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 65
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
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During the month of September, 1861, Capt. Rice recruited a company for the three- years' service, and was mustered in as captain of company A, Fifty-seventh Ohio infantry. He also largely assisted in recruiting and organ- izing this regiment. At the instance of his many friends, and on the unanimons recom-
mendation of the officers of his regiment, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel by Gov. Tod in February, 1862. He accompanied his com- mand to Paducah, Ky., where it was made part of Sherman's division. At the battle of Shiloh he commanded his regiment, and during the thickest of the fight was wounded by the bursting of a shell above him. In the advance on Corinth he took an active part, and in all the battles commanded his regiment in such a manner as to elicit the encomium of his superior officers. Lieut. - Col. Rice was with Sherman's army during the summer and fall of 1862, and participated in the battle of Chicksaw Bayou, Miss., and in Sherman's efforts to reduce Vicks- burg, commanding his regiment in the d. Korent engagements from December 27. 1862, to Jan- uary 2, 1863. He led his command at the battle of Arkansas Post, worked on the canal at Vicksburg, and in March, 1863, commanded the First brigade, First division, Fitteenth army corps, in the Black Bayon expedition. Later he distinguished himself at Snyder's Bluff, on the Yazoo river, and by rapid marches led his command around Vicksburg, by way of Grand Gulf, Miss., reaching Baker's Creek in time to engage in the battle of Champion Hills. His regiment was also in the engagement at Big Black River, and he was in the first assault at Vicksburg after the investment of that city. Gen. Rice led his regiment in the terrible charge on the enemy's works at Vicksburg, May 22, 1863, at which time his right leg was broken by a shot in the knee and he was also severely wounded by a minie ball. These serions in- juries obliged him to remain out of active serv- ice until January, 1864. On May 16, 1863, he was appointed colonel of his regiment.
For his actions in the various campaigns about Vicksburg, Gen Sherman recommended Col. Rice for promotion to brigadier gen- eral. Subsequently he was with Sherman in the Atlanta campaign and took a distinguished
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
part in the battles of Sugar Valley, Resaca (where he was wounded in the left thigh), Dal- las, New Hope, Big Shanty, and little Kene- saw. In the last of these he received three wounds almost simultaneously -the first in the head, near the temple, caused great loss of blood, the second badly shattered the left foot, while the third crushed the right leg, making amputation above the knee necessary. These wounds necessitated his retirement from active service until April, 1865, when he again rejoined his command in North Carolina.
In May, 1865, he received his commission as brigadier general which had been so fre- quently recommended. He took part in the grand review at Washington, May 24, 1865, and the following June was assigned to the command of the Third brigade, Second division, Fifteenth army corps, in which capacity he continued until these troops were mustered out of service August, 1865. Gen. Rice was hon- orably discharged January 15, 1866. From the foregoing hasty review of his military career it will be seen that Gen. Rice's army record is one of which any soldier might feel deservedly proud, and surely the government archives are graced by no abler or more gal- lant defender of the national honor. Gen Rice is a member of the G. A. R., also of the Loyal Legion.
For some time after leaving the army Gen. Rice resided in the state of Arkansas, engaged in cotton planting. In October, 1866, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Metcalf, daughter of the late Judge Benjamin Metcalf of Lima, Ohio, a lady of rare intelligence and accomplishments. In June, 1868, Gen. Rice became the manager of the banking house of C. H. Rice & Co., at Ottawa, Ohio, giving the business his whole attention until his elec- tion, in 1874, to the congress of the United States. As a legislator in the national coun- cils Gen Rice proved himself worthy of the
confidence reposed in him, and at the ensuing election, in 1876, he was chosen his own suc- cessor. While in congress he closely identified himself with the soldiers' interest. He was made chairman of the committee on invalid pensions, and his great work, to which he de- voted his best energies, was the passage of the arrears of pension bill. This secured to every veteran who obtained a pension not only the money due him each quarter, but all that had accumulated since the war.
At the expiration of his congressional term Gen. Rice returned to Ottawa and took charge of the bank, which later on was reorganized under the name of A. V. Rice & Co.
Though not naturally a politician Gen. Rice from force of circumstances was drawn, perhaps not unwillingly, into the arena of pol- itics, where his commanding talents and energy soon won recognition. He belongs to an old democratic family of the Jeffersonian type. He was a war democrat, and has never given his adherence to any other school of politics. He was a delegate to the national convention at Baltimore in 1868 that nominated Greeley for the presidency. In 1879 Gen. Rice was a candidate for lieutenant-governor on the ticket of " Ewing and Rice."
In 1880 he was first alternate for the state at large to the national convention at Cincin- nati, which nominated Gen. Hancock for pres- ident. In 1884 he was on the electoral ticket for the state at large. He was a delegate to the national democratic convention at St. Louis in 1888, at which Grover Cleveland was nominated for the presidency, On the 21st of March, 1894, Gen. Rice was appointed United States pension agent for Ohio by President Cleveland. After having devoted so much of his life to the soldier interest, this was considered a most fitting appointment.
For a number of years Gen. Rice has been a member of the board of trustees of the
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Soldiers and Sailors' Orphans' Home, located at Xenia, Ohio. He was president of the board two years. This is a labor of love with him, to help look after and take care of the wards of the state, his comrades' orphans, to which he has given much time and attention. He took possession of his new office at Column- bus, Ohio, May 1, 1894, which position he still holds. He is now, with his family, which consists of his wife and two daughters, Mary and Katherine, temporarily living in that city.
S AMUEL BARNABAS RICE, deceased, brother of Gen. A. V. Rice, was born in the town of Kalida, Putnam county, Ohio, November 2, 1841. He was reared in his native connty, and after attend- ing the common school began the study of law, which he pursued under private instruc- tions and at the university of Michigan, and in due time was admitted to the bar. He served with his brother, Gen. Rice, during the latter part of the war, and in 1863 entered into the marriage relation with Charlotte Spencer, of Kalida, a union blessed with the birth of the following children: Zella, wife of J. Cook Tillinghast, of Toledo; Clark H., assistant cashier of the banking firm of A. V. Rice & Co., Ottawa (which firm was succeeded, De- cember 12, 1895, by Matthews & Rice, the members of the new firm being N. E. Matthews and C. H. Rice); Charlotte, Lenora; Seney died at the age of one year, and Samuel Barnabas died at the age of four years.
After spending a few years in Arkansas in the early 'sixties, Mr. Rice engaged in the mer- cantile business at Kalida, but severed his con- nection with that line of trade upon the organ- ization of the banking house of C. II. Rice & ( o. at Ottawa, Ohio, in order to accept a po- sition with that institution, having been one of the promoters and stockholders of the same.
In 1868 Mr. Rice was elected clerk of the courts of Putnam county, the duties of which he discharged in a most satisfactory and ca- pable manner for a period of six years, prov- ing himself one of the most popular and effi- cient men ever called to that office.
On retiring from the clerkship, Mr. Rice assumed control of the bank in Ottawa, and remained identified with the same until his death, which occurred in June, 1877. He was a man of great popularity, possessed the un- bounded confidence of his fellow-citizens of Ottawa and Putnam county, and his untimely death, which was felt as a personal loss by the community, terminated a career fraught with many flattering prospects. He was an active member of the F. & A. M. and Royal Ar- canum, and a broad-minded, liberal man, whom his fellow-citizens hold in grateful re- membrance. Mrs. Rice departed this life on the 23d day of May, 1884.
LARK HAMMOND RICE, son of Samuel Barnabas Rice and grandson of Clark Hammond Rice, whose por- trait adorns this volume, is the assist- ant cashier of the banking house of A. V. Rice & Co., Ottawa, and was born April 30, 1865, at the town of Kalida, Putnam county, Ohio. He received his early education in the public schools of Ottawa, for two years attended the high school at Denver, Colo., and in 1894, when nineteen years of age, accepted a clerical position in the bank of A. V. Rice & Co , with which institution he has since been identified. Mr. Rice is a skilled accountant, thoroughly posted in all the details of the banking busi- ness, and is one of the progressive and sub- stantial young men of Ottawa, keeping pace with the times in all things and doing well his part toward the promotion and advancement of the best interests of the city. Politically
CLARK HAMMOND RICE, DECEASED.
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
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he is a democrat, and, while active in the councils of his party, is not an aspirant for official honors, preferring to devote his atten- tion to his business affairs. He is a member of the city board of education, being clerk of the same, and in his official capacity has con- tributed not a little to the efficiency of the present educational system of Ottawa. De- cember 12, 1895, the banking firm of A. V. Rice & Co. was succeeded by Matthews & Rice, the firm consisting of N. E. Matthews and C. H. Rice.
Mr. Rice is a Mason of high degree, be- longing to the blue lodge, chapter and council, in the deliberations of all of which he takes an active part. He was married June 20, 1894, to Miss Ida Goetschins, daughter of Nicholas Goetschius. Mrs. Rice is an accomplished lady, moves in the best circles of society, and is an active member of the Presbyterian church of Ottawa, of which Mr. Rice is also a com- municant.
P RANKLIN MONROE ACKERMAN was born in Bryan, Williams county, Ohio, December 25, 1858, and is a son of Caleb and Lydia Ackerman.
Caleb Ackerman was a son of Christopher Ackerman, a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, and who emigrated to the United States about 1815, settling in Lancaster county, Pa. He afterward lived in Lisbon and Springfield, Ohio, and subsequently purchased a farm in Mahoning county, upon which he died in 1848. He was married in Wurtemberg, Germany, to Mary Keafer, who bore him five sons and two daughters. Caleb, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Springfield, Ohio, March 23, 1824, was reared in Mahoning county, and learned the trade of wagon-maker, which trade he followed in Findlay and in
Bryan, Ohio, for some years. He then purchased a farm in Fulton county, upon which he lived until 1891, when he retired from active life, and in 1892 located in Ottawa and died the same year. His family consisted of four children, as follows: Alice A. (Mrs. Sweetland); Franklin Monroe, the subject of this sketch; Electa M. and William W. His wife, the mother of these children, still sur- vives and is living in Ottawa.
When Franklin Monroe Ackerman was seven years of age his parents moved to a farm in Fulton county and there he grew to man- hood, attending the district schools until his seventeenth year. Later he pursued his studies in the schools of Fayette, and after- ward attended the Normal school at Valpa- raiso, Ind., in which he took the scientific and commercial courses, graduating in the latter department in 1882. In the meantime, in 1879, he began teaching and followed the pro- fession for some years, earning, thereby, means to prosecute his studies in the aforementioned institution. He dropped the scientific course to accept the principalship of the Archibald schools, which position lie held for one year, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. A short time after his graduation Mr. Ackerman went to Chicago, where, on the 31st day of January, 1884, he was united in marriage with Miss Cora A. Wightman, daughter of L. E. and Sarah Wightman.
Shortly after his marriage Mr. Ackerman returned to Fulton county, Ohio, where until 1887 he was engaged in farming and teaching, pursuing the former in the summer, and the latter in the winter seasons. In the aforesaid year Mr. Ackerman came to Ottawa and ac- cepted a position with the Clover Creamery company, with which he has since been iden- tified. This creamery was organized as a stock company in the winter of 1886-8;, with a capital of $10,000, and the following are the
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
names of the present officers: N. E. Mat- thews, president, and F. M. Ackerman, sec- retary and treasurer.
The company erected a building south of the river in the winter of 1886-87, its capacity being 1,000 pounds per day, and began gath- ering cream, for the manufacture of butter, over a radius of about ten miles. From the beginning of the enterprise its success exceeded the expectation of the originators and it is now one of the largest and most thoroughly equipped establishments of the kind in northwestern Ohio, the average weekly out-put being over two thousand pounds of the choicest butter, which finds a ready sale in the local and gen- cral markets. In addition to the manufacture of butter, the firm deals largely in eggs, which are collected along the milk rontes and shipped to eastern cities. Mr. Ackerman has been the leading spirit of the creamery enterprise, and has contributed more to its success than any other man. He took charge of the butter making in 1888, at which time he also became virtual manager of the establishment, a posi- tion which he still retains. Mr. Ackerman has striven in every possible way to master in de- tail the creamery business, and tries to make his goods as fine as the finest in the market. How well he has succeeded is shown by the fact that few can distinguish his make of but- ter from gathered cream from that mannfac- tured from separated cream. He receives the hightest commendations from his numerons , patrons, and his goods in the eastern markets retail with the best Elgin grades. The Clover creamery plant was destroyed by fire in 1891, but was rebuilt the same year with enlarged capacity.
In politics Mr. Ackerman is a stanch snp- porter of the republican party, and fraternally belongs to the Masonic order, in which he holds an important official position; he is also a K. of P., being at present C. C. of Ottawa
lodge, No. 565. Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman have a family of four children: Ethel M., Lyman E., Genevieve S. and Caleb Franklyn.
ILLIAM W. ACKERMAN, local agent of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad at Ottawa, was born in Fulton county, Ohio, June 2, 1866, and is a son of Caleb and lydia (Lenhart) Ackerman. The father, also a na- tive of Ohio, was by trade a carriage-maker, and followed his chosen calling for a number of years in the city of Bryan. Later he en- gaged in agricultural pursuits, and was thus employed until his death, which occurred Jane 2, 1892, at the age of sixty-seven years. He was a man of many excellent parts, an ardent pro- hibitionist in his political belief, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which denomination his wife was also identified. The Ackermans are of German descent, and the branch of the family to which the subject of this sketch belongs settled a great many years ago in the state of Pennsylvania. Four chil- dren were born to Caleb and Lydia Ackerman, viz: Alice, wife of Leonard Sweetland; Frank M., a biography of whom appears elsewhere; Elida M., of Mount Hope, Kans., and William W. With the exception of the eldest child all . of the above children have been engaged in educational work, the daughter being, at this time, a teacher in Kansas The mother is still living, and makes her home with the subject of this sketch.
William W. Ackerman, like the majority of boys in our western country, passed his early youth amid the rugged duties of the farm, at- tending the public schools and the Fayette Nor- mal, and at the age of seventeen was sufficiently advanced to engage in teaching. He followed this useful calling for a period of six years, during which time he earned the reputation of
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
a very successful instructor, and the last years of his educational work were spent as princi- pal of the public schools at Fayette. In 1889 Mr. Ackerman accepted a position with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad com- pany at Ottawa, and has since been identified with that company in various capacities. He began railroading as head clerk of the yards, holding the position for ten months, and then became night operator and ticket agent, in which capacity he served four months, being transferred at the end of that time to Colum- bus Grove, where he became day operator and ticket agent. Three months later he was sent to Lima as clerk and operator, thence, at the end of five months, was returned to Ottawa as night operator, discharging the duties of that position with commendable fidelity until placed in charge of the office, February 1, 1893.
Mr. Ackerman has proven lus efficiency as a railroad man, and enjoys the confidence of the company by which he is employed. He is painstaking in looking after the interest of the company, and has gained much popularity by his affable manner and kind treatment of the patrons of the road. Fraternally Mr. Acker- man belongs to the K. of P. order, Ottawa lodge, No. 565, and is also a member of Ot- tawa lodge, No. 2, I. O. O. F. He was mar- ried August 24, 1893, to Miss Carrie Light, daughter of J. C. and Susan Light, to which union one child, Mildred, has been born.
W. ALKIRE, of Riley township, Putnam county, was born in Madison county, Ohio, December 25, 1826, and was reared a farmer. In 1834 he was brought to Putnam county by his par- ents, who entered 380 acres of land, 300 of which were located in what is now Allen county, from which they eventually cleared a hand- some and fruitful farm. His parents were
William N. and Hannah (Osborn) Alkire. The former was born in Kentucky in 1799, and the latter in Virginia in 1803, and when young both were brought to Ohio by their parents, who settled in Madison county, where the mar- riage of William N. and Hannah was in dne time solemnized. When yet a mere lad, Will- iam N. Alkire served in the war of 1812; he later became a millwright, and, after his mar- riage, a farmer. He lost his wife April 15, 1843, and he himself died January 25 1886, both having lived a wholesome life within the pale of the Presbyterian church. Their six children were named as follows: Edward P., who served during the late Civil war, and is now a resident of Manistee county, Mich. ; George W., our subject; Richard, a Putnamn county farmer; Madison, an orange grower of California, and John, of Pickaway county, Ohio.
When William N. Alkire settled in Putnam county there were no roads, no fences, no white population. He cut most of the road through to his land from Lima, taking three days to make a passage of fourteen miles. The swamps were deep and rank, and malarial fever held sway over the neighborhood; bears and deer abounded, and wild turkeys were so plentiful that no sale could be found for them, but Mr. Alkire generally managed to pay his taxes, through the sale of pelts and ginseng. Wyan- dot and Choctaw Indians roamed the forests, but, as they could easily secure a subsistence by hunting, were not at all hostile or trouble- some. Amid these wild scenes our subject was reared, became an expert marksman and hunter, and happily passed his days until 1843, when the death of his mother disrupted the family. Our subject then worked out by the month at farm labor for a year or more, and then en- gaged in carpentering, a trade he followed for eighteen years, all-told.
In 1851 Mr. Alkire married and moved to
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Pandora, where he worked at his trade indus- triously, and in 1863 had accumulated suffi- cient means with which to purchase a portion of his present farm, which now comprises 210 acres. In 1864 he moved to his property, and by diligent labor has. placed nearly all of the broad acres under a high state of cultivation, improved it with two substantial residences, with out-buildings to match, and now rents out a portion of his premises, while he superintends the portion retained for his own nse, and lives in ease and comfort, devoting his spare time to the attention of other necessary business only.
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The marriage of Mr. Alkire, alluded to above as having taken place in 1851, was with Miss Mary C. Heart, daughter of John and. Mary (Meng) Heart, both natives of Pennsyl- vania, but married in Ashland county, Ohio, whence John Heart came to Putnam county in 1842, entered land in the forest and made a good home. He was three times married, and the offspring of his first union, which was with Mary Meng, was as follows: Three children who died in infancy, the survivors being Mrs. Alkire, Elizabeth, Mrs. Dora D. Brown, Absa- lom, Samuel, John F. and Margaret. The mother of this family died in 1866, and, sub- sequently, Mr. Heart removed to Allen county, where his death occurred in 1887, both having `been consistent members of the Presbyterian church. To Mr. and Mrs. Alkire have been born six children, of whom four have been reared to maturity, viz: John A., an edu- cator, of Valparaiso, Ind .; Fremont, a farmer of Putnam county, Ohio; William H., in the same vocation in the same county, and Mary E., wife of James Preston, a farmer, Mr. and Mrs. Alkire, are also rearing a granddangh- ter, Mary C. Alkire, who was born in 1882, and whom they have had in charge since she was three weeks of age. Mr. and Mrs. Alkire ore devoted members of the Presbyterian
church, and move in a social circle of strict propriety and the most refined respectability.
Mr. Alkire has made three trips to Cali- fornia, chiefly to visit relatives; first, in 1875, in company with his wife, staging 1, 300 miles, and remaining two months; second, in 1880, in company with his father-in-law, taking in Oregon on the trip, and remaining agair two months, and third, in 1891, in company with a brother, during which trip six weeks were passed away.
J OHN M. ALLGIRE, well known as a thriving farmer of Union township, Putnam county, was born in Franklin county, Ohio, December 13, 1849. a son of Joshua and Lavina (Ever) Allgire. Joshua Allgire, the father, was also a native of Franklin county, born December 28, 1328, and was reared a farmer. In 184; he married, and farmed in Franklin county until 1853, when he came to Putnam county and engaged in farming on the Anglaize river until he- . n- listment, in 1862, in company A, Ninety-ninth Ohio vohinteer infantry. His wife and her children, with the exception of our subject, went to Van Wert in 1873, and in 1875 re- turned to Putnam county.
John M. Allgire, subject of this sketch, was reared to farming and was educated in the common schools of Putnam county. De- cember 10, 1873, he married Sarah Kessell, who was born in Cumberland county, Ills., April 2, 1852, danghter of John W. and Rebecca J. (Good) Kessell, natives of West Virginia and respectively of English and Irish- Dutch descent; they were early settlers of Illi- nois and members of the Methodist Episcopal church. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Allgire have been born the unusually serge family of fourteen children, named, in order
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
of birth, as follows: Jesse H., on the home farm; Lavina J., studying to become a teacher; John, Thomas O., William, Frank, Lewis (died at five months of . age), Flora M., Georgia (died at four months), Harry A., Luella (died at nine months), Mary L., an infant that died unnamed, and Sarah Amanda, now three weeks old.
After his marriage Mr. Allgire located in Mercer county, Ohio, where he farmed for two years, and then came to Putnam county, and farmed in Jennings township six years; theuce he went to Illinois, where he lived two years, and in :884 bought his present farm in Union township, Putnam county, Ohio, which has since been his home, and where prosperity has attended on all his undertakings. In politics Mr. Allgire is a democrat. His wife is a con- sistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in their social standing the family occupy a high and respected position.
J AMES F. ALT, one of the leading mer- chants of Columbus Grove, Ohio, and head of the well-known firm of J. L. Alt & Co., dealers in dry goods and notions, boots and shoes, hats, caps and gro- ceries, was born on a farm in Fairfield county, Ohio, one and a half miles east of Baltimore, on the 8th day of January, 1858. He is the son of John and Elizabeth (Chupp) Alt, both natives of Fairfield county, Ohio. The grand- father of our subject was Joseph Alt, who was a native of Germany, came with his wife and one son to America early in the present con- tury, and was one of the pioneers of Fairfield county. John Alt was reared on his father's farm, and was a farmer and carpenter by trade. Ile framed most all of the large barns and buildings in that section of the country, going to the woods and getting out the timber him-
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