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 69
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of the hospital at Gallipolis, remaining in charge of the same for a period of four months. Severing his connection with the ariny, the doctor, in the fall of 1862, returning to the university of Michigan, from which he was graduated the following year, and at once resumed his practice at Ottawa, Ohio, which he had established before taking his final course. He continued the practice very suc- cessfully until 1869, at which time, actuated by a laudable desire to increase his profes- sional knowledge, he entered Bellevue Hos- pital Medical college, New York city, grad- uating from that noted institution with the class of 1870. Three years later, he again went to New York city, and took a course in the college of Physicians and Surgeons, ir ad -; dition to which he afterwards took special courses in Chicago and Cincinnati, sparing no reasonable means to place himself in the very front rank of his profession. At Chicago the doctor made a specialty of abdominal surgery and the diseases of women, and at Cincinnati he made a study of the eye under some of the greatest specialists in the United States. From the foregoing it will be seen that Dr. Beardsley brought to his life-work a mind well fortified with professional training and his career, since engaging in the practice, presents a series of continued successes, second to that of no other physician in northwestern Ohio. He combines within himself the characteristics of the deep thinker and true healer; believes in the dignity of his profession, and has a rep- utation extending far beyond the limits of the county where he has so long practiced. Finan- cially his success has been most flattering, having realized a fortune, owning valnable property, consisting of a handsome business block and residence in Ottawa, and over 500 acres of valuable farm lands in different parts of the country.
Dr. Beardsley has been twice married ---- the
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William Blodget
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first time, June 22, 1856, to Miss Naomi Swapp, whose death is mentioned in a preceding par- agraph. The second marriage occurred March 5, 1862, to Miss Talitha Ann Davenport, daughter of Gove and Ann Davenport. Dr. and Mrs. Beardsley have a family of three sons, the eldest, Corydon Orlando, being associated with his father in prac- tice. He is a graduate of the university of Michigan in the class of 1888, and also an alumus of the Ohio State university. He read medicine with his father, took a special course in the treatment of the eye and ear in Cincin- nati, and was graduated from the institution in that city in 1895. The second son, Ed. Beardsley, is a graduate of the Ottawa high school, took a three-year course in jewelry mechanics at Dayton, after which he was for a short time engaged in the jewelry business in Ottawa. In 1894 he began the study of den- tistry, and is now perfecting himself in that profession by a comse, in the Ohio Medical university. The third son, Charles D., also a graduate of the schools of Ottawa, completed the law course in the university of Michigan, June, 1891, and is now practicing his profes- sion at the state capital, in partnership with W. L. Merwine.
Dr. Beardsley is a member of the state and district medical societies, also a member of the American Medical association, and has been three times a delegate to the International Medical society, as the representative of the Northwestern Ohio Medical association, of , which he has served as president. With one exception, the doctor is the oldest Mason in Putnam county, having been initiated at Grand Rapids, Ohio, in the year 1855; he is still an active worker in the order, belonging to Ottawa lodge, No. 325. He belongs to the R. A., Tawa council, No. 496, of which he is now past regent, and supervising grand regent of the sante. 3
ILLIAM BLODGET, an experi- enced and very prominent agricul- turist of Blanchard township, Put- nam county, Ohio, is a son of Stillman and Mary (Flint) Blodget, and was born July 13, 1828, in Wayne county, Ohio, and is primarily of English extraction. His paternal grandfather was a descendant of the old and well known Blodget family of Vermont, who were the progenitors of all of the name in the northern part of this country, and his immediate family consisted of seven members -of wnom three resided in Canada and four came to Ohio. One was killed in the Domin- ion and two died in that country. Mr. Blodget came to Ohio late in life, and died at the home of his son Stillman, in Blanchard township, Putnam county, at an advanced age The maternal grandfather of onr subject, Mr. Flint, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution and died in Vermont.
Stillman Blodget was born in Orange county, Vt., March 14, 1788, moved early in life to New York state, was a farmer and dis- tiller, and between the years af 1826 and 1828 came to Ohio and in Wayne county resumed his vocations of farming and distilling. In June, 1838, he came to Putnam county, pur- chased eighty acres of land in section No. 31. Blanchard township, cleared up his farm, and here passed the remainder of his life, dying December 20, 1863. He had married, in the state of Vermont, January 17, 1817, and the children of whom he became father were named, in order of birth, as follows: Caroline, who was married to Nathan Stout, and died in Illinois; Nancy, wife of Nelson Hubbard; Charlotte, wife of Orin Thompson; Celica, deceased wife of James Rice, Stillman, de- ceased; William, of Blanchard township: Still- man, of Defiance county; Ann, deceased wife of E. Cook, and Martin, of Leipsic, Ohio. Politic- ally, M. Blodget was first a whig, ant later
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
became a republican. He was a Protestant Methodist in religion and was one of the original mnumbers of the Riley creek church, of which his wife, who survived him until Sep- tember 24, 1891, was also a devout member.
William Blodget, whose name stands at the opening of this biography, was reared to the hard work of the farm, and received his early education in an old-fashioned log school- house. Ih 1849 he made a trip to California, where he engaged in mining and teaming for six years, and then returned to the homestead in Putnam county, Ohio, where he has since resided. He has now in cultivation 208 acres in section No. 31, Blanchard township, and forty acres in Section No. 6, Riley township, all in one tract. This farm has been improved with a most excellent dwelling and substantial out-buildings, is well drained and thoroughly cultivated, and is very productive, yielding a rich reward for the labor bestowed upon it.
The first marriage of Mr. Blodget took place April 16, 1857, with Miss Sarah J., daughter of Adam Miller, and this union was fruitful in the birth of the following children: Mary Ellen, born January 24, 1858, now the wife of William Carr; Cordelia, born Septem- ber 4, 1859, now the wife of David Marks; Clara, born August 29, 1863, and married to Adam Marks; Royal Nelson, born November 18, 1864, and died in Kansas; Charles and William, twins, born July 18, 1869, and Earl, born September 12, 1873, all three residing in Blanchard township. Mrs. Blodget, the mother of this family, was called from earth April 5, 1874, and for his second helpmate Mr. Blodget selected Miss Eliza A., daughter of Hartford and Rachael Harriman, of Riley township, whom he married August 19, 1875, and this mion was blessed with the birth of two chil- dren-Oscar Hartford, boru January 20, 1879, and Walter Garfield, born July 22, 1883.
In their church membership, Mr. and Mrs.
Blodget belong to the Protestant Methodist congregation of Riley township, Mr. Blodget being a trustee. In politics he is a republican, but has never sought public office. Mr. Blodget is well known for his charitable dispo- sition and generous impulses. He is liberal in his contributions toward the church support and toward the advancement of the educa- tional interests of the county. His christian influence is felt throughout the community, and his social standing is with the best mem- bers of the society of Riley, Blanchard and the surrounding townships.
HOMAS BEGG, a practical and thriv- ing farmer of Sugar Creek township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Dumbartonshire, Scotland, August 5.
1839. His parents, John and Mary Begg, came to America in i 843, landing in New York with our subject when about four years old, whence they came to Chio, and rented !; nd in Franklin county. In the old country John Begg had been a miner, but after coming to the United States he adhered to farming, after he had once entered upon that vocation In 1855 he came to Putnam county and entered a tract of land in Jackson township, to which he added an adjoining tract by purchase; in 1875 he moved across the line into Allen county, where he bought still another farm, on which he passed the remainder of his days. Here his wife died May 21, 1878, and he September 20, 1886, both in the faith of the Presbyterian church. Of eight children born to Jobs and Mary Begg two died in infancy Of these, that grew to maturity. William, at the age of twenty-five years, enlisted August 15, 1862, in company A, Fifteenth Ohio volunteer infintry, was assigned to the army of the Tennessee and was killed October 8, 1862, at the battle of Perryville, ky. ; Thomas, our subject, culisted
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May 2, 1864, in company K, One Hundred and Thirty-third regiment, Ohio volunteer infan- try, for the 100-day service, was assigned to the Tenth army corps and was in an engagement between Richmond and Petersburg, Va., escap- ed without injury, and received an honorable discharge at Columbus, Ohio, in August, 1864; Janet, the eldest daughter, is yet single; John is a prominent farmer of Allen county, Ohio, and is one of the state lecturers of the state board of agriculture; James died young, and Mary married Lewis Rower, who died and left her a widow with five children, still on her home farm in Putnam county.
Thomas Begg, the subject of this sketch, grew to manhood in Franklin county, Ohio, and was married in October, 1870, to Mary J. Kalb, a native of the county, born May 30, 1837, daughter of Jeremiah and Mahala (Shoc- maker) Kalb. Jeremiah was a native of Frank- lin county, Ohio, and his wife of New Jersey, and they were the parents of two children, Mary J. and Sarah E. To the union of Thomas and Mary J. Begg no children have been born, but they have reared two adopted children -- Harry D. and Emma K. Barto, for whom they have done all that parents could possibly have done. In 1873, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Begg came to Putnam county and lived on rented land for a year, when Mr. Begg bought eighty acres of his present farm, almost all of which is now under a good state of cultivation, and well improved with a comfortable dwelling and commodious out-buildings, and also well tiled. In 1891, he bought eighty acres additional, of which sixty-eight were cleared, and this traet Mr. Begg is also placing under cultivation. He has given some attention to live stock, but as a rule devotes his attention to general farming. He is quite popular in his township and has filled several local offices, including that of township trastee. He is esteemed as an hon- orable and industrious citizen, whose thrift and
skill are meeting their due reward, and whose patriotism is duly appreciated by his neigh- bors.
'ILLIAM H. BEGG. M. D., one of the leading physicians of Columbus Grove, Ohio, is a native of the Buckeye state, having been born on January 5, 1853, at Groveport, Franklin county. His parents were William and Jane (Dobbie) Begg, both natives of Scotland, the father having been born at Cumberlandshire in 1808, and the mother in Bannockburn in 1812. They were married in June, 1834. and started at once for America, arriving at or near Columbus, Ohio, in September of the same year. They resided in the vicinity of Lithop- olis and Groveport until December, 1856, when they came to Columbus Grove, making the journey by wagon and arriving here in January, 1857. They remained in Columbus Grove two years, and then removed to their farm, one and one-half miles south of Colum- bus Grove, which farm they had purchased be- fore coming here. They resided on their farm the balance of their lives, the father dying August 28, 1864, and his widow Jannary 18, 1883. To the parents seven children were born, two of whom died in childhood, and an- other, Elizabeth Morris, died October 4, 1864. The living children are Mrs. Mary J. Cheadle, of Kansas; Mrs. Meron E. Light, of Rush- more, Ohio; our subject, and John Andrew, of Scott, Van Wert county, Ohio. The par- ents were members of the Presbyterian church.
Dr. Begg was four years old when he came to Columbus Grove, and from his sixth to his eighteenth year he was reared on his father's farm. His educational advantages were lim- ited to the schools of the district, which he attended during the winter months. But his surroundings at home were most excellent, as 1
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his father was not only well educated, but pos- sessed a fair library, and then, too, the doctor's eldest sister was a finely educated woman, and was of great assistance to him. During the winter of 1870-71 he clerked in a drug store in Columbus Grove, and the following summer he worked on a farm near Columbus, Ohio, after which he took a position in a dry-goods house in Columbus for three years.
In the fall of 1874 he came home from Columbus, and entered the Columbus Grove public school, where he spent the year. The following summer he taught school in the dis- trict where he was reared, and then in the fall of 1875 he went to Wilkesville, Vinton county, Ohio, where he entered the academy as a teacher, and also pursued a course of studies in that institution. He taught there two terms, and the following spring he entered the Na- tional Normal university at Lebanon, Ohio, where he remained until the following August. He tanght school through the winter and at- tended school during the summer at Lebanon for two years. In the winter of 1877-78 he taught the Columbus Grove high school and also held that position until December, 1879, when he resigned to enter the medical depart- ment of the university of Michigan, he having for three years previous to that time been read- ing medicine at every opportunity while teach- ing. He attended a full year at Ann Arbor, leaving there in June, 1880. The following fall he entered the Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati, from which he was graduated in March, 1881. Returning to Columbus Grove he opened an office on the ist day of April, and entered at once into the active practice of his profession. In the fall of 1882 he went to New York and took a three-months' course in the Post-Graduate Medical school of that city.
Dr. Begg was nnited in marriage on Sep- tomber 8, 1881, to Miss Mattie Kohli, of Cohim- bus Grove, daughter of Peter Kohl. To their
union four children have been born, the eldest one, Harvey, dying in infancy. The living children are Ethel Jane, Russell Stuart and Harold Kohli. Dr. Begg is a member of the American Medical association, the Ohio Med- ical association and the Northwestern Ohio Medical association, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity. In politics Dr. Begg is a republican and takes an active interest in pub- lic affairs. In 1892 he was an alternate dele- gate to the national republican convention in Minneapolis.
J OHN BELL, a retired farmer of Perry township, Putnam county, Ohio, and a well-known citizen, is a son of John and Eliza (Kilpatrick) Bell, and was born in_ Connty Tyrone, Ireland, June 16, 1820. The father, John Bell, Sr., was born in the same county about 1761, and was a son of William and Elizabeth ( Mccutchen) Bell The parents, John and Eliza, were married about the year 1808, and there were bom to them ten children, viz: Joseph, of Perry township, born in 1810; Mrs. Mattie Hawks, deceased; Mrs. Eliza Colbert, deceased; Jane, o Phila- delphia; William, deceased; John, our subject; James, of Jackson township, Putnam county, Ohio; Kate, of Philadelphia, and two that died in infancy. John Bell, Sr., came to Amer- ica in 1856, his sons having preceded him ten years, and died in Philadelphia about :859, a member of the Presbyterian church, in which he held various official positions of trust. His widow expired in the same faith in 1861.
John Bell, subject of this sketch, was reared on his father's farm in Ireland, and also learned the weaver's trade. In 1846 he came to the United States, and in Philadelphia worked in the wareroom of a weaving estab- lishment until 1859, when he came to fatnam county, Ohio, and worked on a farm until
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of a cabin was begun, and in the spring of 1853, with the aid of sundry hospitable pio- neer neighbors, the dwelling was completed. It was built of round logs, and was 22x18 feet square, and roofed with clap-boards, held down by withe-poles. With the help of the father the boys cleared four acres of land, and with the aid of the hoe, corn was planted be- tween the stumps and under some of the high trees bordering the clearing, and a fair crop was raised, on which the family lived the first year, with the addition of a few potatoes, some garden stuff and coffee. A part of the time the father worked on the railroad, while the sons did the farm work and continued the clearing. The boys would also pick up a little money by cutting hickory hoop-poles and selling them at Delphos for a few pennies, and thus assisted the father in bearing his burden. The boys had to go to Delphos to mill, carry- ing a peck to a half bushel of corn on their backs, following the canal bank, and return- ing with the meal at night, through the woods, with birch bark torches to light the way. At one time there was a grist-mill at Fort Jen- nings, to which place, however, there was no road. This mill was run by Lonis Boehmer, then a young man, whose biography may be found on another page. On one occasion the two brothers, Sebastain and Martin, carried the usual grist on their backs through the roads to this mill, taking with them, in their pockets, the last piece of bread in the house for lunch, and wading through water alnost waist deep the entire distance. By the time they reached the mill they had eaten their bread, and when Louis Boehmer had ground their corn they were still wet, tired and hungry. On getting possession of the meal they started on their return home, but on the way ate heartily of their uncooked burden, and were sorely afraid of the consequences when the good mother should miss a portion
of her treasure. And thus the pioneers tided over the interval until the reign of plenty came, which was but a short time afterward. The father, Sebastian Bendele, while the boys were hard at work on the farm, devoted his time to whatever he could find to do, some- times working for fifty cents per day.
At the age of seventeen years, Sebastian, our subject, also began working out at four dollars per month for farming, and then drove a team of two yoke of oxen from Ottoville, at nine dollars per month. At the age of twenty- one he went to Seneca county and drove an ox team for seventy-five cents or or dollar per day. After his return home, he farmed for a short time on the homestead in the interest of the family, or until the father's death. At the age of twenty-mne he was mar- ried at Ottoville, by Father Mueller, May 7, 1868, this being the second ceremony of the kind performed here by the revereneu gentle. man. The bride was Miss Catherine Herzog, who was born December 19, 1844, in Baden, Germany, a daughter of Carl and Gertrude. (Hans) Herzog. The father was a sto. . mason by trade, and he and wife were the parents of the following children: Sophia (who died at the age of fifteen years), Catherine, Emma, Theresa, Fannie (who died a young woman) and Charles, all born in Baden. The father there died at about the age of fifty "ears, a member of the Catholic church and a well-to do and highly respected gentleman Of the children, Catherine, Fannie and Charles came to America, but at different times; the other members of the family remained at home.
After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Bendele set- tled on the eighty acres in section No. 22, which his father had bought after selling his first forty-acre tract, and which om subject, assisted by his brother Martin, had cleared up, and on which he still continues to re ile, but which he has increased to 120 acres, all being
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well cleared, cultivated and improved. To the happy union of Sebastian Bendele and wife have been born eleven children, in the follow- ing order: Rosa, Antony, Katie, Helena, Mary, Annie, Bridget, Matilda, Sebastian, Barbara and Leo. The family are all members of the St. Mary's Catholic church at Ottoville. Mr. Bendele assisted to build the original church edifice with his own hands, and the present magnificent stone structure, an account of both of which will be found in the biography of Father M. Mueller, Mr. Bendele has ever been a stanch and liberal supporter of this congregation and is at present a representative member of the church council. In his politics Mr. Bendele is a democrat and has been for a number of years a member of the school board. By his own hard work, assisted willingly since marriage by his faithful wife, Mr. Bendele has carved ont from the wilderness a handsome and profitable farin and made a most happy home, and has reared a large and respected family. He has seen all the wonderful changes that have taken place since the days when the pioneers passed through miles of woods to church, carrying a rifle or shotgun, and shoot- ing game for their families as they journeyed back and forth to and from their homes, until now, when neither forest nor game is to be seen, and in their places blooming fields of grain, orchards and domestic animals, and in bringing about this mighty transformation he has taken no insignificant part. To the labors of such as he is the gratitude of the present generation dne for the civilization which it enjoys.
ARTIN BEENDELE, one of the en- terprising and successful farmers of Monterey township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Alsace, France (now Germany), December 6, 1842, a son of
Sebastian and Catherine (Scharer) Bendele. The father, Sebastian, also a native of Alsace, was born in the village of Eggesheim in Feb- ruary, 1811, was reared a farmer, and August 12, 1838, married, at Kaltenbach, a widow, Marie Catherine Scharer, the union resulting in the birth of three children-Sebastian, Helen and Martin. In 1852 the family came to Amer- ica, and after a voyage of forty days from Ha- vre de Grace landed safely in New York, on the 5th day of May, whence they came directly to Ohio, and after stopping a few days with a relative in Seneca county, reached Putnam county in the latter part of October of the same year. Mr. Bendele, at Defiance, entered forty acres of land now occupied by Aaron Huysman in Monterey township, which, aided by his chil- dren, he converted into a good farm, and also bought the eighty acres on which his son Se- bastian now lives. He was a strict Catholic, aid- ed in building the first church of that denomi- nation in Ottoville, and died in the faith in 1864.
Martin Bendele, our subject, was nine years of age when brought to Monterey township by his parents. He distinctly remembers the de- parture of the family from his native village for America; their detention at Havre for twenty days; the voyage across the ocean and the arrival in this country, and all the incidents following up to arrival at Ottoville (they being the seventh of the German Catholic families to arrive here), and the lone store, the saw- mill and three or four cabins scattered here and there. When he could be spared from his share of the work required in clearing off the farms spoken of above, he was permitted to attend the old log school-house for a few weeks, and so reached the years of manhood among the pioneers. January 12, 18;0, he was united in marriage, at Ottoville, with Miss Helena Sanders, who was born in Seneca county, Ohio, June 24, 1846, a daughter of
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William and Mary A. (Kelly) Sanders. The father, William Sanders, was a native of Penn- sylvania, of German extraction, and a son of one of the original pioneers of Seneca county, Ohio. In 1855 William Sanders brought his family to Allen county, remained one year, and then, in 1856, came to Monterey town- township, Putnam county, partly cleared up eighty acres of land from the wilderness, and died three years later, aged about forty years. His widow, aided by her sons, subsequently succeeded in clearing up the farm in full, and on this she still lives. Of her family of seven children, two only are now living, John and Helena.
After marriage Martin Bendele and wife settled on a farin of sixty acres which had been partially cleared. To this he added until he now owns a fine place of 100 acres, all cleared and improved, including a model barn that cost $1,000 in cash to erect, and $500 in addition for labor, timber cut off the place, hauling, and incidentals. It is a surpassingly fine structure for the purpose and unexcelled by any barn in Putnam county, and its surround- ing improvements are made on an equal scale of beauty and durability. The union of Mr, and Mrs. Bendele has been blessed with the unus- ually large family of fourteen children, of whom only one has been called away, the thirteen survivors being named, in order of birth, as follows: Susannah, Nicholas S., Joseph, Mary S., Catherine, Wilhelmina, Frank 11, John, William S., Charles, Martin, Peter and Clara. The family are members of the St. Mary's Catholic church at Ottoville, of which Mr. Bendele has been a member of the council for nearly eight years. In politics he is a demo- crat and has been a school director. He is a thoroughly practical farmer as well as business man, and has done much toward redeeming Monterey township from a wilderness and in making it a paradise of civilized prosperity,
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