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 68
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preservation and life and honor. In the year 1872, October 26, he located in Jackson town- ship, Putnam county, Ohio, where he lived until 1891, when he purchased his present place, but still retained the old. He is an en- thusiastic Odd Fellow, having been a member of this order for a fourth of a century; a strong republican in politics-a faith born and bred of his whig ancestry. His public trusts have been those of school director and supervisor, both of which he faithfully fills. Mr. Barnard is a man to live by, stand by, and, if need be, swear by; liberal in his views, faithful in his friendships, and ever to be found where the right needs a friend and champion.
J C. BASINGER, of Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio, is the youngest of the five children born to Christian and Catharine (Lugibill) Basinger, early settlers of Putnam county, where our subject was born February 19, 1840, and where he has been identified with agriculture since his earliest days. His education was acquired after he reached his twenty-first year, at Ottawa, Ohio, in a select school, he him- self defraying the expense of the instruction he there received. Hard work had never been a terror to him, and he labored day after day digging ditches in water up to his waist in order to realize funds for future use. His first investment was in eighty acres of land in Indi- ana, but this land he soon traded off for a saw- mill in Putnam county, Ohio; this mill he conducted for five years, then sold it and pur- chased the farm of 160 acres on which he now lives, paying for the same $8,000. There had been made some indifferent improvements on this place and forty or fifty acres had been cleared up, but now he has ico acres cleared and has erected substantial buildings, planted orchards, ditched and tiled the lands and
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
wrought out a farm of which any man might feel proud.
In 1867 our subject married Miss Mary Basinger, who was not, however, connected with him by any ties of consanguinity. This lady is a daughter of C. Basinger, of Allen county, Ohio, and was born in 1845. Her father was a native of Alsace, France, came to America when a single man, settled in Allen county, Ohio, married Miss Catherine Lugebar, became the father of eight children, and died quite a wealthy man, our subject becoming the administrator of the estate. To our sub- ject and wife have been born eleven children, named as follows: Tobias J. and Daniel J., at home; Purces, wife of Peter Amstutz, a clerk at Columbus Grove; Katie A .; David J. and Elizabeth D., at home; Matilda, prepar- ing for school-teaching; Susan, Silas D. and Ida, at home, and Alvin, who died at the age of two years. Mr. Basinger has alway been a strong advocate of education and has had his children thoroughly trained. Three of his sons are teachers of both German and English, and to educate them properly he hired help to do his farm work, that his sons might have time to spare to attend school.
Mr. Basinger is altogether a self-made man, his only extraneous assistance in business life having been a legacy of $700, but, being blessed with a strong constitution, a deter- mined will, a natural capacity for mechanics and a shrewd financial ability, he has earned for himself and now enjoys a more than aver- age competence. He has always taken an active interest in politics, at first leaning toward republicanism and voting for Lincoln and Grant, but he later became a democrat. He has served as township committeeman for his party, has been a member of the board of edpration for a number of years, is now serv- ing as township trustee, and has filled a num- ber of minor offices.
Christian Basinger, father of our subject, was born in Alsace, France, and came to America in 1819, while yet a single man, on an inspecting tour. A few years later he was fol- lowed by his father, brothers and their fami- lies, who, with their descendants, have greatly aided in clearing up, developing and beautify- ing the country. The father of our subject, on arriving in Putnam county, Ohio, entered 200 acres in the woods. He first married Miss Catherine Lugibill in Wayne county, Ohio, whither she had been brought in her childhood by her parents, from France. To this union were born five children, named as follows: Elizabeth, who was married to John Zimerly, a farmer of Wayne county, Ohio; Christ, deceased; John C., a farmer of Allen county; Ulrich, who died the father of eight children; and J. C., the subject of this sketch. The mother of this family died February 19, 1840, and Mr. Basinger next married Mary Sut- ter, of Alsatian descent, and to this last : ar- riage have been born ten children, viz: Peter C., Moses, Benjamin, Aaron, Catherine, Na- thaniel, Theophilus, Fanny, Mary and Mag- dalena. The Basinger family are all members of the Mennonite church. of which the grand- father of our subject was a bishop, and no family in the county is more highly respected.
HRISTIAN BASINGER, one of the leading citizens and farmers of Pleas- ant township, Putnam county, presi- dent of the Peoples' bank of Cohim- bus Grove, was born in Riley township, Put- nam county, on March 12, 1846. Ilis par- ents were John D. and Elizabeth ( Moser) Bas-' inger, both natives of Switzerland. John D. Basinger was a Frenchman, though born in Switzerland, and came to the United States when about eighteen year of age. his mother coming with him, his father having died in the
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old country. They settled in Wayne county, Ohio, first, and then came to Putnam county. . His wife came over when she was about twelve years of age, her family coming at the same time. They settled in Wayne county first, moved to Allen county, and then to Lu- cas county, Ohio. It was in Allen county that the parents of G. Basinger were married, and they settled in Riley township, where he purchased a farm. He died in 1885 at the age of sixty-nine years. His widow still lives, and makes her home in Riley township. To the parents six children were born, as follows: John D., now residing at Flora, Ind .; Chris- tian; Elizabeth, now the wife of Peter Seucher, of Kansas City; Mary, now the wife of Ed- ward Leibe, of Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio; Magdalena, deceased, was also married; John Kratz and Peter, deceased while young. The family are members of the Mennonite church.
Christian Basinger, our subject, was reared on the farm in Riley township and attended the district schools. He remained on the old homestead until he was about twenty-nine years old, and, having married, he removed Pleasant township and settled on a farm of 142 acres he had purchased, on the Ridge road, three miles northeast from Columbus Grove. He has since added to his original farm until he has 321 acres in it, all improved. He also owns forty acres in Blanchard town- ship. In 1880 he erected a barn on his place and in 1889 he built a large stock or horse barn, which is the largest horse barn in the county. In 1893 he erected a handsome new residence on the same road, but about a quarter of a mile nearer town than his old one, where he now resides, his son having the old one.
Mr Basinger was married in 1867 to Regina Hygibill, who was born in Allen county, Ohio, and was the daughter of David Lugibill.
She died in the fall of 1890, leaving two sons -William, who is working a part of the farm, and Levi, assistant cashier of the Peoples' bank, of Columbus Grove. Mr. Basinger was married the second time in June, 1872, to Barbara Bucher, who was born in Allen county and is the daughter of Christian Bucher. To this union three children have been born, one of whom still lives, she being a daughter -Miss Susie Basinger.
In about 1885 Mr. Basinger began dealing in Percheron and French coach horses, mak- ing five importations, visiting Europe, himself, four different times. He became part owner and president of the Peoples' bank of Colum- bus Grove in 1892. In his political views he is independent. In his religions convictions he is a Mennonite, and is a member of Saint John's church.
a HRISTIAN BAUGH. a substantial farmer of Jennings township, Put- nam county, was born in Clarke county, Ohio, October 21, 1846, of German descent. Christian Baugh, his father, was born in the southern part of Prussia, and there married Catherine Smith, their union being blessed with seven children, viz: Jacob, Wilhelmina, Frederick, Christian, Caroline, Anna and Lizzie, of whom Jacob and Wilhel- mina (deceased) were born in Germany. The family came to America about the year 1826, or 1828, and in 1858 the father died in Clarke county, Ohio, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, a member of the Lutheran church.
Christian Baugh, our subject, came to Jen- nings township in 1875, and on the twenty- fourth day of December of the same year was married, on the Sinit homestead, to Johanna Smit, who was born on the place July 16. 1853, a daughter of Frederick J. and Arnolda (Kor- tier née Haverhaultz) Smit The father,
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
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Frederick J. Smit, was born in Meppel, Hol- land, July 23, 1816, a son of Henry, born August 10, 1774, and Johannah Jongkindt, bom June 10, 1770. Frederick J. and Arnolda Smit were the parents of nine children, of whom six lived to maturity. The father came to America in 1850, with his brother-in-law, Harmon Meyers; came to Jennings township and was married, September 19, 1851. Fur- ther mention of the Haverhaultz family will be found in the sketch of Aart Kortier. Mr. Smit settled on his homestead in 1853. It then comprised forty-eight acres, and had been partly cleared by Joseph Rekart. . Mr. Smit cleared up the balance from the woods and converted the whole into a most desirable farm, on which our subject and wife now make their home. Mr. Smit died July 17, 1893, at the age of nearly seventy-seven years; his widow still makes hier home on the old home- stead, at the advanced age of eighty-three years.
After his marriage, Mr. Baugh continued to reside on and cultivate the Smit homestead, and here have been born his two children, Katie A. and Elida. He has industriously exerted himself to improve and beautify the homestead and to increase its productiveness, and has been thoroughly successful in his efforts. He stands deservedly high in the re- gard of his fellow-citizens, and with his wife is a consistent member of the Lutheran church. In his politics he is democratic, but is not an office seeker.
MOS BEAM, a well-known citizen and retired farmer of Union township, Putnam county, Ohio, is a native of Lancaster county, Pa., and a son of Jacob and Rosa (Carnes) Beam, also natives of the Keystone state and of the same county. Amos was born June 27, 1823, and Jacob April
13, 1796, and Peter Beam, father of Jacob, December 5, 1732. Peter, the grandfather of our subject, was a member of the German Lutheran church, and his brother John was also a member of the Lutheran church, and it is related of the latter that one day during the Revolutionary war, while attending divine services, word came that the British were coming along and stealing horses. John left the church, seized a fence rail and "' went for " the British, and, single-handed, forced them to surrender the stolen animals. Peter Beam was a democrat in politics, and died December 8, 1808. Jacob Beam, son of Peter, was reared a farmer, and also learned the blacksmith's trade, and about 1819 married Rosa Carnes, daughter of Abraham and Barbara "tire) Carnes, the union resulting in the birth of eight children, viz: Maria, wife of Matthias Stauffer, of Kalida; Amos, our subject; Mrs. Susanna Miller, deceased; Elizabeth, wi. of Daniel Shipper, of Pennsylvania; Mrs. Katie Burkhart, deceased; Isaac, farmer of Pennsyl- vania; Sarah, wife of I. E. Mussleman, mer- chant of Barnesville, Pa., and John, a former of the same state. The father, Jacob Beam, died November 25, 1878, a member of the Lutheran church and in politics a democrat; and his wife, who was born in 1798, died in July, 1874, in the same faith.
Amos Beam, subject of this sketch was reared on the home farm in Pennsylvania, and learned the shoemaker's trade at the age of twenty; this he followed for five years, and in 1846 married Mary Burkhart. This union has been blessed with ten children, viz: Mrs. Louisa Maybury, deceased; John, deceased; David, farmer of Pleasant township, Putnam county, Ohio; Henry, farmer of Union town- ship; Sarah, wife of James Glansey, of U' non township; Mrs. Mary Scott, of Hardin county, Ohio; Katie, wife of John Buckingham, of Columbus Grove, Putnam county, Lydia, wife
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of John Normain, of Union township, and Rosa, wife of J. E. Bougard, also of Union township, and one other.
Amos Beam for about eight years after his marriage continued his residence in Pennsyl- vania, and in 1854 came to Putnam county, Ohio, and first located in Riley township. In 1855 he bought a quarter section of land in Union township, endured the hardships of pioneer life here for twelve years, and then bought another farm two miles southwest of the first, and here, in 1871, erected a fine brick dwelling, in which he has ever since lived.
Mr. Beam was formerly a democrat in his politics, but is now an ardent prohibitionist. He has never desired to hold public office, but, being popular with the people, who felt they could repose every trust in him, he has been elected township trustee and also school di- rector. He is active as a member of the United Brethren church, to which his wife and all his children also belong, and for more than thirty years has been faithful to its teachings. He has several times been a class leader, and is now the superintendent of the Sabbath- school. As a citizen he is public spirited and prompt in his aid of every worthy project de- signed for the general welfare, and as a farmer he is among the best in the township -- pro- gressive, enterprising and successful.
ENRY BEAM, still a young man and one of the rising farmers of Union township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Lancaster county, Pa., June 14, 1852. The sketch of Amos Beam, father of our subject, will be found above, and, taken in connection with this, will furnish all the facts incidental to the two histories. In 1854 the family came from Pennsylvania to Ohio and settled in Putnam county, where our
subject grew to manhood on the home farm wrought out from the wilderness by his father and himself, and on March 23, 1882, married Sarah A. Hughes, who was born in Putnam county, January 3, 1861, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Perry) Hughes.
John Hughes, the father of Mrs. Beam, was born in Wales, January 29, 1833, a son of Jenkin Hughes, who came from Wales to Put- nam county Ohio, the year his son John Hughes, was born. The last named grew to manhood on a farm in this county, and in 1859 married Elizabeth Perry, who was born in Wales March 3, 1836, and to their union were born six children, who were named Sarah A., wife of subject; Margaret, wife of William Evans; David L., who died November 23. 1880, at the age of sixteen years; Mary Ellen; Jenkin, of California, and Elizabeth, of Fort Wayne, Ind. Mr. Hughes was a soldier in the late war, having served in company F, One Hundred and Fifty-first Ohio volunteer in- fantry, and two of his brothers, David and Evan, died in the service. Mr. Hughes was a republican in politics, and in religion was a Presbyterian, in which faith he died August 12, 1874, his wife following him to the grave March 27, 1875.
The children born to Henry and Sarah A. Beam are five in number, and are named as follows: Mary Naomi, born February 26, 1883; Henry Orlando, born June 18, 1884, John Amos, born May 25, 1889; Levi Augustin, born December 24, 1892, and Lelia Loretta, born June 11, 1895. After his marriage Mr. Beam settled on his farm in Union township, on which he still lives, and which his superior agricultural skill has brought to a first-class condition of fertility. In his political affilia- tions Mr. Bean is a democrat, and has held the office of school director; he is a prominent member of the United Brethren church, in which he holds the office of steward, and his wife
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
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is also an honored member of the same con- gregation. Mr. Beam, although a compara- tively young man, has done much to develop Putnam county and Union township into their present highly cultivated and fertile condition, and it is to such men as he that the common- wealth owes its prosperity.
J OHN BEARD, an old-time and promi- nent farmer of Greensburg township, Putnam county, Ohio, and a son of John and Mary (Carey) Beard, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in September, 1830. The paternal grandfather of our subject was a native of Ireland and settled in Maryland, where he was renowned as a teacher, and lived to be 100 years of age. John Beard, Sr., the father of our subject, was born in North Carolina, came to Ohio when a young man, and was married in Fairfield county; the mother was born in Maryland, July 4, 1802, a danghter of John and Mary Carey. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Beard were born the following children: Mrs. Margaret Pick- ering (deceased), George (deceased), Jacob, Samuel, John (our subject), and Cornelius. The father of this family was a miller by trade and died of cholera in 1832. His widow subsequently married Jacob M. Allen, to whom she bore six children, and died Jan- uary 13, 1889.
John Beard, the subject of this sketch, was reared to his present vocation of farming; was educated in the common schools, and at the age of fourteen years left the parental roof to seek his own fortune. He worked by the month at farming and in the meantime pre- pared himself for teaching. In the fall of 1855 he taught his first school at Cuba, Put- nam county. At this place he taught some four winter terms, and contimed teaching winters until 1866, in the townships of Greens-
burg and Jackson, and the public school of Fort Jennings. In 1856 he purchased a farin of eighty acres, his capital invested being $20, and the place being at Cuba. He partly cleared and made some improvements on this place, and in 1865 removed to Franklin county, Ohio. Returning in 1866, he pur- chased a farm south-east of Fort Jennings, where he lived until he bought his present place of 165 acres in 1872, upon which he has made all the improvements and partly cleared. November 2, 1854, he married, at Colun.bus, Ohio, Mary Jane Case, a native of Canada, who bore him two children-William H., who died in infancy; and Charles W., of Greens- burg township. Mrs. Beard was called from earth in 1866, and ched a strict member of the Christian church. September 22, 1867, Mr. Beard married Mrs. Sophia (Shank) Guy- ton. This lady was born in Ottawa, Putnam county, February 15, 1840, a daughter of Henry and Barbara (Meyers) Shank, natives of Maryland. She was married first to john Guyton, July 4, 1861, and bore him one child, who died young. John Guyton died Septem- ber 15, 1861. By his second marriage Mr. Beard is the father of six children, viz: nris- tian, of Greensburg township; Lucy A., wife of John Bibler, of Palmer township; John 1 ., of Greensburg township; Margaret, died in in- fancy; and Ella B., and Samuel S., at school.
About 1874 Mr. Beard erected his substan- tial dwelling, having by this time otherwise so improved his farm as to make it profitable as well as attractive. Mr. Beard is in politics a a prohibitionist. In 1857 he was elected a justice of the peace and served until 186 :. re- elected in 1872 and has served since; was land appraiser in 1880, and has served as public school director, off and on, for thirty-live years, and for this latter position he is partic- ularly well qualified, having been a school- teacher for twenty-one terms in Cuba, and in
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Jennings and Jackson townships. In 1861 he was made a Mason, and is a member of Del- phos lodge. He is prominent in the Sunday- school work of the Christian church, and stands very high in the esteem of the citizens of Greensburg township as a gentleman of in- tegrity and moral usefulness.
Q HARLES E. BEARDSLEY, M. D., is one of the eminent physicians and surgeons of northwestern Ohio, and the oldest practitioner at this time in Putnam county. Paternally he traces his ancestry to England, from which country his great-grandfather, Daniel Beardsley, came to America in the time of the colonies, and set- tled at Hartford, Conn. The grandfather, Daniel Beardsley, was born in Hartford, Conn., April 21, 1773, where he was reared until eighteen years of age, after which he went to Massachusetts, where he married Hannah Brush, who was born September 23, 1776. of Welsh parentage. Mr. and Mrs. Beardsley made their home in Massachusetts for some time and then moved to Genessee county, N. Y., where for several years Mr. Beardsley was engaged in the milling business, having erected several flouring-mills on the Catskill river. In 1808 he emigrated to Ohio, settled in Licking county, where he remained thirty-one years, and about 1841 became a resident of the county of Hancock, where his death occurred in 1845. His widow survived him about ten years, dying, in 1855, in Putnam county. Daniel and Hannah Beardsley had a family of ten children, the eldest of whom, Barney, was born March 9, 1792. By trade he was a mill- wright, but late in life emigrated to Fowa, where he engaged in the mercantile business. The second child, Anna, was born April 27, 1795, married Osborn Wells, a prominent farmer, and lived and died in Ohio. Tahnon Beards-
ley, the third in order of birth, was born De- cember 15, 1799, was a contractor, and did much of the work on the locks in the city of Akron. Orlando, father of the subject of this biography, was born June 8, 1801; Philo the next son, a prominent lumber dealer and con- tractor of Akron, where his death occurred, was born August 23, 1803; Alfred was born April 8, 1805; he was a farmer and departed this life in the state of Tennessee. Hial was born May 1, 1807, and resides in Iowa, where he is extensively engaged in farming and stock- raising. Daniel was born January 22, 1809, and for years practiced law in Licking county; Hannah, born July 15, 1812, married John Strowther, of Findlay, Ohio, and died in the county of Hancock; Dorinda was born October 6, 1818, was twice married -- the first time to a man by the name of Spicer. and afterward to a Mr. Walters; her demise occurred in the city of Akron.
The doctor's father, Orlando Beardsley, was engaged, the greater part of his life in blacksmithing, and some years before his death moved to a farm, and followed the pur- suit of agriculture. His first wife was Mahala Sweetland, who died January 13, 1837. a few years after her marriage, leaving two children -Laura, born January 22, 1829, now the wife of Elias Ramey, of Fredericktown, Ohio, and C. E., whose name introduces this biogra- phy. Mr. Beardsley's second marriage was with Mrs. Nancy (Graves) Williams, widow of Philip Williams, who bore him one child, John, at this time a prominent farmer and stock raiser of Coshocton county. Orlando Beardsley was a man of the highest integrity, a pious member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and departed this life March 5, 1883.
Dr. Charles E. Beardsley, the leading facts of whose life are herewith set forth, was born in Newark, Ohio, October 14, 1834. He spent the first twelve years of his life under
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
the parental roof, when, owing to a lack of harmony between himself and step-mother, he decided to leave home and seek his fortune elsewhere. The doctor states that he quietly stole away after nightfall, and, withont money, trudged his way many miles to Licking county, where, after some tinie, he succeeded in secur- ing employment in the old Marion furnace, in which he afterward learned the trade of molder; he was thus employed until his fif- teenth year, during which time he husbanded, with the greatest of care, his small earnings, by means of which he was enabled to enter the West Bedford academy, where he pursued his studies about three years, spending his vacations as a farm laborer. In the winter of 1852-53, the doctor taught school in Hocking county, Ohio, and afterward accepted a posi- tion as instructor in the academy at Findlay, where he was engaged in educational work with gratifying success for some time. While engaged in teaching, the doctor determined to prepare himself for the medical profession; accordingly he began the study of the same in the office of Dr. Bass Rawson, of Findlay, Ohio.
Not being able financially to prosecute his studies satisfactorily, he accepted a position as salesinan in the dry goods-house of A. H. Hyatt at Findlay, in which city he was married, June 22, 1856, to Miss Naomi Swapp. The same year the doctor went to Grand Rapids, Ohio, and engaged in the drug business, but after the death of his wife, which occurred March 5, 1857, in that city, he disposed of his stock, and the same year (1857) entered the medical department of the Michigan univer- sity at Ann Arbor. He pursued his profes- sional studies in that institution from 1857 to 1860, and in April, 1861, entered the army, enlisting in company D, Twenty-first Ohio vol- unteer infantry, for the three-month service. He entered the army as a private, but was soon appointed surgeon and placed in charge
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