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 67
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Miss Margaret Linden, who was born in Lux- embourg, Germany, January 13, 1846, and came to America with her mother in 1857- the father having died at the time he had made arrangements to bring his family to this country. The widow, however, having some money, carried out this project, and came via New York, direct to Stark county, Ohio, but bought a farm in Carroll county. While re- siding there she married again, and in 1864, after selling her farm for the purpose of com- ing to Putnam county, her husband got pos- session of the greater part of her cash and squandered it. Consequently, on reaching Putnam county, Mrs. Auseon's mother was fain to be content with a house and lot in Pandora, where she lived for twelve years, her second husband. meantime, hiring out and being finally killed by a falling tree in Pauld- ing county. The widow then made her home with our subject, dying in May, 1889. By her first husband she was the mother of seven children, but to her second marriage there was no offspring. Of the seven mentioned four died in Germany and three came to America with their mother, viz: John P. Linden, now . of Nebraska; Margaret, wife of our subject, and Susan, wife of Joe Richard, of Monroe, Mich.
The union of our subject and wife was blessed with seven children, as follows: Clara F., wife of Jacob Wagner, of Leipsic; James, at home; Rosa C., wife of Robert Stirret, farmer of Henry county; Nora A., Frank, Mary and Josephine, at home with their father, the mother having died May 9, 1880, a devoted member of the Catholic church and a lady of many virtues. The first year after his marriage Mr. Auseon followed ditching and then rented land and farmed around Pandora about nine years; in 1876 he bought 120 acres of his present farm in Liberty township; in 1877 he bought a lease near by and located
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
his wife thereon; in March he built a cabin on his own farm, and the following year moved into the same. He commenced clearing and continued to clear, set out an orchard, bought more land, and now owns 165 acres, of which 140 are in an excellent state of cultivation. He retains the original log cabin, though in June, 1895, he moved into the modern two- story frame building, keeping the cabin as a relic of early days; He now has a commodious barn and wind-mill, and all the conveniences that make farm life desirable. He does the usual farming and also devotes much attention to improving live stock. At one time he was seized with the Jersey cattle fever, but gave them up as being too small, and now raises short-horn cattle only; his horses are Normans and Clydes, and he has been very successful in all his undertakings. He began farming under many disadvantages, but he was patient and perservering, and can now be said to stand with the foremost agriculturists of Put- nam county. He is a member of Daniel Mil- ler Post, G. A. R., of Leipsic, Ohio, and in politics is a democrat, having filled the office of township trustee four years. He has also served as supervisor and as a member of the school board. In religions faith he is a con- sistent Catholic, and a true and valuable mem- ber of his church.
Q LARK P. AYERS, the deceased husband of Mrs. Sarah E. Ayers, was during life one of the most substantial farmers of Greensburg township, Put- nam county, Ohio, was the son of William and Rachael (Crow) Avers, and was born on May 7, 1842, in Greensburg township. His father was born in Fayette county, Pa., on January 10, 1813, and his grandfather, John Ayers, was a native of New England, and his great-grandfather was James Ayers, who was
of English ancestry, and served in the Revo- lutionary war.
John Ayers, the grandfather of our subject, was reared a farmer, but when the war of 1812 broke out he left his farm and entered the service of his- country, holding a lieutenant's commission. He married Sarah Wallahan, who had come from Ireland with her parents. John Ayers, after marriage, settled in Putnam county in 1837. They were among the earli- est pioneers of Greensburg township, the hus- band having come a year earlier (1836) than his wife, and having taken up a tract of govern- ment land and built a log cabin, and from the immense forest he cleared a farm and soon saw fine fields of grain standing where but a short time before gigantic oaks had reared their heads. He remained on this farm till his death in January, 1852.
His son William, and the father of the sub- ject of this sketch, passed most of his early life on a farm. In his youth he learned the shoemaker's trade, and worked at it in the intervals of his farming. He was brought by his parents to Putnam county in 1837, and here married Rachael Crow, and to them four children were born: Dr. Hiram M., of Panl- ding, Ohio; Asahel, who died in infancy; Clark P., the subject of this sketch, and Sarah M., deceased wife of Henry Danger. Both hus- band and wife were members of the Disciples' church. In politics he was a democrat and had served in local offices. He was a very successful farmer and a much respected citi- zen. He died October 10, 1893, his wife having preceded him twelve years, dying ou May 8, 1881.
Clark P. Ayers was the youngest son and was given a fair education in the public schools of Greensburg township. Having been reared on a farm he decided to adopt agriculture as a calling for life. On June 22, 1869, he mar- ried Sarah E., who was born in Greensburg
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
township on April 7, 1849, a daughter of Jacob and Susan (Guy) Dangler, and was one of a family of twelve children, eleven of whom are still living. She was given a good educa- tion both in the English and German lan- guages. After their marriage the young couple settled on the old homestead of the Ayers, where the husband had been success- fully engaged in farming, and here their family of six children were born: Vela V., born June 9, 1870, now the wife of William Mullett, a farmer living in Greensburg township; Alta A., born September 22, 1871, now married to Charles Kirkendall, of Croswell, Ohio; Octa O., born March 17, 1875; William W., born April 9, 1878-both the latter attending school in Angola, Ind .; Rachael, born June 4, 1881, and Mazie M., born October 12, 1885, both at home.
Mr. Ayers was a member of the Disciples' church, to the support of which he always contributed liberally. In politics he was a stanch democrat and was elected by them to the office of justice of the peace. He was an upright man and a public-spirited citizen, and had the confidence and respect of all his neighbors. Death called him away December 26, 1889. His widow has continued to reside on the farm and manages all its affairs with skill. She is a member of the Disciples' church, and is giving her children the advan- tage of a good education.
J OHN BACON, one of the oldest and best known farmers of Blanchard township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Virginia, August 8, 1820, and is the third son in the family of nine children born to Isaac and Ruth (Siler) Bacon. His grandfather, also named John, was a native of Ireland, of Scotch-Irish descent, and came to America prior to the Revolutionary war, in
which he served, later settling in Tennessee, where he passed the remainder of his life, hav- ing reared five sons and three daughters, four of the sons subsequently finding homes in Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee.
Isaac Bacon, the second son of John the elder, was born November 10, 1775, in Ten- nessee, and was reared a farmer. He served in the war of 1812, as a volunteer from Vir- ginia, in which state he had settled, and in September, 1825, came to Ohio and located on a farm he had previously purchased in Licking county, and on which he resided until 1852, when he came to Putnam county and passed the remainder of his life with his chil- dren in Blanchard township, dying July 17, 1862. He was married, January 22, 1801, to Miss Ruth Siler, who was born near Martins- burg, Va., June 13, 1778, a daughter of Jacob Siler. This lady died August 15, 1866, the inother of the following children: George; Elizabeth, who married George Barne: and died in 1838; Jeremiah S., who died in Louis- iana after the close of the Civil war: Agnes, who was first married to James McDowell, then to William Sackett, and died in 1882; Mary, wife of Eli H. Maxwell, died in Blanch- ard township; Ruth, died in infancy; John, the subject of this sketch; Jane, the wife of Henry Dusch, died in Gilboa, Ohio, and Isaac who died in Licking county, Ohio.
John Bacon, our subject, was brought to Ohio by his parents, who located in Licking county. At the age of twenty-one years he came to Putnam county and purchased eighty acres of land in section 22, Blanchard town- ship, cleared and improved the tract, and added twenty acres additional, but now re- tains forty acres only. living, as he does, in comparative retirement. Mr Bacon was first married to Miss Jane French, daughter of Robert French, and there resulted to this union five children, as follows: James;
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
Olivia; now Mrs. Theodore Patrick; Harriet, married to D. S. Blakeman; Mary J., de- ceased. wife of Cyrus Worden, and Clement L., who died at four years of age. The mother of this family died in 1870, and for his second helpmate Mr. Bacon chose Mrs. Elizabeth Bacon, daughter of Henry Sherred, and this union has been blessed by the birth of one daughter, Ruth, who is now a public school-teacher.
In politics Mr. Bacon has been a life-long democrat and has served as township trustee, and for nine years has been a member of the school board; he is a gentleman highly honored for his integrity and public spirit, and his worth is freely admitted by all who have ever had the pleasure of his acquaintanceship.
ON. SAMUEL S. BACON, druggist, Ottawa, Putnam county, Ohio, and a resident of the city for over a quarter of a century, was born in Licking county, Ohio, July 11, 1833, a son of George and Nancy (Stewart) Bacon, natives, respect- ively, of Virginia and Pennsylvania. . The Bacon family were doubtless of English de- scent, but for several generations they resided in Virginia. The grandparents of our subject, Isaac and Ruth (Siler) Bacon, came to Ohio from Virginia about 1825, and located in Lick- ing county, whence they came to Putnam county. and died at the advanced age of eighty- two years. Isaac Bacon was a patriot of the war of 1812, was a man of the strictest integ- rity, and detested a prevaricator. To Isaac and Ruth were born nine children, viz: George, the father of our subject; Elizabeth, deceased wife of George Barnes, of Licking county; Jeremiah S., a school-teacher, student of med- icine and a ripe scholar, died in Louisiana after the clos of the late war; Agnes, widow of the late Jarws McDowell, of Putnam county, and
the deceased wife of William Sackett, she dy- ing in 1882; Mary, wife of Eli H. Maxwell, of Gilboa, Putnam county; Ruth, who died in in- fancy; John, a farmer of Blanchard township, Putnam county; Jane, deceased wife of Henry Dush, of Putnam county, also deceased, and Isaac, who died in boyhood, in Licking county, Ohio.
George Bacon, the father Hon. of S. S. Bacon, passed the early part of his manhood in Licking county, was there married, and in 1836, with his wife and three children. came to Put- nam county, bought eighty acres of land in Blanchard township, to which he subsequently added forty acres, making in all 120 acres, on which he resided until his death, February 22, 1866, at the age of sixty-six years; his widow survived until 1886, when she died at the age of seventy-eight years. They had born to them a family of seven children, named as fol- lows: Isaac, a deceased farmer of Putnam county; Samuel S., the subject of this sketch; Jeremiah, a farmer of Blanchard township; Homer, who died when about nineteen years of age; Wilson, who also died when a young man; William, who served in the Ninth Ohio cavalry during the late war, was with Sherman on his march to the sea, and is now a farmer of Sacramento Valley, Cal., and Oscar, who died in early manhood.
Hon. Samuel S. Bacon was reared on the home farm in Blanchard township, Putnam county, Ohio, was educated in the common schools, and at the age of twenty years began teaching school during the winter seasons, em- ploying his vacations on the farm. For one year he taught in Licking county, and for five or six years followed the vocation in Patnam county, acquiring a fine reputation as an edu- cator. In 1859 he engaged in mercantile busi- ness in Gilboa, Putnam connty Ohio, and five years later engaged in buying and shipping live stock, in which occupation he employed hin-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
self for about twelve years, doing an extensive business. Mr. Bacon is quite popular with the democratic party, and for several years was a a justice of the peace in Blanchard township, and also served as mayor of Gilboa. In 1878 he was elected probate judge of Putnam county, was re-elected in 1881, and occupied the bench in all six years. In 1885 he purchased a half interest in the drug store of Justice Bros., at Ottawa, in 1887 became the sole proprietor, and now carries one of the most complete stocks pertaining to a first-class establishment of the kind to be found in the county of Putnam.
The marriage of Mr. Bacon took place March 16, 1858, to Miss Emeline H. Stewart, a daughter of Andrew, a soldier in the war of 1812, and Elizabeth (Borst) Stewart. She was reared in Huntington county, Pa., where she was born August 28, 1835. To this union were born three children, viz: A son, who died in infancy; Jessie M., who died January 12, 1873, at the age of six years; Gertrude, P., born January 4, 1871, now wife of Alton R. Robenalt, a pharmacist in the employ of Mr. Bacon, and to this union one child, named Samuel S., was born December 9, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Bacon, and their daughter and her husband, are members of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Bacon has been an elder for the past fifteen years, and represented Lima Presbytery in the general assembly of the Presbyterian church of the United States of America, in conference at Minneapolis in 1886. Mr. Bacon was made a Mason in 1870, at Ottawa, and is now a member of the Ottawa lodge, No. 325. He is a thoroughly progress- ive gentleman, and as such is fully recognized by his party and the public at large. Beside the office held by him as alluded to above he was appointed, in 1889, by the city council, mayor of Ottawa to fill a vacancy, a position he held for one year with credit to himself and to the full satisfaction of the public.
It may be well here to add that while on the bench as probate judge Mr. Bacon had a case before him in which an appeal from his decision was carried to the court of common pleas, in which judgment was reversed; the case was then carried to the district court, in which the decision of the common pleas court was sustained; from the district court the case was appealed to the supreme court of the state, which gave a final judgment, sustaining the decision of Judge Bacon. In all his judi- cial career Mr. Bacon carefully weighed every point in the cases brought before him, an i not one of his decisions was ever successfully ap- pealed from. He is a profound thinker. is a gentleman of sound judgment. and deservedly holds the full esteem and confidence of the people of Putnam connty.
EREMIAH BACON, a prosperous fariner of Blanchard township, Putnam county, was born in Licking county, Ohio, April 5, !836, a son of George and Nancy (Stewart) Bacon. The father, George Bacon, the eldest son of Isaac and Ruth (Siler) Bacon, was born in Berkeley county, Va., in 1803. He came to Ohio in 1825 with his father. who settled in Licking county, and in 1836 came to Putnam county, where he entered eighty acres of land in section No. 36, Blanchard town- ship, cleared up a fine farm, and here passed the remainder of his life, dying February 28, 1866, a life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he was a demo- crat, and for twenty years was assessor of his township. To his marriage with Nancy Stew- art were born seven children as follows: Isaac, deceased; Samuel, of Ottawa, Ohio; Jeremiah, our subject; Eminger, deceased; Homer, de- ceased; William, of California, and Oscar. de- ceased. The mother of this family died in : 1886, and her mortal remains now lie interred
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
beside those of her husband in the Harmon graveyard, in Blanchard township.
Jeremiah Bacon, whose name opens this biography, received the usual common-school education furnished to fariners' boys, his at- tention during his youthful days being chiefly devoted to his farm duties and the study of matters agricultural. In 1836 he came to Putnam county with his parents and located on forty acres of land in section No. 14, Blanchard township, and here made his home for three years, when he purchased the old homestead left by his father. In 1883 he bought ninety additional acres just west of the old, and now has under cultivation 125 acres. He has built on his place a substantial modern dwelling, has erected all the necessary farm buildings, and the farm presents as neat an appearance as any in the county, showing the care it receives through the supervision of an intelligent and skillful owner.
October 19, 1862, Mr. Bacon was joined in wedlock with Miss Catherine Smith, daugh- ter of Nimrod and Mary Smith, and this union has resulted in the birth of two children --- Stoddard and Rollo J., the last named having been twice married, his first wife being a Miss McClure and the second a Miss Eva Moffitt. In politics Mr. Bacon is a democrat, and has filled the office of township trustee; in religion he is a Methodist, being a trustee of the Meth- odist Episcopal church at Gilboa; fraternally he is a member of the Ottawa lodge, No. 325, F. & A. M., and socially he stands with the best people in the township.
J OHN P. BAILEY, senior member of the law firm of Bailey & Bailey, is a native of Page county, Va., born near Harri- sonburg, Rockingham county, on the 12th of September, 1853. George W. Bailey, his father, a native of Page county, Va., was
married September 16, 1852, to Malinda Dri- ver, and shortly thereafter moved to Ohio, locating about four miles north of the city of Lima, Allen county, where for some time he found employment as a farm laborer. After accumulating sufficient means, he engaged in the pursuit of agriculture for himself, which he carried on for some years as a renter, and sub- sequently purchased a farm of 1 10 acres, where he has since resided.
The subject of this sketch was a child some six weeks old when the family moved to Ohio. He was reared in the county of Allen, and, after acquiring a good public-school education, attended the normal schools of Ada and Leb- anon, in which he pursued his studies assid- uously for the purpose of preparing himself for the teacher's profession. He was engaged in educational work for a period of eight years, the greater part of which time was spent as principal of the schools of Beaver Dam, Bluff- ton and Leipsic, and during the last three years as a teacher he read law with Barr & Werner, Leipsic.
Mr. Bailey came to Putnam county in 1878, and since February, 1882, has been a resident of Ottawa. He was admitted to the bar Jan- uary 4, 1881, and began the practice of the profession in partnership with C. N. Haskell, under the firm name of Haskell & Bailey, a partnership which lasted until March, 1888. From the latter date until May, 1890, he was alone in the practice, and then entered into partnership with his brother, D. M. Bailey, the firm thus constituted still continuing.
Mr. Bailey has been an active man of affairs, and a hard worker in the democratic party in Putnam county several years. He held the office of prosecuting attorney from January, 1886, until January, 1892, and was twice his party's candidate for the office of attorney-general, the first time in 1891, and again in 1893. He has represented bis party in various conven-
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
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tions. As a lawyer, Mr. Bailey is careful, con- scientious and capable, and as a citizen is pro- gressive, public spirited and liberal, enjoying in an unusual degree the confidence and good will, not only of his professional brethern but of the public as well. Mr. Bailey takes an active interest in the K. of P. fraternity, being a charter member of lodge No. 565, Ottawa. He was married, September 2, 1875, to Miss Laura Edgecomb, daughter of Ezra and Lou- isa (Thayer) Edgecomb. Mrs. Bailey was born in Allen county, Ohio. Seven children have been born to them, viz: Arthur C., born August 17, 1876 -- died November 9, 1870; Maggie M., born May 2, 1879, died October 5, 1880; Lena B., born July 21, 1881 ; Bessie I., born July 5, 1884; George E., born Angust 16, 1886, Thay- er E., July 8, 1889, and Ralph E., whose birth occurred December 3, 1893. Mr. Bailey was one of the organizers of the N. Y., M. & W. R. R. now the F. Ft. W. & W. R. R .; he also as- sisted in the organization of the Ohio Telephone company, and to him, as much as any other man, is Putnam county indebted for this great improvement.
Daniel M. Bailey, brother of the above, and junior member of the law firm of Bailey & Bai- ley, is a native of Allen county, Ohio, and was born March 4, 1862. He was reared a farin- er's boy, first attended the common schools, and later acquired a knowledge of the higher branches of learning in the normal schools of Lebanon, Ohio, and Valpariaso, Ind. He taught school for eight or ten years in Allen county, and for a period of three years held the position of deputy clerk of the probate court, pursuing the study of law in the mean- time under the instruction of M. A. Hoagland, of Lima. After his admission to the bar, March 6, 1890, Mr. Bailey began the practice of the profession at Ottawa in partnership with his brother and he has already won a conspicuous place among the successful attorney. of the
Putnam county bar. Mr. Bailey, though a young man, has made commendable progress in his profession, and by adhering to the same has before him a future of much promise. On the 17th of September, 1884, Mr. Bailey and Miss Laura Hadsell, of Allen county, daughter of Daniel A. and Catherine (Aldridge) Hadsell, entered into the marriage relation. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are popular in Ottawa and are de- servedly classed with the most respectable peo- ple of the city.
S ELAH BARNARD, one of the old substantial residents of Jackson town- ship, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Vermont December 28, 1825, and is the son of Edward and Lorainy (Giegory) Barnard. The fatherwas born on Nantucket island May 26, 1797, his father having been Da- vid Barnard, who was a sea-faring man and captain of a vessel, but also had acquired the trade of cooper. His wife was Lydia Star- buck, and to them three children were born- Moses, Seth and Edward. Edward, the father of our subject, was reared on the farm and was united in marriage to Lorainy Giegory October 25, 1820. She,was the daughter of Selah and Maria (Wheeler) Giegory, and to this union eight children have been born, namely: Ann Eliza, wife of F. M. James, a farmer of Lincoln township, Monroe county, Ohio; Selah, of this biographical mention; William P. and Mary J., deceased; Rachael P., widow of Henry Cole, of Ashley, Iowa; Susan L., deceased; Lydie P., wife of Norton D. Chapman, of Toledo, Ohio, a blacksmith by occupation; Mrs. Emma E. Wilson, of Morrow county, widow of Peter Wilson who lost his life from a wound received in service in the late war, while a member of the valiant Ninety-sixth Ohio volunteer infantry. After his marriage the father of our subject liv. d in
Jacob B. Basingu
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OF PUTNAM COUNTY.
Vermont until 1833, when he moved to a farm in Delaware county, Ohio, and remained there until his death, which occurred in September, 1880. His earliest political affiliations were with the whig party, and naturally with the inception and organization of the republican party he became identified with that. He served as clerk of the township for nearly a fifth of a century, and was a man of marked ability. Mrs. Barnard, his wife, died in Au- gust, 1880, six weeks before the death of her husband.
Selah Barnard, of Jackson township, from which this sketch receives its title, spent his early days on a farm in Delaware county. Ohio, now Morrow county, and learned the wagon and buggy-making trade, which occu- pation he followed for twenty years, being a skillful and successful workman. On the 27th of January, 1856, he was united in marriage to Isabel M. Taynor, who was born in 1831, and to this marriage eight children were born: Ida, wife of John Hitchcock, of Jackson town- ship; Florence, wife of James Hamilton, of Union township; Alberta, wife of John Leidy, whose sketch will be found elsewhere; Edward Arthur, and four others, deceased. After his marriage Mr. Barnard lived in Morrow county until 1872, engaged in farming and wagon- making, and then spent ten months in Fulton county, where he married his wife, who died February 27, 1866. May 7, 1862, he enlisted in the Union army, in the three months' serv- ice, as a member of company C, Eighty-fifth Ohio volunteer infantry; under this enlistment he served five months, then re-enlisted in com- pany M, Third Ohio volunteer infantry, and served until August 4, 1865, receiving his dis- charge at Columbus, Ohio. He was a par- ticipant ii the battle of Lovejoy Station, and all of the others from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and was a brave, true soldier, and to such men as Selah Barnard do we owe our country's
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