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 66
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self. The first fifty-cent piece he ever got hold of he put into a forty-acre tract of land, which he subsequently sold at a profit. His birth was on November 22, 1809; his death occurred in 1880. His widow still survives: her parents both came from Germany and set- tled in the woods in Fairfield county. To these parents were born seven children, all of whom survive. Of the children our subject is the fifth in number.
James F. Alt was reared on the farm, and attended the public schools, and also attended the high school at Baltimore, securing a fair business education. He remained on the farm until he was twenty-three years of age, and then worked at the carpenter's trade for a time, following which he taught music for two years. On September 26, 1887, he came to Columbus Grove and went to work for C. F. & J. W. Hausberger, dry-goods merchants. after which he went into business with J. W. Hansberger, under the firm name of Haus- berger & Alt, successors to the firm of C. F. & J. W. Hausberger. This co-partnership lasted three years and nine months, when they closed out their stock and retired from busi- ness. On January 1, 1892, Mr. Alt bought out the business of W. T. Maple, in the Maple block, on High and Sycamore streets, where he has since continued. January 1, 1894, the firm of J. F. Alt & Co. was formed by the ad- mission into the business of Joshua Haus- berger.
Mr. Alt was married October 8, 1886, to Ella F. Johnson, who was born and reared in Baltimore, Fairfield county, Ohio, and is the daughter of John Johnson. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Alt three children have been born, as follows: Hazel B., born on August 8, 1887; Mabel, born February 7, 1890, and Pearl, born February 19, 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Alt are members of the Methodist Episcopal church by transfer from the Evangelical church
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
of Baltimore. Mr. Alt is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and politically he is a dem- ocrat; he is a member of the central commit- tee, and takes an active and prominent inter- est in the affairs of his party.
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ENRY M. ANDREWS, a pioneer of Greensburg township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in eastern Pennsylva- nia March 2, 1824, a son of Christian and Susan (Marsellus) Andrews. Christian Andrews was also a native of the Keystone state, and was born in 1803 of Irish parentage, but at the age of three years was left an orphan. He was reared by a Mr. Alberson to farming, and he acquired his education from books he carried in his hat and perused during his hours of rest in the field and of leisure at home night and morning, preparing himself, even in his youthful days, for teaching school, in which vocation he made quite a success. In 1823, having now passed his majority, he was united in marriage with Miss Susan Mar- sellus, who was born in New Jersey, of French and Irish extraction, her father having been a soldier in the war of [812 and her paternal grandfather a patriot of the war of the Revo- lution. The father of Susan Marsellus was named Henry, and his wife bore the maiden name of Carr. To the union of Christian and Snsan Andrews the following children were bom: Henry, subject of this sketch; Sarah, widow of George Krites, of Nebraska; Hester, deceased wife of David Mellin, of Paulding county, Ohio; David, of Gage county, Nebr. ; William, deceased; Hugh, of Kansas: Mary, wife of John Lambert, of Kansas; Addison, also of Kansas; Elizabeth, . deceased wife of Sdas Burrells, also deceased.
Christian Andrews continued teaching for some years after his marriage, and also learned
the carpenter's trade, at which he worked in the state of New York until 1836, being there employed two years in the construction of bridges. In the year last named he came to Putnam county, Ohio, and was one of the earliest settlers of Greensburg township, and here, entering a tract of land, cleared it from the forest, undergoing all the hardships of pioneer farmning, but becoming a prosperous and prominent citizen, filling, ere his death, which occurred in 1855. the office of township clerk under the auspices of the whig party for a number of years, as well as serving in a number of other local offices. He was a "fe- long member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died in this faith; his widow, equally devoted, dying in the same faith in 1870.
Henry M. Andrews, the immediate subject of this biographical memoir, was reared both as a farmer and carpenter, learning the latter trade under an uncle in Defiance, Ohio. At the age of fourteen years, however, and after learning this trade, he was married, in 1845. to Miss Martha Bell, who was born May :8, 1825, in Beverly, Washington county, Ohio, a daughter of William and Dorcas (Hamble- ton) Bell. William Bell was born in Mas- sachnsetts in 1783, was a son of John Bell, and was a sailor; he made many perilous voyages, but eventually gave up a seafaring life and in 1824 came to Ohio, locating in Washington county. His wife, Dorcas Ham- bleton, was a daughter of Richard Hambleton, a sailor of Nova Scotia; was born in 17844 in Nova Scotia and died in Ottawa, Ohio, in 1859. Mr. Bell removed to and settled in Putnam county in 1833, and died in Ottawa in 1862, a member of the Presbyterian church and of the Masonic order, and father of eight children, two of whom are still living, viz: Mrs. Lucretia Taylor, of Ashland county, Ohio, and Mrs. Martha Andrews. To the
H M. ANDREWS.
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union of our subject, H. M. Andrews, and his wife, Martha, have been born four children, viz: Dr. Bazelle B., of Johnson county, Nebr. ; Freeman R., of Memphis, Tenn., Mary D., wife of Jacob Kitchen, and Malissa J., wife of W. H Kitchen, of Greensburg township, Put- nam county, Ohio. After his marriage Mr. Andrews lived on the farm of his father-in-law umtil 1855, when he moved to Ottawa, where he worked at his trade for nine years, and then purchased the farm on which he now lives. In 1863 he responded to his country's call and enlisted in company G, Twelfth Ohio volunteer cavalry, and while on guard duty at Johnston island, was injured by an accident which was the cause of his being sent home for treatment; on his supposed recovery he rejoined his regiment, but was found to be incapacitated for duty, and was honorably discharged as a corporal and again returned to his home. Both his sons were also soldiers in the war of the Rebellion. Dr. B. B. enlisted in the Twenty-first Ohio, three months' sery- ice, but served four months, re-enlisting in the Sixteenth Illinois cavalry, and serving three years, of which time he was confined as a pris- oner fifteen months and ten days in the dens of Libby prison and Andersonville. Freeman, the younger son, saw eighteen months of actual service. Both Mr. and Mrs. Andrews are consistent members of the United Brethren church, and fraternally Mr. Andrews is a member of the G. A. R. post, No. 96, of Du- pont, Ohio. Both have passed the three score and ten years allotted to the life of man, and for half a century have lived together m conjugal bliss. . They have won the esteem of all who know them, and their declining years are made happy with the thought that their life can be looked back upon as one of useful- ness to their fellow-creatures and as well en- titling them to the reverence which is univers- ally accorded them.
EORGE W. ANDREWS, a promi- nent farmer and dealer in agricul- tural implements at Cascade, Perry township, Putnam county, Ohio, is a son of Jeremiah E. and Electa (Shaw) An- drews, and was born in Defiance county, Ohio, September 18, 1842.
Jeremiah E. Andrews was born near Syra- cuse, Onondaga county, N. Y., May 8, 1818, and was a son of Elijah Andrews, who was born in 1783 and died November 5, 1847. Elijah married Polly Kinney, who was born June 27, 1786, and died August 31, 1874. To Elijah and Polly Andrews were born twelve children, viz: Elvira, Elisha, Elnora, Elijah, Ira, Harrison, Jeremiah E., Mary, Simons, Theodosia (wife of Vinson Shaw, of Minne- sota), John Q. (also of Minnesota) and Rufus. The father of this family, Elijah Andrews, was a patriot in the war of the Revolution, and in 1825 came to Ohio, settled in Wayne county, and passed his years away in farming. He was a pious Methodist, was an active, old-line whig, and wielded a strong influence in the politics of his day. After his death his widow made her home with her children until her death-dying full of years, honored and ven- crated by all who knew her. Jeremiah E. . Andrews was born on a farm and agriculture was his life pursuit. At the age of three years he was taken to Wayne county, Vt .; and thence brought to Ohio, his parents settling in Wayne county, this state, Jeremiah being at this time seven years old. Here they cleared up a farm in the woods, on which they resided until 1839, when Jeremiah E. moved to De- fiance county, Ohio, and there, May 17, 1840, he was united in marriage with Miss Electa Shaw, who was born in New York state May 2, 1821, the union resulting in eight children, who were named as follows: George W., the subject of this sketch; Charles, a farmer of Perry township, born February 13. 1845;
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
James, farmer of Paulding county, born Jan- uary 23, 1847; Alonzo, born March 4, 1849- died October 31, 1860; Edwin, born February 7, 1851 -- died March 11, 1853; Nancy, born May 9, 1853 -- died October 5, 1857; Benja- min, farmer of Perry township, born February 15, 1855, and Albert, an insurance agent of Toledo, who was born May 22, 1857. The mother of this family died September 7, 1859, a very prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a very active and effi- cient worker in the cause of Jesus, being a sincere Christian, and a truly devout believer in the faith she professed. November 1, 1859, Mr. Andrews selected for his second helpinate Mrs. Margaret (Donley) Steen, who was born April 11, 1822, and to this marriage have been born two children, viz: Electa, who was born February 16, 1861-died March 7, 1875, and Laura, born March 26, 1864, now the wife of Warren N. Tooker, a physician of Grover Hill, Paulding county.
Mr. Andrews, always a man of energy, when health permitted, assisted as a contractor in building the canal between Toledo and De- nfiace, but, his health failing, he was forced to withdraw from active work and his willing helpinate undertook the onerous task of board- ing the laborers-using a barrel of flour daily- and Mr. Andrews that of hauling the other necessary provisions from Toledo to Defiance. In this way they accumulated the money neces- sary to pay for the tract of government land on which they later made their home.
In 1867 Mr. Andrews came to Cascade, Putnam county, where he and his two eldest sous entered a large tract of land, on a portion of which our subject, George W. Andrews, now makes his home. Here he passed the re- mainder of his life. In politics he was a whig during the existence of that old-time party, and on its disintegration united with its legitimate successor, the republican organization, in which
he became very popular, and by which he was elected to serve in several offices, chief among which were those of township treasurer and township trustee for several terms each. He was also charter member of Perry grange, P. of H., and was quite instrumental in for- warding the agricultural interests of Perry township and Putnam county. In religion he was first a Methodist, which denomination he joined at the age of thirty-three years, and then in 1860, with his second wife, affiliated with the Christian church; he held member- ship until it went into decadence, when he united with the Presbyterian church. As a citizen Mr. Andrews was always ready to act in any matter that was intended to aid the public welfare, and as a farmer was one of the most intelligent and progressive in the town- ship; as a husband and father he was kind and indulgent, but ever kept in view the moral and mental training of his children. He gave to his country, in order to preserve it from disin- tegration, the services of three of his sons, viz: George W., Charles and James. Of these, Charles served in company E, One Hundred and Eleventh regiment, Ohio volunteer in- fantry, and James in company G, Thirty-eighth regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and both served until the close of the struggle, James being seriously wounded. The career of George W. will be mentioned in a succeeding paragraph. The lamented death of Jeremiah E. Andrews took place January 11, 1894, and his work told the story of a life well spent. Ilis second wife still lives and has her residence in Defiance, Ohio, where she is passing away, in serene peace, the remainder of her days.
George W. Andrews, the subject proper of this memoir, passed his life on the home f. rm, and was educated at Defiance, Ohio, up to nearly the completion of twenty years, when he enlisted, September 5. 1862, in company E, One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio volunteer
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infantry, for three years, served his full term, and was honorably discharged at Louisville, Ky., September 5, 1865, with the rank of cor- poral, having been promoted January 8, 1863. His regiment took part in forty battles, and in all its marches, engagements and skirmishes Mr. Andrews did his duty faithfully and gal- lantly, and though he escaped being seriously wounded, he lost his rugged health. After his discharge he resided at Defiance until 1867, when he came to Putnam county, and on the 3Ist of December, 1868, was united in mar- riage with Miss Amanda L. Strauss, daughter of Moses and Sarah (Boor) Strauss. This lady was born in Middletown, Butler county, Ohio, May 3, 1859; her parents are natives of Penn- sylvania, where her father was born December 26, 1828, and her mother March 10, 1829, and came to Putnamn county, Ohio, in 1867, on the same day on which Mr. Andrews ar- rived, and located in Delphos, where they still reside. Mr. and Mrs. Strauss are the parents of the following children, beside their daugh- ter, Mrs. Andrews: Mary, who died at che age of ten years; Emma, wife of T. Cline, of Osceola, Nebr .; Jennie, married to J. Cordell, also of Osceola; Hessie, at home; and Laura, wife of B. Lind, of Defiance, Ohio. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Andrews has been blessed with ten children, two of whom-Harry and Bertie -- died in infancy; the remaining eight still sur- vive, having been born in the following order: Clarence, June 24, 1874; Fred E., May 9, 1877; Jennie Gertrude, Angust 2, 1879; Bessie A , September 24, 1881; George L., November 16, 1884; William Howard, March 19, 1887; Goldie Bell, June 25, 1889; and Hazel Fern, June 3, 1892.
After marriage Mr. Andrews located, with his father and brother, on his present place of 200 acre, in Perry township. February 27. 1891, his dwelling house was destroyed by fire, but, with his usual energy, he munediately 1"-
built and still continued to carry on his thriv- ing trade in agricultural implements, which he had conducted ever since the early days of his married life. In politics Mr. Andrews is a stalwart republican, and has served his fellow- townsmen as- constable and township trustee for several years. In religion he is a member of the United Brethren church, of which he is : a steward and trustee, and of which his ami- able wife is also a consistent member. He is also a member of Wisor post, No. 93, G. A. R., of which he is commander, and was at one time a member of Perry grange, P. of H. Mr. Andrews has been one of the most enterprising farmers and successful business men of his county; he is a genial gentleman and a man of solid worth; he is courteous. upright, and is a free contributor to all public improvements and benevolent enterprises, and his social attributes fully entitle him to the high position he holds in the community in which he has so long lived.
HARLES ANDREWS, a well-known business man of Cascade, Perry town- ship, Putnam county, was born in De- fiance county, Ohio, February 13, 1845, and is a son of J. E. Andrews, whose biography appears above. He was reared on a farm and was educated in Defiance county, and August 16, 1863, enlisted in company E, One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio volunteer infantry, and served until the termination of the war, receiving an honorable discharge July 18, 1865. He took part in nineteen bat- tles, including Stone River. Huff's Ferry, Lenoir, Campbell's Station, Knoxville, Fort Sanders, Dandridge, Strawberry Plains, Blain's Cross Roads, Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, Pumpkin Vine Creek, Burnt Hickory, Lost Mountain, Kenesaw Mountain, Nickajack, Atlanta, Jonesboro; Stone Mountain, Frank-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
lin, Nashville, Fort Anderson and Raleigh, N. C. He married, March 25, 1860, Miss Mar- tha J. Steen, who was born in Carlisle, Cum- berland county, Pa., April 26, 1842, a daugh- ter of James and Margaret (Donley) Steen, to which union have been born eight children, named as follows: Nannie, who died in . infancy; Austria M., born December 12, 1867; wife of Emphrey Hospengarner, dealer in implements, of Grover Hill; Clara Bell, who died in infancy, February 10, 1870; Allen a conductor, of Toledo, Ohio, born July 13, 1871; Alonzo, deceased; Burdette, of Perry township, born August 22, 1875; John, born July 17, 1877, and Maggie Florence, born January 4, 1880, died September, 13, 1894. The parents of Mrs. Andrews came to Ohio about 1851 and located in Crawford county, where the father was engaged in farming for five years, and then the family moved to Paulding county, where the death of the father took place in 1859, at the age of thirty- five years.
After marriage, Mr. Andrews located in Paulding county and was employed upon a cattle farm until the opening of the Civil war, and after the war had closed lived a year in Defiance county. In 1867 he came to Putnam county and bought his present farm, at that time uncleared and in no respect improved, but he has, through untiring industry, cleared the land, and now the farm equals, in tillage and improvements, any farm in the township. On this land was built the first house erected in Putnam county, the first owners bearing tho name of Holden, and it was conducted as a house of public entertaiment.
In 1879 Mr. Andrews embarked in the ag- ricultural implement, buggy and wagon busi- ness at Cascade, of which, through his oblig- ing disposition and straightforward method of dealing with his customers, he has made a de- cited success. In politics he is a republican,
and was once nominated as candidate for sheriff, a fact which indicates the high esteem in which he is held by his party. He and wife are members of the Christian church, of which he is a trustee, and for eleven years has been a member of lodge No. 719, I. O. O F .; he is also a member of Wisor post, No. 93, G. A. R. He is a self-made man, and has been very successful in all his undertakings.
Miss Maggie Florence Andrews, daughter of our subject, who was a natural-born musician, was born January 4, 1880, and died Septem- ber 13, 1894. At the age of six years she be- came a chorister in the Sunday-school, and at the age of twelve years she became a member of the United Brethren church. She was always anxious to do her part in church work; was brave and cheerful to the last, and pos- sessed a most amiable disposition, although she had been a sufferer from spinal curvature for years. Her death was a severe blow to her parents and the infliction sat heavily upon them. By her class-mates and by the elder members of the church her loss was deeply deplored, her sweet temper having won her the love and admiration of all.
ILLIAM ANNESSER, proprietor of the Ottawa flouring-mills, also a prominent grain dealer and success- ful business man, was born July 8, 1834, in Seneca county, Ohio, the son of Michael and Mary (Sholl) Annesser, both par- ents of the province of Alsace-Lorraine, Ger- many. Michael and Mary Annesser were reared in their native country, married there, and in 1830 emigrated to the United States, locating first at Hagerstown, Md., thence, three years later, moving to Seneca com.ty, Ohio, which was their home until their removal, in 1844, to the county of Auglaize. Michael Annesser learned the tailor's trade in Germany,
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JOHN B AUSEON
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but turned his attention to agriculture, after coming to the United States. He died about 1874, and his wife followed him to the grave ten years later. The following are the names of their children: John, Joseph, Michael (de- ceased), William, Margaret, wife of V. Blume; Mary, deceased, and Veronica. The two old- est sons, John and Joseph, served in the war of the Rebellion, Joseph in the Fifty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, and John also in an Ohio regiment.
William Annesser received his educational training in a small log school-house, comnon in the early days of Ohio, and assisted his father on the farm until attaining his majority. He married October 8, 1855, Mary M. Fisher, daughter of B. F. and Mary (Bush) Fisher, after which he rented a farm in Auglaize county. and operated the same until purchas- ing a place of his own about the year 1862. Mr. Annesser's first purchase consisted of twenty acres, to which an addition of a similar area, inherited by his wife, was subsequently made, and upon this farin he resided until about 1876. In the meantime he purchased other land in the vicmity until his farm consisted of 160 acres, upon which he expended a great deal of labor and made many valuable improvements. In the above year Mr. Annesser exchanged his farm for a flouring-mill in Wapakoneta, and engaged in the manufacture of flour in that city until 1879, when he sold out and pur- chased the flouring-mill at Ottawa, which he thoroughly remodeled and also supplied with machinery for the manufacture of flour by the roller process, and has operated this mill very successfully ever since. His mill has a capacity of 100 barrels per day, the greater part of which is purchased to supply the local trade of Ottawa and other towns in Putnam and adja- cent counties.
Mr. Annesser gives his whole attention to his business, and is one of the progressive 2
men of the county. He began life for himself with little, if any assistance, and by prudent management and good business judgment, has won for himself not only a comfortable com- petence, but a name for honorable dealing second to no other man in the community. Mrs. Annesser was born in Baden, Germany, April 11, 1833, and came to the United State " when about eleven years of age. The follow- ing are the names and dates of birth of the .children of Mr. and Mrs. Annesser: William B., November 23, 1856; Andrew, February 13, 1858; George, July 26, 1859-died in Texas in the year 1888; Charles, November, 1861; Francis, October 3, 1863; John M., March 3, 1866; Joseph, April 11, 1868: Rosa, wife of George Sherlow, May 25, 1873, and Lewis F., February 26, 1877. Politically Mr. Annesser is a republican.
J OHN B. AUSEON, a thrifty and pro- gressive farmer of Liberty township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Stark county, March 29, 1842. His parents, Anthony and Margaret (Gass) Auscon, were natives of the kingdom of Belgium, and were there married. Before marriage, An- thony Auseon had fulfilled his obligation to his monarch by serving five years in the army, received an honorable discharge at the hands of the king, and after marriage worked at any- thing he could find to do -mostly about a colliery, or at chopping wood and burning charcoal. He had one child born to him in Belgium, and in 1832 he brought his little family to America, landing in New York and reaching Canton, Ohio, via the Erie canal to Buffalo, N. Y., and so on to Cleveland and Mas- sillon, Ohio. After securing a cabin for his wife and child at Canton, he went to Pennsylvania to work on the Sandy Beaver canal, and th re re- mained two years, making quarterly visits to his
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
wife and child. After his final return he bought thirty-two acres of very rough and hilly land in Stark county, Ohio; this land was improved with a cabin, into which Mr. Auscon moved; he cleared off the timber, picked off the loose rock and stone and made a comfortable home, and on this little farm, John B., our subject, was born. In 1856, the father sold this prop- erty and moved to Carroll county, bought seventy-five acres, all improved, then sold out again, and finally settled near Canton, where he died in 1888-his wife dying a few months later, in the fall of the same year-both inem- bers of the Catholic church. They were the parents of five children, viz: John, who moved to Michigan, and died, the father of five chil- dren; A. D., who resides in Carroll county, Ohio; Henry, who died at the age of nineteen years; Catherine, wife of Anthony Lebus, and residing in Columbiana county, and our sub- ject, John B.
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John B. Auseon, whose name introduces this sketch, lived with his parents until 1861, when he enlisted in company H, Fifteenth Ohio infantry, and was assigned to Buell's com- mand, Cook's division, and served all through the campaign of Tennessee, but at the end of seven months was discharged on account of disability and returned home. In February, 1864, he re-enlisted, this time in the Thirty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, and was assigned, first, to the army of the Cumberland, and later to the army of the Ohio, marched with Sherman to the sea, and was in all the important battles of that campaign. At the time of Lee's sur- render, Mr. Auscon was near Goldsboro and Raleigh, N. C., whence he returned to Louis- ville, Ky., and then to Columbus, Ohio, where he received an honorable discharge. Return- ing home, he assisted his father in seeding and corn cutting, etc., and in the winter of 1865- 66, came to Putnam connty, and for a while tarried in Riley township, where he married
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