be obtained. Their family con- sisted of eight children, seven of whom are yet living, and are named as follows: Charles M., a farmer near Lapel, Ind .; Delilah J., wife of Elijah Wehrly, of El Dorado, Ohio; William H., a lumber merchant of Charleston, Tenn .; Frank L., the subject of this mention; Ida J., Fannie O. and Arthur P. at home with their parents, who are now residents of El Dorado, Ohio, and are highly esteemed citi- zens of the community in which they have lived for a number of years, and are known to be enterprising benevolent and most worthy citizens.
Frank L. Davis, the third son of his par- ents, was reared upon the home farm and edu- cated in the district schools, remaining under the parental roof until eighteen years of age. when he entered the telegraph office at the crossing of the Big Four (Cleveland, Cincin- nati, Chicago & St. Louis R R.) and Pan- handle (Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis R. R.), near New Madison, Darke county, Ohio, where he acquired the art, becoming a skillful and careful operator. He worked as an extra on the Chicago & Atlantic R. R., and then took a regular position on the Panhandle at Anderson, Ind., where he was stationed for a period of eight months, when he was transferred to the town of Elwood, Ind., a division of the Panhandle R. R., next being located at Galveston, Ind .. and from there was transferred to Kokomo, Ind., thence to New Castle Junction, and later to New Castle, Ind. Mr. Davis, while an oper- ator at New Castle Junction was united in marriage at Anderson, Ind., with Miss Alma E. Canan, the accomplished daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Canan, prominent residents of the town of Anderson. From New Castle, Mr. Davis was again transferred to Danville. Ill., operated there for the Big Four, and from
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