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 58
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Mr. Taft married Miss Jane Mel' rn in Baltimore, Md., at the home of her childhood, and to them nine children were born, as follows: Arnold, of Kossuth, Ohio, engaged in the mer- cantile business; J. H , the senior member of the Spencerville firin. but a resident of sidney, Ohio, where he has also a large mercantile house, as well as om at London; Mary wife of
HENRY J. MOENNIG.
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William Hogue, of Spencerville; James H., of Dunkirk and proprietor of the Taft hotel of , that place and also traveling salesman for a dry-goods house; Francis, of Columbus, Ohio; Robert V., the junior member of the Spencer- ville firm; Thadeus, a student at Lebanon, Ohio, and Addie and Lulu, at home. The men of the family are born business men, are full of energy, tact and ability, and success follows their undertakings. They dare to ven- ture and to risk, trusting to their good business judgment that they will come out all right. Kossuth was the scene of their first operation, and although their house here was destroyed by fire once, business was resumed. The firin speculated quite extensively in oil and is the owner of valuable property in Spencerville and Mendon, and also has a number of good oil wells in operation. Such men, enterprising and energetic as the Taft brothers, are of the kind that make the country rich and prosper- ous and the community alive and enlightened. -
ENRY J. MOENNIG, one of the lead- ing citizens of Delphos, Ohio, is a native of the kingdom of Hanover, and was born at Bohmte, on Jan- uary 15, 1830. He left Europe on September 3, 1843, landing at New Orleans in company with his parents, his grandfather and two sisters and two brothers coming in November of the same year. From New Orleans they came to Cincinnati, Ohio, the same month, where they all resided for about three months. From Cincinnati they moved to Piqua by canal. and then by wagon to Section Ten (now Del- phos), locating here March 2, 1844. With his parents he helped to cut down the original forest and clear up what is now the northeast part of the town, from Third and Main streets cast.
H. J. Moennig commenced clerking for i 20
Esch & Wrocklage on July 5, 1847, and con- tinued with that firm until October, 1852, and began general merchandising with Joseph Ostendorf under the firm of Ostendorf & Moen- nig the same month. He was elected clerk of Washington township, Van Wert county, April 6, 1857, and held the office until April, 1864, in all, seven years. He was elected treasurer of Washington township April 1, 1867, and held the office four terms. He also served as member of town council of Delphos three terms (1868-69-70), and again, in 1890, he was elected to the council, and served until 1894, representing, first, the Fifth ward, and the last time, the Third ward. April 1, 1895, he was elected clerk of Washington township, Van Wert county, to fill a vacancy, and April 6, 1896, was re-elected clerk for a full term.
He began business in 1852 and continued until the beginning of 1862, when he began the general merchandising business in October, under the firm name of Moennig & Wulfhort, near the southwest corner of Main and Second streets. In 1866 he put up the building on the corner of Main and Second streets, where Charles E. Shenk now holdsforth, and started in an exclusively hardware and agricultural business, under the firm name of H. J. Moen- nig & Co. This he continued until 1880, when he closed out hardware, and carried on agricultural business by himself until 1893. In 1875 he put up the building now occupied by the Delphos National bank, corner of Main and Second streets. He was a member of the council and treasurer of Saint John's Catholic church for several years and is a member of the Catholic Knights of America branch at Lima. Mr. Moennig was married on August 6, 1857, to Mary B. Bredeick, daughter of Ferdinand Bredeick, the original founder of the town, and brother of Rev. Father Bredeick, the founder of the Catholic church of Delphos, and also of Ottoville. To Mr. and Mrs. Moen-
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nig seven children have been born, as follows: Ferdinand H. C., traveling salesman for the D. Black Cloak company of New York; Eliza- beth B .; Agnes T .; Otto W .; Mary and Mar- garet, both dead; Henry, died in Cleveland, in July, 1892, at the age of twenty-three years.
H. J. Moennig has certainly proven himself to be an excellent business man and one fully worthy of the extensive patronage he now enjoys. That he has been a popular and efficient politician is also evident, and it would seem that he is a favorite with the voting population of Delphos, as may be judged from his successive elections to the offices he has so satisfactorily filled.
J OSEPH TAPSCOTT, one of the lead- ing and most progressive fariners of Perry township, Allen county, Ohio, was born on the homestead December 1, 1850, and here has passed all his life, be- coming thoroughly acquainted with the re- quirements of his vocation.
The grandfather of our subject, also nained Joseph, was a native of Monmouth county, N. J., and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He be- came an early settler of Warren county, Ohio. Jaines, the father of Joseph, purchased a tract of 800 acres of wild land, which he cleared up and from which he developed a good home; he reared a large and respected family, and divided his land among them. Joseph mar- ried Miss Annie Schenck, also a native of Monmouth county, N. J .- the Schenck fam- ily, until the present day, being numbered among the most prominent people of Mon- mouth county and other parts of southern New Jersey. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Tapscott were named James, Sal- lie (Mrs. Nelson Clark), William, Rachael (Mrs. Nathan Beals), Joseph, Mary (Mrs. Joseph DuBois), Mulford, Ellen (Mis. Joseph
Beard), and John -- all deceased excepting . Mrs. Beard.
James Tapscott, the eldest of this family, was born . in Warren county, Ohio, .in 1808, on his father's farm, where he remained until 1848, when he came to Allen county and set- tled on 200 acres of land which his father had entered in Perry township some years pre- viously. Here he cleared up a farm, on which he lived until he purchased a tract of 280 acres, now owned by his son Joseph, the sub- ject of this biography. The marriage of James Tapscott took place March 6, 1850, to Miss Maria Rankins, daughter of George Rankins, one of the pioneers of Perry township.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. James Tapscott were four in number, viz: Joseph, our subject; and Annie, James and an unl- named infant, all three deceased. Mr. Tap- scott was in politics a democrat, and was early elected township trustee, school direct - and to several township offices. He was an ener- getic and successful farmer and a prominent citizen, and died on his farm in 1884, a truly lamented and respected man. His widow still resides on the old farm, passing her declining years in quietude and respected by all who know her.
Joseph Tapscott, the subject proper of this mnemoir and the only survivor of the children born to James and Maria Tapscott, received a very good common-school education, and, as stated, was thoroughly instructed in the voca- tion of a farmer, in which he now stands with the most prominent in the township. Polit- ically he is a radical prohibitionist, and in re- ligion he adheres to the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is a trust e and steward; he is also a Patron of Husbandry, and is also one of the trustees of the Orphans' home of Allen county November 28, 1872, Mr. Tapscott was happily united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth A Crossky, daughter of
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Ross Crossley, of Lima, Ohio, and this union has been blessed by the birth of the following . children: Jessie, wife of William Hardesty; Augusta Mulford, and William. In addition to the handsome revenue Mr. Tapscott is deriv- ing from the skillful management of his well tilled farm, three producing oil wells on his premises, operated by the Delaware Oil com- pany, net him a steady and remunerative in- come. Mr. Tapscott is a factor in the prog- ress of Perry township and is recognized as a gentleman of unswerving integrity, in whom the community have never hesitated to place its fullest confidence.
George Rankins (deceased) was a native of Stafford county, Va., born September 1, 1797, was reared on a plantation, and at the early age of fifteen years entered the patriot army of the war of 1812. He was a son of John Rankins also a native of the Old Dominion and of Scotch-Irish extraction, but at what time the family first settled in Virginia is unknown. But it is certain that John Rankins lived and died in Stafford county, that state, that he was a planter, and that he married Isabel Byran, who became the inother of three children- Frankie, who was married to Benjamin Hutchi- son; Peter, deceased, and George, the sub- ject of this sketch. After the death of her husband Mrs. Isabel Rankins came to Ohio, and here passed the remainder of her life with her daughter, Mrs. Frankie Hutchison, in Clinton county.
In 1814 George Rankins came to Ohio and worked as a farm hand in Warren county, where he remained until 1839, when he came to Allen county and entered eighty acres of land in section No. 4, Perry township, which land he cleared, but later sold and in section No. 14 bought forty acres, which he also cleared up and converted into a comfortable homestead. He married Miss Wealthy .1. Funget, born May 14, 1800, a daughter of
John and Mary Tunget, of Stafford county, Va., and had born to him the following family: John, deceased; Maria, widow of James Tapscott, of whose life a full relation is made above; Mary, deceased; William, who mar- ried Anna Osman and died in Perry township, Allen county; Joshua, of Auglaize township, Allen county, and married to Mary Lane; Eliza, widow of. A. R. Krebs; Charlotta, wife of Adam Stoops, of Warren county, Ohio; Isabel, wife of Joseph Nealey, of Anglaize county, Ohio, and Joseph, deceased. The father of this large and respected family was one of the early trustees of Perry township, and in his integrity his fellow-citizens never failed to place their implicit trust. Mi. and Mrs. Rankins were devoted members of the Methodist church and early joined the congre- gation of Perry chapel, in the erection of which they assisted largely by a contribution of their means, and their own dwelling, for fourteen years before the building of this edi- fice, was the place of worship for the embryo congregation. In politics Mr. Rankins was a democrat and very active and successful in advancing the interests of his party, but often declined acceptance of nominations for public office. Mr. Rankins expired on his farm in Perry township July 14, 1881, and his widow died April 12, 1891, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. James Tapscott, the mortal re- mains of both now reposing side by side in the Perry chapel cemetery, Perry township, Allen county, Ohio.
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EWTON B. THRAPP, of Bluffton, Ohio, one of the oldest and most prominent of the pioneers of Putnam county, and an honored citizen, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, June 20, 1812. He is descended from the best of En-
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glish ancestry, who were among the early set- tlers of America.
William Thrapp, the grandfather of the subject, was a citizen of Maryland, and a fariner. There he married Frances Baker, by whom he became the father of the following children: Robert, Francis, William, John, Sarah, James and Samuel. These are all that are remembered. Mr. Thrapp removed to what is now West Virginia, and thence later to Muskingum county, Ohio, where he was one of the original pioneers. From Virginia to Ohio he packed his goods on horses' backs across the mountains, this being before there were even wagon roads across the country. In Muskingum county he passed the remainder · of his days, engaged in clearing and improving his farm. There is a tradition in this family that in the early settlement of this country, somewhere in the east, there was a boy lost for some time. He was at length found by some trappers and hunters in the woods. They gave the name "Trap" to this boy, and this is the origin of the name "Thrapp."
William Thrapp, third son of the above, and father of the subject of this sketch, moved with his father to Virginia, and thence to Muskingum county, Ohio, when a young man. He married Miss Rachael Camp, of that county, who was a daughter of Adam Camp. To Mr. and Mrs. Thrapp, there were born three children, viz: Newton B., Ann, and Lilbourn. The mother of these children died in Licking county, Ohio, to which county Mr. Thrapp had moved soon after his, marriage. There they settled on 120 acres of land, and in 1835 removed to Putnam county, being there among the pioneers. Mr. Thrapp set- tled on section No. 2, Riley township, and entered 160 acres of land. This he cleared and converted into a good farm, and by indus- try and good management, he was enabled to add other acres thereto, until at length he had
320 acres of fine farming land, thus becoming one of the most substantial farmers of his day. Having lost his first wife, Mr. Thrapp married, in Licking county, Miss Sarah Davidson, by whom he had the following children: Rachel, Elizabeth, Mary, George (who died at the age of eighteen), Margaret, Samuel (who died in infancy), and Sarah J., who also died in in- fancy. Mr. Thrapp was a soldier in the war of 1812-15. In politics he was a democrat up to the time of the formation of the republican party, and then he became a republican. He was one of the most highly esteemed citizens of Putnam county, was elected commissioner of that county twice, and besides heid the office of township trustee and other minor offices. He was a member of the Methodist Protestant church, and assisted to establish the church in his neighborhood, being one of the charter members. He lived to be seventy-five years old, and when he died left many friends in all parts of the county, who keenly felt his loss, for all recognized the fact that he was an honest, christian gentleman.
Newton B. Thrapp, the subject of this sketch, was born June 20, 1812, in Muskingum county, Ohio, and was taken to Licking comty by his father in 1820. He was about twenty- two years old when his father moved to the wilderness in Putnam county. Here he grew up among the pioneers, when there was only here and there a settler's clearing, these clear- ings being frequently miles apart. His educa- tion was obtained in the subscription schools, for this was before the common-school system of Ohio was established. When twenty-seven years of age, he married Miss Barbara Cham- bers, who was born May 5, 1815, in Mus- kingum county, and was the daughter of Matthew and Mary (Radabaugh) Chambers, they being respectively of Irish and of Penn- sylvania-Dutch descent. Mr. Chambers set- tled in Putnam county in 1838 first locating in
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Gilboa. where he kept a store for years. His children were Eliza, Barbara, Nancy, Mary, Bartholomew, Violet and Matthew. Mr Chambers was a soldier in the war of 1812, was a member of the Methodist Protestant church, was for his entire life an honored cit- izen, and died at the great age of eighty-seven.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Thrapp settled on section No. 1, of Riley township, Putnam county, on 120 acres of land, all in the woods. This he cleared of the heavy timber with which it was covered, and by hard work, industry and thrift, soon had a fine farm, which he enlarged to 160 acres. It is now well improved, has upon it good buildings, and Mr. Thrapp is one of the most substantial farmers of the county. He lived on this farm with his wife the unusually long period of half a century.
To Mr. and Mrs. Thrapp there have been born five children, viz: Milton, Rachel, Orville, Earl and Clara. Politically Mr. Thrapp was a democrat until 1856, when he voted for Gen. John C. Fremont for president, and he has been a republican ever since. He has been honored by his fellow-citizens by election to the office of township trustee and as a member of the school board. He was a strong Union man during the war, and sent two sons to fight for the government, both of whom were members of company D, Ninety- ninth Ohio volunteer infantry. They both en- listed at Findlay, Ohio, and were in many battles. Milton was shot at the battle of Chickamauga and died in the hospital from the effects of the wound, a young man about twenty-four years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Thrapp are Methodists in religion, and he assisted with his money to build the church in his township. In 1889 he removed to Bluffton, and retired from active life. He had up to that time al- ways been a hard-working man, and has always been highly respected by all that have
known him for his high and honorable charac- ter. While he has attained to the age of eighty-four years, yet his faculties are unim- paired and he wears no glasses except for the purpose of reading. He has a most remark- able memory, and from its storehouse supplied many of the facts for this sketch. He is a fair example of what industry can accomplish m the way of accumulating property, and also of the benefits of a temperate life. Highly cs- teemed by all who know him, he is passing the evening of his days in that ease combined with dignity, otium cum dignitate, which the old Roman philosopher so highly prized.
Orville B. Thrapp, son of Newton B. Thrapp, is a merchant of Bluffton, and an ex-soldier of the Civil war, was born February 14, 1844. He enlisted at Findlay, Ohio, in July, 1867. in company D, Ninety-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, for three years or during the war, and served with this regiment, and with the regi- ment after its consolidation with the Fiftieth Ohio volunteer infantry, until the close of the war. The principal battles in which he par- ticipated were as follows: Stone River, Chick- amanga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold, the battles of the Atlanta campaiga, Dalton, Pumpkinvine Creek, Taylor's Ridge, and the second battle of Nashville, beside numerous smaller engagements and skirmishes. Throughout the war he was always with his regiment, was always an active and faithful soldier, and was never sick, wounded nor taken prisoner. He was honorably discharged in July, 1865. After the war was over he re- turned to Putnam county, and on December 25, 1867, married Orpha D. Hall, who was born July 21, 1840, and is a daughter of Sani- nel and Martha (Wormesley) Hall. To this marriage there were born the following chin- dren: Daisy, Roy, Alma and Edwin A. The mother of these children died in March, 18 and on November 6, 188; Mr. Thrapp mar-
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ried Amelia McClafferty, a daughter of Thomas and Amelia (Harding) McClafferty. Mr. Thrapp is a member of Gilboa post, No. 75, G. A. R., and is a republican in politics. In 1892 he re- moved from Blanchard township to Bluffton, and here engaged in mercantile business, which he has since successfully followed. A brother of his, Milton E. Thrapp, was a soldier in the same company with himself, and was killed at Chickamauga September 20, 1863.
'RA M. TOWNSEND, one of the most substantial citizens of Bluffton, Allen county, founder and proprietor of the Townsend mill, sprang from an old colonial family of English Puritan stock. The father of the subject, Appleton Townsend, was a son of a Revolutionary soldier, was a native of Massachusetts, and was born Sep- tember 4, 1796. When a young man he went to northern New York, and there worked at his trades, being a stone mason and a plasterer. He married, in Franklin county, N. Y., Miss Roxie Fields, by whom he had the following children: Fannie, Charles, Levina, Harriet, Ira M., Rebecca and William, the last two being born in Knox county, Ohio, the others in the state of New York. In 1841 he re- moved to Knox county, Ohio, and lived in Mount Vernon, and in Centerburg until he removed to Allen county in 1845, settling in Richland township on a farm, cultivating his farm and also working at his trades so long as he lived, his death occurring August 22, 1858. He was a most industrious man, honest in his character, and of well known integrity.
Ira M. Townsend, the subject of this sketch, was born November 19, 1833, in Franklin county, N. Y. He received bnt a limited edu- cation in his youth, what he has learned being by his own efforts, through careful observation and private reading. When he was but eight
years old he was brought to Ohio by his par- ents, and here he learned the saddler's trade, in Knox and in Hardin counties. He worked at his trade in Bluffton for twelve years, hav- ing located in that city in June, 1852. He was married at Jamestown, N. Y., October 29, 1852, to Catherine Thompson, born in the state of New York, September 15, 1835, and daughter of Harvey and Laura (Cole) Thomp- son. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend settled in Bluff- ton soon after their marriage and have lived their ever since. They are the parents of eight children, as follows: Charles E., Ida MI., ' Frank, Hugh, Orrin E., Levantia, Peter and Carrie. These children are all now deceased, with the exception of Charles E., who married Minerva Arbuthnot; Orrin E., married to Jennic Hall, and Levantia, married to A. E. Swinehart.
In 1853 and 1854 Mr. Townsend engaged in the milling business in partnership with N E. Woodford, carrying a half-interest in the mill, but not being actively engaged in the business. In 1856 he took an active part in the management, and was thus engaged for one year, and since then he has been in busi- ness either by himself or in partnership with his sons or son-in-law. In 1881 the mill was blown up by an explosion, and Mr. Townsend erected another one in its place. In 1887 the mill was burned down, and he then erected his present inill on the same spot. His sons, Charles and Orrin E. were in partnership with him for about ten years, and at the present time his son-in-law, A. E. Swinehart, is his partner, and the firm does a large business in hardwood lumber, being large shippers, and standing high in business circles. Mr. Towns- end was in the lumber business in Michigan for two years, 1865 and 1866, but otherwise he has been in business in Bluffton. In poli- tics lie is a republican and has served as a member of the town council and also as a
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member of the school board, in each position for a number of years. He is a member of Bluffton lodge, I. O. O. F., and has filled all the chairs, including that of noble grand. Both Mr. and Mrs. Townsend are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has always assisted with his means to support the church, as he did to erect it in the first place. Beside his mill property and his residence in Bluffton, Mr. Townsend owns a farm in Ne- braska, and also one in Indiana. He has a very pleasant home and in all respects is a worthy and highly esteemed citizen of Allen county.
ENRY E. TURNER, junior partner in the favorite mercantile firm of Lohman & Turner, at West Newton, Allen county, was born in Hardin county, Ohio, January 27, 1862, where he re- ceived a very good common-school education and was reared on his father's farm.
Alexander Turner, great-grandfather of Henry E., was a native of Virginia, of German descent, and married Nancy Phillips, of the same state, and both passed away their lives in the Old Dominion. Their son, John Turner, grandfather of our subject, was born in Lou- doun county, Va., July 8, 1810, and in 1833 married in Harrison county (now W. Va.), Lucy Bartlett, who was born in that county May 30, 1815. In 1839 he brought his little family to Ohio and settled among the pioneers, and in the wilderness of Auglaize township, Allen county, carved out a farm from the primitive forest and died, an honored early set- tler, April 15, 1868. Starling B. Turner, son of John Turner and father of Henry E. Turner, was born in Allen county, Ohio, was reared to farming, and in 1861 married Maria Monfort, daughter of Henry and Catherine (Staley)
Monfort, this union resulting in the birth of Henry E., our subject. In August, 1862, Mr. Turner bade farewell to his young wife and child and volunteered, in defense of the honor of his country's flag, in company B, Forty-fifth Ohio volunteer infantry, and met an untimely death in the rebel prison-stockade at Ander- sonville. His widow subsequently married William Lohman, to which union have been born four children, viz: Eva M., John A., Earnest M. and Arda R.
Henry E. Turner, the gentleman with whose name this memoir is opened, dates the happy event of his marriage from December 20, 1884. The bride, whose maiden name was Florence A. Williams, was born in Au- glaize township, Allen county, Ohio, Decem- ber 26, 1863, and is a daughter of William and Mary E. (Morrow) Williams. The father of this lady was a prominent farmer of the town- ship, was a factor in public affairs, and died February 22, 1890. His widow, a highly re- spected lady, still resides on the oid farm. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Turner resulted in the birth of two children, only -- VInam H., deceased, and Starling B. Mr. and Mrs. Turner are members of the Baptist church, Mr. Turner being superintendent of the Sab- bath-school. In politics Mr. Turner is a re- publican, and through the favor in which lie stands with his party is now filling the office of township trustee. He owns a good farm of 148 acres, and through his industry and ju- dicious management of his capital has placed himself beyond the reach of the gaunt wolf that at times howls proverbially at the door of the less fortunate. In his business as a gen- eral merchant he has met with phenomenal success through his urbane manners and a manifest disposition to please his patrons, and a fair, square, upright method of dealing that never fails to bring prosperity -the inevitable result of honesty.
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