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 63
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John C. Cronley is a son of Martin and Jane (Lingrel) Cronley, both natives of county Kildare, Ireland. The parents of Martin Cron- ley were Patrick and Elizabeth Cronley who emigrated from their native country in 1845, bringing with them their children, and settling in West Liberty, Logan county, Ohio. In this connty they lived until 1850, when they re- moved to Washington township, Union county, where Mr. Cronley purchased a tract of land containing 120 acres, which he cleared in part, cultivated and converted into a farm. His life upon this farm was that common to the early pioneer, devoted to the removal of surplus timber, the erection of farin buildings, b: ild- ing of fences, draining the land, caring for cattle and other kinds of stock usually found upon a farm, and in the rearing and education of his children, to whom, as in common with his nationality, he was much devoted. His death occurred in 1854, when he was sixty years of age.
Patrick Cronley and his good wife, Eliza- beth, were the parents of three sons-Michael, at Mount Victory, Ohio; Patrick, now de- ceased; and Martin. Patrick died in 1888 at Zanesfield, Ohio; his wife is still living on the old homestead near Zanesfield. Martin Cron- ley, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Kildare county, Ireland, in 1830, and came with his parents to Logan county, Ohio, living with them until he arrived at the age of twenty-one. For some time afterward he lived
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in Union county, Ohio, but later returned to Logan county. In 1860 he purchased a farm in Union county of some sixty acres, and in 1893 removed to Kenton, Hardin county, Ohio, where he now resides, and where he is living retired from the active cares and duties of life. Mr. Cronley was married, in 1854. to Jane Lingrel, by whom he became the father of four children, viz: John C., the subject of this sketch; James, of Columbus, Ohio; Arabella, widow of Daniel Lynch, and Edward, of Ken- ton, Ohio. At the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion Mr. Cronley, in common with many other naturalized citizens of this country, believing in the union of the states, and de- termined that the union should not be broken up, enlisted in the service of the government, and became a member of company B (Myers' battery), of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and served therein one year. Later, in 1862, he enlisted in company F, Forty-first Ohio volunteer in- fantry, and in that organization served until the battle of Nashville, Tenn., in which he was wounded, and upon his recovery from this wound he was discharged. During his term of service, beside the battle of Nashville, he participated in the battles at Shiloh, Franklin and Columbia. Mr. Cronley is now a member of Taylor post, G. A. R., at Rich- wood, Ohio, and in matters of politics he affiliates with the democratic party, always assisting to the extent of his ability, means and time, to its success. In religion Mr. Cron- ley is a Catholic, but accords to all the right to unite with, or not, as they please, any christian or other denomination.
John C. Cronley the immediate subject of this relation, was born March 31, 1858, at East Liberty, Logan county, Ohio. He was reared in Union and Hardin counties, and re- ceived the rudiments of his education in the public schools of those two counties. After- ward he attended the Ohio Normal university
of Ada, Hardin county, graduating therefrom July 23, 1885. In 1878 he began teaching school, and taught in the public schools of Union, Hardin and Allen counties for a num- ber of years, with uniform and gratifying suc- cess, and in 1886 he received a life certificate from the Ohio state board of school examiners. In 1887 he removed to Lima, and became principal of the Grand Avenue public school, which position he filled until 1891, when he was elected to his present office, that of sur- veyor of Allen county. Politically Mr. Cron- ley is a pronounced democrat, and though holding office at the present time he is not an office seeker. Fraternally he is a member of Bluffton lodge, No. 371, I. O. O. F., of the Ohio encampment of Lima, and also of canton Orion. At one time he was a member of the Knights of Labor organization. In his relig- ious convictions Mr. Cronley is a Methodist, and lives a consistent christian life.
The wife of Mr. Cronley, previous to her marriage, was Miss Nancy Owens, daughter of James Owens of Richland township, Allen county. Mr. and Mrs. Cronley are the parents of four children, viz: Mary, Van Edward Sarah and Florence. Mr. Cronley is a member of the Ohio society of Surveyors & Civil Engineers, and takes an active interest in all matters per- taining to civil engineering.
a ARL A. JETTINGER, one of Ohio's accomplished and enterprising jour- nalists, and proprietor of the Deiphos Kleeblatt, is a native of Delphos, and was born May 4, 1870. His father, Rudolph Jettinger, was born May 6, 1848, at Zoebingen, kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, and died November 9, 1885, at Delphos, Ohio; his mother, Marie Catharine Jettinger, nee Alt- staetter, was born December 10, 1846, at Koenig, grand-dukedom Hessen-Darn.stadt,
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Germany, and is yet living. His grandparents were highly educated people, his father's father " being an apothecary, who had received a col- lege education in Germany; his paternal grand- mother had also attended the high schools in Germany, and their brothers were mostly teachers and priests. His maternal grand- father was a school-teacher by profession, but in this country preached for German Lutheran congregations for many years, and also taught music, while his wife was the daughter of a school-teacher.
Carl A. Jettinger is the eldest of five chil- dren, of whoin four are yet living. When thir- teen years old he received a position as clerk in a grocery, and two years later in salesroom of a woolen-mill; then for a short time was foreman of the packing department of the Synvita Co., patent medicine manufacturers; next for several years was book-keeper in the Commercial bank, which position he lost on account of trickery on the part of the cashier, but one year later was employed by the bank to examine books of the same cashier, the lat- ter having died and being short in his accounts $16,000 of $18,000. After leaving the bank in the spring of 1889, he was for several months book-keeper in the office of the Natural & Artificial Gas company, and in the fall of the same year was persuaded by a friend to estab- lish a German newspaper with him; the "friend," however, withdrew from the enter- prise before the first number of the paper ap- peared, and our subject (then nineteen years old) proceeded alone, having, by doing job printing on a small hand press, saved about $80. The initial number of the Kleeblatt ap- peared in December, 1889, as a six-column folio, has since been enlarged several times, and is at present twice as large, and (at $1 per year) is probably the cheapest German local paper in the world. Mr. Jettinger, during the first two years, was hardly able to make a
living out of the newspaper business, but by " keeping everlastingly at it," and by close at- tention to business, succeeded in working up the largest circulation of any paper published in Delphos, and also has the best equipped job printing office in the city.
cCULLOUGH FAMILY. -- The most authentic data we have relating to the Mccullough family, of Lima, Ohio, is their entrance into Ireland when Oliver Cromwell made his invasion. They settled at a place called Upper Bally- sillan, supposed to be in the neighborhood of Belfast, where they have lived for generations and from them have sprung the Mcculloughs of America.
Two brothers, Samuel and Thomas Mc- Cullough, natives of Ireland, born near Bel- fast, in 1750, came to America about 1772. . They settled in Washington county, Pa. Thomas entered the army and was killed in one of the Indian fights in that county, and was buried upon the battle field. His body was subsequently taken up by his brother and buried in the Presbyterian churchyard, at Pigeon Creek, Washington county, Pa. He never married. M. H. Mccullough, grandson of the above Samuel Mccullough, has now an heirloom much prized by him, it being a letter dated Belfast, Ireland, 1774, written to his grandfather, Samuel Mccullough, and brother, Thomas Mccullough.
Samuel Mccullough was the progenitor of of the Ohio Mcculloughs. He took up or en- tered 150 acres of land in Amwell township, Washington county, Pa., May 11, 1785 and November 16, 1787, fifty-six acres more. There he cleared a farm and spent the balance of his life. He married Margaret Pettigrew, whose parents were of Scotch-Irish extraction, and settled in Washington county, Pa., among
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the pioneers. By this union the following children were born: Thomas, who settled in Trumbull county, Ohio; John, who settled in the same county; Elizabeth, who married Thomas Chambers; Margaret, who married John Lyne, and died in Guernsey county, Ohio; Sarah, who married John Chambers, and died near Mansfield, Richland county, Ohio; Mary, who married William Vance, and died in Knox county, Ohio; Samuel and James, who remained on the homestead, where they spent their lives until 1835, when James moved to Allen county, where he resided the remain- der of his life. Mr. Mccullough, Sr., died in 1814, his wife dying in 1825; both were buried in the Presbyterian churchyard, at Pigeon Creek, Washington county, Pa.
James McCullough, the youngest son and child of Samuel Mccullough, Sr., was born May 1, 1793, upon the homestead in Amwell township, Washington county, Pa .. and died July 29, 1857, aged sixty-four years. He re- ceived such education as could be obtained in the log school-house of those days, was reared a fariner, and remained on the home farm un- til June 18, 1835, when he removed his family to Perry township, Allen county, Ohio, where he settled upon 300 acres of land which he had purchased the year previous. And at the same time he also entered, in Perry township, Allen county, 160 acres and eighty acres in Sugar Creek township. The 300 he purchased and settled upon are now within the limits of Bath and Ottawa townships. He cleared 100 acres of the first 300 entered, built his dwelling, where he spent the balance of his life and reared his family. Mr. Mccullough was well known throughout the county as a man who was deeply interested in its development. In his political views he was an ardent democrat. but neither sought nor would hold public of- tice. In his religions convictions he was a lite-long Presbyterian, connecting himself with
the First Presbyterian church, of Lima, after his coming to Allen county. He was three times married. His first wife was Margaret, daughter of Hugh and Elizabeth (Hillis) Dob- bins. Hugh Dobbins, the father, was killed May. 18, 1818, by the falling of a tree on his farm in Trumbull county, during a storm.
Mrs. McCollough, wife of James McCol- lough, died November 19, 1837. By this union six children were born, as follows: Mathew H., of Lima, Ohio; Elizabeth, who married John Lee, died 1885, the mother of three children, of whom Homer Lee, of the Homer Bank Note company, of New York, is the only one living; Samuel C. married Sa- mantha Blue; he died in 1888 on the home- stead, near Lima, leaving two daughters -- Mrs. James Fisk and Mrs. Edward Baker, both residing on the homestead; Aurilla married Peter Faze, and died November 25, 1848, the mother of two sons and one daughter -- Will- iam, Carson and Ella. James Mccullough's second wife was Jane Milligan, who died Au- gust 9, 1849. His third, was Sarah Cunning- ham, who died November 7, 1893, aged eighty-three years. By his last two marriages- he had no issue.
Hon. Mathew H. Mccullough, the eldest son of James McCullough, was born April 29, 1818, in Washington county, Pa , was educated in the old log school-house of that day, was reared upon the Mccullough homestead in Pennsylvania, and came to Allen county, Ohio, with his parents in 1835. At the age of twenty-one he began teaching school and taught in Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio. In 1853 he returned to Allen county, married Miss Sarah J., daughter of John Mckibben, who came from Wayne county, Ohio, and set- tled in section No. 30, Bath township, Allen county, as one of the pioneers. Mr. Mckib- ben died in August, 1234. in the thirty-third year of his age. After Mr. Mccullough's mar-
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riage he settled upon the Mckibben farm, and later laid out what is known as Mccullough's addition to Lima, and is living to see the land the home of many residents, being situated now in the heart of the city. For many years Mr. Mccullough has been interested in the develop- ment of his real estate, and in connection with this operates a farm of 120 acres in Bath township. In 1879, he was elected by the democratic party, of which he had been a life- long adherent, to represent Allen county in the state legislature, serving in the sessions of 1880-81-82-83, succeeding the late Judge Robb. He is a member of the First Presby- terian church of Lima. Mrs. McCullough died February 7, 1894, the mother of three children: One daughter, who died in infancy ; George M., a merchant of Lima, and John C., civil engineer and a graduate of Columbia university. The eldest son, George M. Mc- Cullough, has one daughter, whose name is Hazel; the second son, John C., has one son. whose name is Hillis K. Mccullough. Mr. Mccullough is one of Lima's oldest living citi- zens, has always taken an active interest in all matters pertaining to its advancement, and is respected and esteemed, by all who know him, for his integrity and usefulness as a citizen.
ON. JAMES MACKENZIE, of Lima, Allen county, Ohio, was born in Dundee, Scotland, July 14, 1814. His father, Hon. William L. Ma. - kenzie, a native of the same country, became a resident of Canada, and later a member of the parliament of Upper Canada (now On- tario), and in 1837 was a leader in the move- ment, or so called insurrection, which had for its object the establishment of the independence of that country, as far as parliamentary or local representation was concerned. He ha.l
long been a liberal in politics, and was the first publisher of a newspaper --- The Colonial Advocate-devoted to the advocacy of the right of the colonists to a liberal form of gov- ernment.
James Mackenzie, our subject, received his early schooling in Toronto, Canada, and in his father's office learned the printing and publish- ing business. In 1837 he came to the United States, in order to take a more active part in the insurrection in Canada against English rule, and at Navy island acted as an officer in a frontier invasion; thence he went to Detroit, Mich., and became identified with the move- ment of the insurgents at Pointe a Pelee and Fighting island, whence the discontented patriots were driven back by the British troops to the United States. Mr. Mackenzie then went further east, and, after aiding in several other ineffectual attempts of the patriots to overcome the British troops in Canada, e-tab- lished at Lockport, N. Y., a journal in the interest of Canadian freedom of government, known as the Freeman's Advocate. This journal was liberally patronized in several states on the Canadian frontier for about a year, but when the expedition under Gen. Birce, in 1839, failed at Sandwich, the paper was discontinued, and Mr. Mackenzie, although doing everything that appeared to be practi- cable in favor of the Canadian cause, no longer encouraged invasions of that country from the United States territory. Mr. Mackenzie next became editor of the Workman's Advocate, of Rochester, N. Y., published by Vick & Co. but this paper was soon afterward sold to a Mr. O'Reilly, who at once established the Rochester Advertiser, on which Mr. Mackenzie was for a short time employed as local editor and reporter. At Lockport, Mr. Mackenzie had commenced the study of the law with Mr. Nichols, and on his relinquishment of his posi- tion on the Advertiser, he came to Ohio and
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located at Cleveland, where he resumed his legal studies under Bishop Backns, and here he was admitted to citizenship, as well as to the bar in 1843. In the same year he removed to Henry county, Ohio, where for a time he taught school, and while engaged in this voca- tion was elected a township clerk, and in Octo- ber, 1844, without solicitation on his part, was nominated by the democratic party as prosecuting attorney of Henry county, and elected by a handsome majority. He ably performed the duties of this office until 1854, when he resigned and purchased the Kalida Venture, the democratic organ of Putnam county, Ohio, but receiving a liberal support from the people of several surrounding counties that had at that time established no papers, and for ten years the Venture was edited in a most masterly manner. In October, 1846, Mr. Mackenzie was elected prosecuting attor- ney for Putnam county. and was re-elected in 1848, and again in 1850-a fact that fully at- tests his ability. In 1853, he was elected to the state legislature, to represent the counties of Putnam and Henry, and in 1856 again elected prosecuting attorney for Putnam connty. In 1858 he removed to Lima, Allen county, and for two and a half years edited and published the Allen County Democrat; in 1861-62-63 he was prosecuting attorney for Allen county, and in the fall of 1865 was elected judge of the court of common pleas, to supply the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Metcalf, to this position he was re- elected in 1869, and again in 1873, concluding his judicial service in February, 1879-a period of twelve years-during which period the court held jurisdiction over twenty counties; after his retirement from the bench, Mr. Mackenzie. associated himself with T. D. Robb (the pres- ent probate Judge of Allen county), and with him practiced law five years, when, owing to failing health and growing years, he retired to
private life. Judge Mackenzie has always been a warm advocate of public education and has ever been a strong supporter of the principles of the democratic party. At the breaking out of the late Rebellion he identified himself with the war element of that party, served on the military committee and strongly advocated a vigorous prosecution of the war. His reputa- tion as a writer is widespread and highly ap- preciated and has had much to do with the shaping of his party's policy in local manage- ment. His active mind brooks no curbing, and even in his retirement, at the age of sev- enty-one, he commenced the study of the French language, which he now writes and speaks fluently. During his active life he has brought to bear a vigor and fidelity unsur- passed to the aid of every trust meposed upon him, and few men have been more implicitly trusted in than he. Judge Mackenzie was mar- ried in May, 1864, to Miss Lucinda P. Leorard, of Rochester, N. Y., and to this union were born Eugene C. and William L., the latter an attorney of Lima, Ohio-the mother being now deceased.
B EV. DOMINIC ZINSMAYER, the eloquent, pious and popular pastor of the German Catholic church at Lan- deck, Allen county, Ohio, was born at Constance, in the grand duchy of Baden, Ger- many, July 29, 1844, and was educated in the colleges of Constance and Freiburg, in his lit- erary and theological preparation for the priesthood; he was ordained, however, in 1869, by Bishop Rappe, of the diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, who was then on his journey to Rome to attend a council to be held at the Vatican. A few weeks after his ordination, Rev. Mr. Zinsmayer, in February, 1870, came to America, and for a short time was demi- ciliated in Brooklyn, N. Y. ; he was then given
Desini Zinomayor.
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charge of the Defiance missions, under the auspices of the Cleveland (Ohio) diocese, and after fifteen months in this self-sacrificing service, became the first resident Catholic clergyman of Bucyrus, Ohio, which employed his time and talents for six years. Father Zinsmayer, beside being an eloquent preacher, is an excellent educator, and while at Bucyrus established the parochial schools, and remod- eled the church edifice and the parochial resi- dence. He was then placed in charge of the Shelby settlement, of Richland county, Ohio, where for seven years he labored mnost assidu- ously, succeeding in paying off the church debt and in putting the congregation on a sound financial footing. He there also secured for his choir an elegant pipe organ, at a cost of $700. Father Zinsmayer was next trans- ferred to the charge at Sheffield, Lorain county, Ohio, where for eleven years he ex- erted an untiring energy for the improvement of his congregation and the enhancement of the church property and its glory, resulting in a vast improvement in the parochial residence, the construction of new altars and the intro- duction of the two melodious bells for the church proper, at a cost of about $600.
September 15, 1894, Rev. Mr. Zinsmayer was assigned to the charge of Landeck, Allen county, Ohio, and is at present officiating in his clerical capacity in a most acceptable man- ner, making friends and gaining admirers as the days roll on, being a truly pious and faitli- ful servant of the church and a devoted friend of education. He here has under his charge four schools, supplied with four teachers, with an attendance of 150 children, all under the most perfect discipline as to study and deport- ment, as well as to morality, and all the schools in a flourishing condition financially. As an educator Rev. Ziusmayer stands without a peer, and his honored and eloquent tongue as a preacher seldom finds an equal. Pious
and sincere, he has made many friends since his residence in Allen county, and his worth as a man only augments the growing esteem in which he is universally held.
F RANK EWING, M. D., of West Cairo, Allen county, Ohio, was born in Trumbull county, May 19, 1843, was taken by his parents to Hancock county, when six years old, and there grew to manhood on a farin. In 1862 he entered the Union army as a private soldier in company D, Ninety-ninth Ohio votunteer infantry, and carried his gun during the war. He was in many battles, the first being that of Stone River, and was in all the subsequent import- ant battles in which his regiment was engaged. Wounded in the knee at Kenesaw Mountain, he was disabled for two months. He was honorably discharged at Salisbury, N. C., when the war had come to a close. Having pre- vions to the war secured a good education, upon his return home he taught school, but owing to impaired health, went north into the lumber regions, where he remained eight months. Afterward he again taught school and read medicine, and graduated from the medical department of the university of Mich- igan in 1870. Then he began the practice of his profession in West Cairo, where he has re- mained ever since. In politics he is a demo- crat, and has filled several minor offices.
Dr. Ewing is a son of John A. and Eliza- beth ( Clements) Ewing, who came from Penn- sylvania to Ohio at an early day. Mr. Ewing was a farmer during his entire life, and was for some time a local preacher in the Disciples' church. He was also for many years a justice of the peace, and died in 1890 John A. and wife were the parents of six children, viz: Sarahı J. ; A. C .; Frank, the subject; T Cor- win, killed at Kenesaw Mountain; M. J. ; and
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Eliza A. The mother of these children died in 1860, and the father married the second time and had six children by the second wife. In 1872 Dr. Frank Ewing married Miss Nancy B. Downing, a daughter of R. H. Downing, and by her has had four children, viz: Dolly, died at the age of two years; Addie, Bessie and Wava. In politics he has always been a repuplican, is a Knight Templar, and a mem- ber of the Grand Army. Mrs. Ewing is a member of the Lutheran church.
J ONAS KNISELY, of Allen county, Ohio, born in Tuscarawas county, Oc- tober 8, 1824, was reared on a farin, educated in the common schools, and remained with his parents until he was twenty- two years of age. He then went to Indiana, remained there two years, returned to Tuscar- awas county and settled down on a farm, on which he lived until 1864, when he removed to Allen county and bought the farm on which he yet lives. He has always devoted his time and attention to general farming. During the war he paid his share toward sending substi- tntes to the front. He is a son of David and Sarah (Bowers) Knisely, who removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio at an early date. John Knisely, the father of David, was also a Pennsylvanian, who came to Ohio, laid out town of New Philadelphia, in 1804, and served as commissioner of the county several terms. Mrs. Knisely died when eighty-four years old and David Knisely died in 1877, aged eighty- five years. He had fourteen children and seventy-seven grandchildren.
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