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 40
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November 17, 1886, being ther but a few | months over twenty-five years of age, and he was at that time the youngest probate judge in Ohio. In the fall of 1887, and again in the fall of 1890, he was re-elected as probate judge for the full term of three years cach. He retired from office February 9, 1894, hav- ing served seven years and three months. Notwithstanding his age his administration of the office was entirely satisfactory to all con- cerned, as was evidenced by his re-election, a most flattering testimonial of his worth and ability being accorded him on his last election, when he ran about 800 votes ahead of his ticket.
Upon retiring from office Judge Lindemann, returned to Delphos and became the junior member of the law firm of Reeve & Lindemann. In addition to his professional busmess, Judge Lindemann is a member of the board of direct- ors of the Delphos National bank, also of the Delphos Savings & Loan Association company, of which institutions the firm of Reeve & Lin- demann are the attorneys.
Judge Lindemann was married on the tith day of October, 1882, to Miss Rosa H., the daughter of the late Prof. Joseph Limbach, then the principal of the German department of the Delphos public schools, and later a . special United States pension examiner, at Washington, D. C., when his death occurred December 4, 1893 To this union four chil- dren have been born, as follows; Gertrude C., born March 16, 1884; Clarence J., born May 2, 1886; Arthur F., born December 3, 1887, and Jolin Alexander, born January 22, 1890. Judge Lindemann and wife are members of the Saint John's Roman Catholic church. Judge Lindemann is a self-made man, and the flattering success he has met with so far in life . has been achieved solely by his own efforts, energy and enterprise. His publ'e career has been uniformly successful, if not brilliant. For
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a number of years he was a member of the democratic county central committee and ex- ecutive committee of Allen county, and was chairman of both committees during the cam- paign of the fall of 1893.
J OSEPH S. LONG, one of the old and substantial farmers of Auglaize town -. ship, Allen county, was born in Rich- land county. Ohio, September 5, 1829. His paternal great-grandfather came from Germany and settled near Philadelphia in a very early day, and his son, John, grandfather of our subject, who was born on this original farm, removed when still a young man to Hagerstown. Md., where he married Susan Leedy, the union resulting in the birth of twenty-one children. He later removed his family to Knox county, Ohio, cleared up a farm of 100 acres from the woods, and accu- mulated a competency for Ins support in his old age. He and his wife were probably charter members of the first German Baptist congregation in Knox county, in which faith both died. highly respected by the old pioneers. John Long, father of our subject, was born in Maryland, and later in life settled in Ohio. where he married, but died in Indiana.
Joseph S. Long was early inured to a life on a farm and lived with Henry Miller until the age of sixteen. He received a good common- school education in the log school house of his early dav, and achieved quite a local reputa- tion as an expert at spelling. March 29, 1857, he married Sarah Ann Guthrie, a daughter of Thomas Guthrie. This lady's grandfather was a native of Pennsylvania and her grand- mother was born in Licking county, Ohio, where their marriage took place. Shortly after this event occurred, Mr. and Mrs. Guth- rie removed from Licking to Allen county, when the latter was but a wilderness, and here
Mr. Gutherie entered an eighty-acre tract in Auglaize township, where he died. In 1849 Mr. Long settled in Auglaize township; in 1858 he purchased fifty acres of his present farm. He passed through the usual routine of the pioneer farmer-erecting a log cabin and cultivating but a small farm of about fifty acres, liis neighbors occupying similar cabins with wide intervals between, but by industry, economy and good management he has suc- ceeded in acquiring a well cultivated farm of 173 acres, improved with a two-story modern dwelling, and finds himself no longer in a wilderness, but within half a mile of a busy little village-Harrod. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Long were named as follows: William I., deceased; Lucinda J., wife of George Turner; Idelia H., married to F. M. Blair; Ulysses S .; Henry W ; Carlton and Samuel J .- all married except Samuel J
In politics Mr. Long is a very prominent and influential republican-voting as he shot, for he was a brave and faithful soldier, as will soon be discovered. He has served as town- ship assessor two terms, as township trustee for several years, as township treasurer for eight years, as supervisor for ten or fifteen years, and was for twenty-five years school di- rector-holding often as many as three offices at a time. On one occasion he was nominated in county convention by acclamation for county auditor, but was beaten at the polls by 600 votes, yet reducing the democratic majority about 1,000. In religion Mr. and Mrs. Long are Universalists, and fraternallv Mr. Long is a past commander of Dexter Gilbert post, G. A. R., of LaFayette, Ohio, by the members of which he is highly respected.
September 12, 1864, Mr. Long left behind his wife and two children and enlisted in com- pany FF, Thirty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, and took part in the campaigns through Ken- tucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and North
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Carolina. He was in the famous march to the sea of over 400 miles in thirty-nine days, skir- mishing, or under fire, the entire distance. He fought at Clear Springs and at Bentonville, and was twice struck by musket balls in the right leg, necessitating amputation. He was treated in hospital at Goldsboro, N. C., then at New Berne, N. C., and David's island, N. Y. He received an honorable discharge June 27, 1865, and returned home to his wife and children and a host of friends. Mr. Long is well and widely known throughout Allen county, especially among the boys who wore the blue, and is respected as a hard-working citizen who | has devoted his life of toil to securing a home for himself and family, and his many friends have taken a keen delight in honoring him with every office within the gift of the residents of his township, and in otherwise showing the esteem in which they hold him.
OSES H. LONG, one of the leading and prominent men of Elida, was born in Clermont county, Ohio, March 7, 1847, and is a son of Enoch and Elizabeth (Robinson) Long, both natives of the southern part of the state. Enoch Long was a farmer, and, like his father, the Rev. Frederick Long, formerly of North Carolina, was a local minister in the Method- ist Episcopal church, in the faith of which he died in 1861.
located on a farm in Marion township, occupy- ing his time on the farm in the summer season and teaching school in the winter. The land belonged to the Long estate, but he and his brother purchased it and added to it until they owned a tract of 175 acres in a body, which they divided and on which Moses resided until 1884, when he removed to Elida, on account of his official connection with the Allen County Mutual Relief association (a local insurance company), the duties of which consumed so much of his time that it necessitated a change of residence. He was chosen secretary of the above-named company, in which responsible capacity he served for .eleven years succes- sively, but, when he engaged in the grain busi- ness, in 1887, he soon withdrew from his posi- tion in order to give his entire attention to his new field of work. After operating three years he erected a new plant, in 1890, at the foot of Warehouse street, where he success- fully handled a large volume of grain, hay and seeds, being centrally located in the midst of a very fertile district and wealthy community, and where he enjoyed the confidence of his fellow-citizens. The capacity of his elevator is 10,000 bushels, and is operated by steam power. In the spring of 1895 he sold his plant to S. D. Crites and bought of A. E. Clutter a one-half interest in a line of elevators located along the Chicago & Eric railroad, in Ohio and Indiana, the firm being Clutter & Long, with headquarters at Lima, Ohio, where they are operating in grain, hay and seeds.
Moses H. Long, for whom this sketch is written, was one of a family of six children, as follows: John R., Frederick (died in in- Mr. Long was married October 17, 1872, to Miss Clara Cochran, of Allen county, a danghter of William R. and Eliza Cochran. She died March 15, 1889, leaving the husband and two children, Ellis R. and Delbert W . to mourn her loss. Mr. Long was united to his present wife May 12, 1891. She was a Miss fancy), Charity A. (deceased), Isaac N. (de- ceased), Moses H., and William C. Moses HI. was reared a farmer in southern Ohio, attended the district school and enjoyed the advantage of a year's schooling at the Mulberry seminary in Clermont county. At the age of nineteen he came with a brother to Allen county and . Elizabeth Stemen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
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Peter Stemen; two children have been born to their union-Eminet S., now living, and an infant deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Long are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and faithful workers in the Sunday-school, Mr. Long having served as superintendent during the time he resided there except two years. His son Delbert is a graduate of the Elida high school, receiving his diploma when but seventeen years old. He is now in the employ of the firm of which his father is a member in an elevator in Lima, Ohio. Ellis R., the elder son, is located in Los Angeles, Cal., operating in the grain, feed and coal trade. It is to such families as Mr. Long represents that the town and the county have their stand- ing as among the first and best in the state.
HOMAS C. LONG, one of the pro- gressive, industrious young farmers of Allen county, Ohio, was born in Sugar Creek township, that county, April 23, 1853. He is a son of Christopher and Keturah (Miller) Long, who died within about eight months of each other, the father dying in 1862, the mother previously. Christopher Long was in politics a democrat, and one of the leading members of the Christian church. He was also greatly interested in the work of the Sunday-school, and was an excellent man in every way. His death, at so early an age, was a great loss to the community, for he was charitably disposed, and always ready to help any enterprise calculated to benefit his county. Christopher and Keturah Long were the parents of eight children, all living but two, that died m infancy. Those living are as fol- e DWIN E. McCALL, M. D., a rising young physician of Lima, Ohio, was born at Euclid in Betler county, Pa., September 7, 1866, and is a son lows: Nancy A., wife of Amos Wroten, of Kenton, Ohio; William D., a fireman of Lima, Ohio; Thomas C .; Jackson M., a farmer of German township, Allen county; James W., | of Samuel R. and Nancy C. (Thompson) Mc-
a resident of Monroe township, and Pierce D., a resident of German township.
Thomas C. Long was educated in his youth in the public schools, and was brought up to farm life and labor, thus acquiring much knowledge useful to him in his subsequent career, as well as physical health and strength. From the time of the death of his parents he was bound out to service until he became eighteen years of age, when he was thrown upon his own resources without a dollar in the world. But he had industry and energy, and with a will went to work by the month on a farm, which he continued until 1876, when he married Miss Mary Benedum, and settled down upon his own farm, which he had purchased a few months previously, the farm consisting of thirty-six acres, at that time, in sections Nos. 28 and 29, German township. To this original farm he has added from: time to time other acres, until at the present time he owns, in one body, 1173 acres. In 1877 he began doing work for the county, making turnpike roads, at which he continued until 1894, a period of seventeen years, during which time he made as much as, if not more, turnpike road than any other man in the county. In 1876 he opened on his farm a fine stone quarry, which he has since operated and which has yielded a neat income. He has the best crushing outfit in the county, erected at a cost of $4, 500. He also carries on general farmning, and is generally recognized as a leading citizen. Politically he is a democrat. He and his wife have a family of five children, viz: Wardella, Thomas W., John, Harvey and Amos.
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Call, both of whom were natives of Pennsyl- vania. The ancestry of Samuel R. McCall . came to this country from Scotland in early colonial times, while the ancestry of Mrs. Mc- Call, the Thompson family, came from the north of Ireland. On both sides of the family the parents were Presbyterians. . Samuel R. McCall is a farmer and lumber dealer at Euclid. Pa., and managed to keep all his sons busily employed during their boyhood days, although he encouraged them all in securing an education.
Edwin E. McCall, M. D., received the ru- diments of his education in the common schools of Butler county, and afterward attended the academy at West Sunbury, that county, four years, teaching during the winter seasons. In 1889 he removed to Wood county, Ohio, was there engaged in the oil business as gauger. and was interested in the production of oil until the fall of 1891, when, having determined to make the practice of medicine his life-call- ing, he went to Baltimore, Md., and there studied medicine until April 18, 1894, when he was graduated with honor from the Balti- more Medical college. In July following he located at Lima, Ohio, and has been engaged there ever since in the practice of his profes- sion with steadily increasing success. Dr. McCall is a republican in politics and frater- nally is a Knight of Pythias, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Protected Home Circle. He is of an unusually pleasant and genial dis- position, makes friends easily among all classes of the people, is a welcome guest in any home circle, and is the life of any social gathering where he is present. He is a ready con- versationlist and never at a loss for a subject for pleasant discussion. He is free and off-handed in manner, courteous and kind, gay in humor, and while witty and quick at repartee, yet his wit is never caustic or sarcas- tic, but always good-natured, and designed to
illustrate and enliven rather than to wound the feelings or to make others seem of slight ac- count. While Mr. McCall has little to say about himself, it is evident that he is possessed of a good deal of independence, as his educa- tion and start in his profession were attained by his own energy and industry, having re- ceived financial aid from no one. There can be little if any doubt that Dr. McCall has in store a brilliant and successful career.
ILLIAM McCOMB, JR .-- Varied ex- perience is of value to all who would succeed in business, and this kind of experience has fallen to the lot of Mr. McComb, the subject of this brief narration. Mr. McComb was born in Rock- land county, N. Y., January 29, 1851. His parents were William and Sarah (Sands) Mc- Comb, who removed to Ohio in 1862, locating in Lima, where the former now resides, the latter having died November 7, 1887.
William McComb was not quite twelve years of age when his parents removed to Ohio, so that most of his education was re- ceived in this state. After leaving the public schools of Lima he served three years' ap- prenticeship as an iron molder in the Lima Machine works, and then took a commercial course of study in A. D. Wilt's college at Day- ton, Ohio, and then acted as deputy postmas- ter under Cornelius Parmenter for three years. His time in this position having expired, he engaged in the grocery business on the north- west corner of the public square, where he re- mained two years, after which he was again employed for a short time in the shop in 1878. Then he became city agent for the Gazette for four years. In 1884 he was nominated as the republican candidate for mayor of the city, and elected by a majority of 526. He was re- elected in 1886, again in 1888, and again,
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after the lapse of one term, in 1892. In 1890 he became the agent for several insurance companies-the British America, Phoenix of Brooklyn, Teutonia of Dayton, Ohio, Amer- ican of New Jersey; Rhode Island Underwrit- ers' Association, New Hampshire of Manches- ter, California, Glenn Falls, etc., and the in- surance business he conducted while he was mayor of the city, until the expiration of his term in 1894. He is now engaged in the real estate business as well as the insurance busi- ness, and attends to life as well as fire insur- . ance, being agent for the .Etna of Hartford, Conn .; the Standard Accident of Detroit; the Hartford Steamboiler Insurance company; the Delaware of Pennsylvania, the Western of Toronto, etc.
Mr. McComb was married in Lima, Feb- ruary 7, 1879, to Miss Frances E. Bitner, who was born in Cumberland county, Pa., and who is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. McComb is a republican in pol- itics, and fraternally is an Odd Fellow and a member of the society of Elks. That the sub- ject of this sketch is one of the popular young men of Lima has been sufficiently indicated by what has been written of him -- his election to the office of mayor of his city for four separate terms, and his carrying on the insurance busi- ness for so many different companies, proving this truth to a demonstration, for popular favor is distinctly shown by such facts as these.
AVID McPHERRON, one of the most successful agriculturists of Perry township, Allen county, Ohio, is the eleventh child of a family of fourteen children born to William and Jane ( McCamish) McPherron, of whom further mention will be made a little further on, thus permitting a few remarks touching the ancestral history of the subject of this sketch.
James McPherron, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Ireland, prob- ably of the northern part of that island, and undoubtedly of Scottish extraction, as his name would imply. However, he came to America prior to the revolt of the colonies against the tyranny of the British government, and settled in Greene county, Tenn., bringing with him his wife and three children who were born in the old country, he having there married and having had born to him the following children -some of Irish birth and some of American nativity: James, John, Robert, William and a daughter, Betsey, who was married to David Logan.
William McPherron, father of our subject, was born in 1781, doubtless in Tennessee, where he learned the blacksmith's trade, which for many years he carried on in connection with the making of gun-barrels, at which he was an expert, and also engaged in farming and distilling while still a resident of Tennes- see. In 1835 he came to Ohio and located a mile and a half east of the village of Liberty, then in Champaign county, but, by division of territory, now in Montgomery county, where he followed his trade for two years, and then, in 1837, came to Allen county purchased eighty acres of land in section No. 10, Perry township, and here laid the foundation of a fortune. He first erected his blacksmith shop, then cleared up his farm, which he wrought out from the wilderness and made to " blossom as the rose." He made a name and fame for himself throughout the surrounding country as a gunmaker and was probably the best black- smith that the township of Perry saw for many years. As a farmer he had few equals, and no one, in that early day, was more active than he in advancing the interests of his township. In politics a democrat, he served his fellow-citizens as townsinp trustee, and was a most public-spirited citizen in all
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respects. In religion he was an adherent of the New School Baptists, and in that faith he died on his farm in 1844, la- niented and honored by his family and an ex- tended circle of friends. The children who blessed the prolific union of William and Jane (McCamish) McPherron were named in order of birth as follows: James, who died in Illinois; Elizabeth was married to David Logan and died in Indiana; William also died in Indiana; Margaret, who became the wife of William Goetz, ended her days, also, in the state of Indiana; John died in Dayton, Ohio; Thomas died in Indiana; Samuel died in Miami county, Ohio; Susan, wife of Samuel Crossley, died in Perry township, Allen county, Ohio; Andrew, the ninth child, died in Indiana; George died in Perry township, Allen county, Ohio; David is still living in the township last mentioned; where Alexander, the twelfth child, passed away his life; Martha, now Mrs. Wilson, is a resident of Terre Haute, Ind., where the four- teenth child, Mary A., ended her days, the wife of Henry Lippincott.
David McPherron. the subject of this memoir, was born October 12, 1823; in Greene county, Tenn., and came with his father to Ohio in 1835, and, being a mere lad at that time, received the greater part of his education in the pioneer schools of Tennessee-log struc- tures that they were, but filled with a spirit of struggling ambition to acquire knowledge. He was early inured to the toil of farm life, be- came a thorough agricultorist, and on reaching his majority purchased the home farm and fihally cared for his beloved mother until her death in 1854. He then purchased forty acres in Perry township, which he cleared up and turned into a neat and comfortable farm, but did not long hold his residence there, as he chose to go to Indiana, where he bought 130 acres in the northern part of the state, and also purchased 360 acres across the border line in
Michigan. After a residence of four years in Indiana, however, he returned to Ohio and purchased a farm of eighty acres in Perry town- ship, Allen county, and here has since made his home.
The first marriage of Mr. McPherron was with Miss Mareitta P. Lippencott, who died March 10, 1869, -leaving three children, viz: Morgan; Elizabeth, wife of John Scott, and Rillia, wife of John Burgess. The second choice of Mr. McPherron as a helpmate was Mrs. Mary Logan, who bore the maiden name of Graham, and whom he married in 1870. In his politics Mr. McPherron has always been a democrat, and by that party has been elected to fill all, or nearly all, the offices of his town- ship; in religion the Christian church recog- nizes in him a true and faithful member. In his farming industry he has always made a success, although for several years he added brick-making to his agricultural pursuits, and from that industry also derived a handsome income. He is to-day one of the most promi- nent citizens of Perry township, which he has seen developed from a wilderness into a cen- tral home of modern civilization, this happy consummation being the result, to a great ex- tent, of his own personal efforts.
J AMES B. McWILLIAMS, M. D., the eminent young physician and surgeon of LaFayette, Jackson township, Allen county, Ohio, was born in Walker county, Ga., June 15, 1861, and is of Scotch descent.
John McWilliams, grandfather of the doc- tor, was a native of South Carolina, where he was reared to manhood. He was one of the earliest pioneers of Chattooga county, Ga., where he was engaged in mercantile business even before the Cherokee Indians had been removed to the west from their reservation,
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but later he removed to Walker county, in the same state, re-engaged in merchandising and became a prominent and influential citizen. He hauled all his merchandise from Savannah by wagon, and was a typical pioneer merchant. He died in the faith of the Baptist church, and his remains were interred in Chattooga county.
William Mc Williams, son of John McWill- iams and father of Dr. J. B. McWilliams, was born in Chattooga county, Ga., in 1839. but has been identified with Walker county, Ga., nearly all his life, as a farmer and merchant near Greenbush. He first married Miss Sallie Little, daughter of William and Rebecca (Young) Little, the sole issue of this family being Dr. J. B. McWilliams, the sub- ject of this sketch. This lady died in 1861. a devoted member of the Baptist church. The second marriage of William Mc Williams was with Nannie Neal, and to this union have been born Willie and Mary, both deceased; Lee, Shelby, Gina, Lula, Robert and Reece. During the recent civil strife, William Mc.Will- iams enlisted in the First Georgia regiment, Confederate States army, and participated, among other battles, in those of Chickamauga and Fort Donelson, and for meritorious con- duct was commissioned captain. On his re- turn home he resumed his former vocations of farmer and merchant, and accumulated a coni- fortable competency. He is a prominent and respected citizen, is a deacon in the Baptist church, and has given much attention to the education of his children.
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