USA > Ohio > Champaign County > A centennial biographical history of Champaign county, Ohio > Part 45
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one of the stanch pioneer families of the county, where he is known as one of the progressive farmers and representative citizens.
Martin Bowen Saxbe was born on the old homestead, in Union township. Champaign county, on the 14th of March, 1855, being a son of Thomas Saxbe, who was born in England and who severed the ties which bound him to home and native land and as a mere boy of thirteen years emigrated to America, paying his passage by working on the vessel on which he made the voyage, and landing in New York City in due course of time. There he grew to maturity and there married Miss Lucy Bowen, who was born in the state of New York. They removed to Champaign county in the early days, and here the father was engaged in farming until his death, in 1860. our subiect being about five years of age at the time. The mother survived him by many years, passing away at the age of about three score years and ten. Of their five children three grew to years of maturity, our subject having been the fourth in onder of birth. Thus deprived of a father's care in his early boyhood. Martin B. Saxbe was early thrown on his own resources, working for his board on various farms in the locality and attending the district schools as opportunity afforded. His life was thus far from auspicious in its conditions in his boyhood days, but he early developed that self-reliance and stur ly independence which have been the conservators of his suc- cess and which have combined with an inflexible integrity to gain and retain to him the highest measure of confidence and esteem. Mr. Saxbe worked at farming in this county until he had attained years of maturity. and also became quite expert at the carpenter's trade. He finally went to Livingston county, New York, where he followed this trade about four months, at the expiration of which he returned to Champaign county and engaged in farming, taking charge of the farm of his stepfather. Warren Freeman, and thus continuing to devote his attention to agricultural pur- suits until his election to the office of sheriff. in 1888. when he took up
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his residence in Urbana. He was chosen as his own successor in 1890. and served for another term of two years, and then served as deputy sheriff under R. N. Miller for three years and nine months, when he resigned. At this time Governor Bushnell conferred upon him the posi- tion of captain of the day guard of the Ohio state penitentiary, at Cohim- bus, an incumbency which he retained for four years. Mr. Saxhe then returned to Champaign county and took up his residence on the farm which he now owns and occupies, the same being located in section 14. Urbana township, and comprising one hundred and sixty acres of finely improved land. the greater portion of which is under a high state of cultivation, while he also devotes no little attention to the raising of live stock of the best grade. Mr. Saxbe is a thoroughly capable and pro- gressive business man, and his success is the more gratifying to con- template when we advert to the fact that it is entirely the result of his own efforts. He started out as a poor boy, his advantages were ex- tremely limited, and yet he has not only overcome the obstacles which beset his path, but has gained a high reputation as a man of ability and indubitable probity, his discharge of his official duties bringing to him the maximum commendation, while in his business enterprises he has shown the same fidelity and has followed a straightforward course at all times. He has been a stalwart supporter of the Republican party from the time of attaining his majority, and prior to his election to the office of sheriff, and while residing in Union township. he served as a meni- ber of the constabulary of the county. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal church. and both he and his wife are members of Grace church, in the city of Urbana. Fraternally he is identified with Harmony Lodge, No. 8. . \. F. & A. M., of that city. In addition to his farming interests Mr. Saxbe is the owner of the Palace Hotel, at Urbana and is a stockholder in the Urbana National Bank, of whose directorate he was a member until his removal to Columbus. Ile was
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at one time interested in a shoe business in Mechanicsburg, and at the present time is associated with his son Harry M. in the electric-light contracting business, the firm having taken contracts for the installation of a number of excellent lighting plants in this section of the state, and having made the enterprise one of importance.
Mr. Saxbe has been twice married. His first union was solemnized in 1875. when Miss Bettie J. Woody became his wife. She died leaving four children,-Harry M., Nettie B., Lydia S. and Joseph W. On the Bist of November, 1895, Mr. Saxbe was united in marriage to Miss Mary Staub, who was born in Greenville, Illinois, the daughter of John W. and Susan ( Black) Staub, being the youngest of their three chil- dren. Her mother died when she was but eleven months of age and she was reared in the home of her uncle. Mr. and Mrs. Saxbe are the parents of two children,-Howard M. and Marvin.
JONAS LOUDENBACK.
Jonas Loudenback is one of the old and prominent settlers of Mad River township and it was here that his birth occurred, his natal day being January 29, 1816. His father. Daniel Loudenback, was born in Page county, Virginia, October 2, 1786, and when a young man came to Cham- paign county, Ohio, being one of the first settlers within its borders. He was married in Mad River township and took up his abode in the midst of the green woods, where he built a log cabin and lived in true pioneer style. Venison furnished many a meal for the early settlers, for deer were very plentiful. There were many wild animals and Indians were numerous in the neighborhood. lle died in his eighty-ninth year in the faith of the Baptist church, of which he had long been a member. His
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political support was given to the Democracy. His father was of Ger- man descent and died in Virginia. The incther of our subject bore the maiden name of Mary l'ence and was also a native of the Old Dominion, whence she came to Champaign county during her girlhood days. Her father, Abraham Pence, was one of the early settlers of the county and established his home in the midst of the forest, where he developed a farm. Mrs. Loudenback reached a very advanced age, passing away in her ninety-sixth year. By her marriage she became the mother of two sons and two daughters: Allen: Sarah; Betsey, the wife of William Baker, of Shelby county ; and Jonas, of this review.
Our subject was the second son and third child. He was born in a little log cabin in which his parents lived in Mad River township, and was educated in a log school house, seated with slab seats and supplied with other primitive furniture. During the summer months he assisted. in the work of the fields, aiding in the plowing, planting and harvest- ing. In 1837 he was united in marriage to Phobe Jenkins and unto, them were born two children, but both are now deceased. The mother also passed away and for his second wife Mr. Loudenback chose Susan Snyder. Unto them were born three children: David, the eldest, was born in Mad River township, March 3. 18.43, was reared upon his father's farm and pursued his education in the common schools. He married and has five children living . Edgar and Edna; Walter, who married Daisy Adlar, of Westville; Frank and Wilbur. Carrie, sister of David, died at the age of three years. Mary Jane, youngest of her father's three children, is the wife of Arthur Pence, of Shelby county. Ohio, and they were the parents of eleven children, of whom four are deceased. Those still living are Webster. James W., Edward, Walter, Hattie. Sasan and Daisy. Sarah became the wife of Isaac Smith and (lied leaving six children : Susan, Earl, Ernest, Carrie. now deceased, Willard and Burton.
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In the year of his marriage Mr. Loudenback located on a farm where he now resides. He is one of the oldest early settlers of the township. having passed the eighty-sixth milestone on life's journey. Both he and luis wife are members of the Baptist church, with which they have long been connected, and he has always been a supporter of the Democratic party, his first vote having been cast for Martin Van Buren in 1837. when he was twenty-one years of age. lle has never failed to vote at a presidential election since that time. Throughout his entire business career he has carried on farming, and as the years have passed he has made the most of his opportunities. Now, in his declining days, he can look back without regret and forward to the future without fear, for his has been an honorable and upright life, winning for him the esteem and confidence of his fellow men. He has witnessed almost the entire growth and development of the county, has seen it mature from prini- itive conditions to take its place among leading counties of the common- wealth; has seen its wild lands transformed into beautiful homes and farms and at all times has borne his part in the work of progress and improvement, and well does he deserve to be numbered among the pioneer residents of Champaign county.
EBENEZER WILSON.
Man's usefulness in the world is judged by the good that he has done, and determined by this standard of measurement Ebenezer Wil- son occupies a position among the most prominent citizens of Champaign county. Ilis life has been noble and upright, one over which falls no shadow of wrong ; and long after he shall have passed away his memory will remain as a blessed benediction to those who knew him.
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A native of this county, being born in Harrison township, March JO, 1821, he has passed his entire life in this county with the exception of a few months, and is therefore well known to his neighbors, and dur- ing all these years he has steadily maintained his high character. Ilis paternal grandfather. Miles Wilson, was a native of Virginia, but in an early day removed to Washington county, Pennsylvania, there locat- ing on a farm, where he died shortly after his arrival. His son. Joseph Wilson, became the father of our subject. He was born in Washing- ton county, Pennsylvania, in 1792, and was there married to Eleanor Fullerton, also a native of that commonwealth. Shortly after marriage they came to Champaign county. Ohio, in 1817. locating on one hun- dred and sixty acres of land in Harrison township, which he cleared and improved. and there he was engaged in farming and stock-raising until his life's labors were ended in death. In political matters he supported the Whig party until the nomination of Fremont, and from that time on was a stanch Republican. Mrs. Wilson was called to her final rest in 1832, passing away in Champaign county, after becoming the mother of eight children. In the following year, in 1833. Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Amanda Spencer, by whom he had seven chil- dren, of whom four are now living, and our subject was the third chill of the first family. The father passed to his final reward in August. 1866. after a long and useful career.
Ebenezer Wilson, of this review, was about twenty-one years of age when he entered upon the battle of life on his own account. work- ing as a farm laborer from August until the following April. For the next two years he tarmed on rented land on Buck creek, south of Ur- bana, and from that time until November, 1853, he resided on rented farms in Salem and Harrison townships, since which time he has occupied his present place. From early morn until dewy eve he worked to clear and develop his land, and in the course of time his labors were rewarded
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with bounteous harvests. He has experienced all the trials and hard- ships of pioneer life, but at length his efforts have been crowned with success and there has come to him a handsome property as the reward of his labors. As the years have passed by he has added to his original purchase of one hundred and thirty acres until his landed possessions now consist of two hundred and seventy-five acres, all of which is under an excellent state of cultivation, and the many and substantial improve- ments thereon stand as monuments to his thrift and ability.
In Salem township, in 1847, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Lucinda Muzzy, a native daughter of Champaign county, and here she has spent her entire life. Her father was a native of Vermont and her mother of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have had nine children, namely : Eleanor, Horace and Joseph, deceased ; Henry P. and Jennie, at home : Frank, Lucinda and Mary, also deceased : and Nellie, at home. All were born in Champaign county. The family are members of the Presbyterian church at Urbana, in which they are earnest and efficient workers. Politically Mr. Wilson affiliates with the Republican party, and for eight years he was the efficient infirmary director, while for a long period he has held other township offices. Wherever known he is held in high regard, and in Champaign county, where his entire life has been passed, he has a host of warm friends.
JOHN C. NORMAN.
One of the prominent and successful agriculturists of Champaign county is the gentleman whose name introduces this paragraph and who is a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of this section of the old Buckeye commonwealth. His finely improved farm-
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stead is located in Johnson township and gives unmistakable evidence of the energy, discrimination and progressive methods which have been brought to bear by the enterprising owner, who has clearly demonstrated that it is possible to make farming a distinctively successful and profitable business enterprise.
Mr. Norman was born on a farm in Concord township. this county, on the 22d of January. 1843. being the son of Gabriel Norman, who was born in the same township, on the 6th of June, 1814, the son of Christian Norman, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, prior to the segregation of Page county from the same, and there he was teared io maturity. There he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Zimmerman, and there occurred the birth of one of their children. Savilla, who was about one year old at the time when they emigrated to Ohi ) and became numbered among the earliest settlers of Champaign county. They came here about the year 1805. and located in the virgin forests of Concord township, where the grandfather of our subject took up a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of government land, clearing the same and making improvements, including the eventual erection of a brick house, one of the first of the sort in this section. Christian and Mary Norman became the parents of nine children, all of whom were born in this county with the exception of the eldest. to whom reference has already been made, the names of the children being as follows: Savilla, Benjamin, Leanna, Sarah. Gabriel, Betsy, Lemuel, Lydia and one who died in infancy. All are now deceased. The father was a wagonmaker by trade, but devoted the greater portion of his life to agri- cultural pursuits and was one of the honored pioneers of this county, to whose early development he contributed a due quota.
Gabriel Norman. the father of our subject, was born on the old homestead in Concord township, and was there reared to the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm, early beginning to aid in the work of
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reclamation and cultivation and receiving such educational advantages as were afforded in the primitive log school houses of the pioneer epoch. Upon attaining his legal majority he gave inception to his independent career, engaging in farming in his native township and there establish- ing a home. On the 24th of November, 1839, he was united in mar- riage to Rebecca Brubaker, who was born in this county, July 12, 1821, and who has here passed her entire life, having now attained a venerable age and retaining the affection of a wide circle of friends. Her husband passed away November 17, 1899, at the advanced age of eighty-five years, five months and eleven days. They became the parents of six children, namely: Harriet, who is deceased; John C., who is the sub- ject of this sketch: Mary F., who resides in Millerstown: Samuel B., who is deceased; L. Monroe, who is a resident of Millerstown; and Clara Etta, who is deceased. Gabriel Norman was originally an old- line Whig in his political proclivities, but he identified himself with the Republican party at the time of its organization and ever afterward was a stalwart advocate of its principles and policies, having never missed casting his vote at a presidential election from the time of attaining his majority until his death. He was a man who commanded unequivocal confidence and esteem, was strong in his convictions and was one who achieved success through his own efforts, while he will long be remem- bered as one of the worthy citizens of the county where he passed his long and useful life.
John C. Norman, to whom this sketch is dedicated, was reared on the parental farmstead, in Concord township, in whose public schools he received his educational training, so profiting by the advantages afforded as to become eligible for teaching. For five years he was a successful and popular teacher in the district schools of Adams and Johnson town- chips, and he made in excellent record in connection with his pedagogic
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work. He had devoted one year to farming in his native township, and in 1868 he located in Millerstown, this county, where he engaged in the mercantile business, conducting a general store and successfully continu- ing the enterprise until 1880, when he disposed of the same and located on his present farm, which comprises sixty acres and which has the best of improvements and is under a fine state of cultivation.
Mr. Norman has taken an abiding interest in all that concerns the well-being of his county and state, and he has been one of the prominent supporters of the Republican party here, having been for ten years a inember of the county central committee. He has been secretary of the Spring Grove Cemetery Association from the time of its organization and for about eighteen years he has been a member of the directorate of the First National Bank of St. Paris. He holds the unqualified cou- fidence of the people of the community and has been called upon to serve as administrator of several estates, being known as a man of marked business capacity and inflexible integrity in all the relations of life. His home farm is but a small portion of his landed estate in the county, for he is the owner of four hundred and twenty-seven acres and the greater portion of the same is under most effective cultivation, the farms re- ceiving his personal supervision and yielding excellent returns.
On the 17th of March. 1868, in Concord township, Mr. Norman was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Pence, who was born in this county and here reared and educated. Her father, the late Jonathan Pence, was a native of Concord township, this county and was a son of David Pence, who came from Virginia to Ohio and became one of the first settlers in Champaign county. The mother of Mrs. Norman bore the maiden name of Mahala Comer, and she likewise was born in this county, a representa- tive of another of the prominent pioneer families. Mrs. Norman was the only child. Our subject and his wife have had two children, namely : Maude, born May 15, 1873. who is the wife of McClellan Frank, a sue-
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cessful farmer of Concord township ; and Charles, who was born June 28, 1870, and died on the 22d of the following November. They have one grandchild, John Warren Norman, born July 8, 1890.
WILLIAM H. WILSON.
A man's life work is the measure of his success, and he is the most truly successful man who, turning his powers into the channel of an honorable purpose, accomplishes the object of his endeavor. The subject of this review is one of that sterling class of men whose attention is devoted to the agricultural industry, and he has contributed to the development and advancement of his native county, as did also his father and grandfather before him, from which fact it may be inferred that our subject is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Champaign county.
William Hamilton Wilson was born in Harrison township, this county, on the 2;th of February. 1851. being the son of Andrew Wil- son, who likewise was a native of the county, having been born in Ur- bana township in the year 1813. When he was three years of age his parents removed to Harrison township, but about a year later they re- turned to Urbana township, and he has ever since maintained his home of his present farm, having new attained the venerable age of eighty- eight years. His father, William Wilson, was born in Ireland, whence he came with his parents to America when about thirteen years of age. the family locating in Virginia, from which state he came to Ohio in the early pioneer epoch, locating in Champaign county, where he passed the remainder of his life, as did also his wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Humphrey, she also having come from Ireland with her parents
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when about three years of age. Andrew Wilson married Elizabeth J. Wright, who was born in Virginia and who came with her parents to Ohio when about fourteen years of age. She died at the age of sixty- four years, having been a noble and devoted woman. Her father, Ben- jamin Wright, was likewise born in Virginia, where the family was established in the colonial period of our national history. Andrew and Elizabeth J. Wilson became the parents of four sons and six daughters, all but one of whom attained years of maturity, the subject of this sketch having been the third in order of birth. He was reared to the discipline of the farm and is indebted to the district schools for the early educa- tional advantages which came to his pertion in his boyhood days, and this was supplemented by a thorough course in the normal school at Urbana, where he ably qualified himself for pedagogic work. devoting his attention to teaching for a period of fourteen years and being very successful in this profession. his entire career as a teacher having been in connection with the schools of only four districts, showing that his services and abilities were duly appreciated.
On the 244th of August, 1876, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Tillie Heath, who was born in Concord township. this county. on the 31st of December. 1858, being the daughter of James W. and Nancy Heath, who were early settlers in the county. Mrs. Wilson was educated in the schools of this county and is a talented artist, having produced many attractive pictures in both oils and water-colors. Our subject and his wife have no children.
Mr. Wilson continued to reside in Harrison township until 1892. when He removed to Concord township, where he was engaged in farm- ing until 1895, when he removed to Marion county. Kansas, where he made his home about three years, then returning to Concord township, Champaign county, where he purchased the old homestead of his father- in-law, of which he disposed in 1901, and then purchased his present fine
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farmstead. of eighty acres, in Urbana township, the place being equipped with the best of permanent improvements and being under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Wilson is progressive and discriminating in his methods, and thus secures the best possible results from his farm, which is one of the attractive places of this section. In politics he has given an unequivocal support to the Republican party from the time of attain- ing his majority, and he was twice elected to the office of trustee of Concord township, while for two years he served as assessor of Harrison township. Fraternally he is identified with West Liberty Lodge, No. 96. I. O. O. F.
JONATHAN S. NEER.
On the roll of Champaign county's respected and leading citizens is found the name of Jonathan S. Neer, who for many years has been act- ively connected with the agricultural interests of Goshen township. He was born in Clark county, Ohio, March 25, 1851, and his father Joseph C. Neer, was also a native of that county. In 1868 the latter took up his abode in Champaign county, and in the following spring he located on a farm in Goshen township, where he made his home until about 1884. In that year he left his Ohio home and went to Kentucky, but after a resi- denee in that state of seven years he returned to his former home. His death occurred on the 25th of May, 1902. He was a successful farmer, a life-long member of the Methodist Protestant church ; a loyal soldier and a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and he passed into eternal rest while attending the memorial services at Mechan- icsburg. While yet a resident of Clark county Mr. Neer was united in marriage to Dorothy Smith. Iler father. James Smith, came from Penn- sylvania to the Buckeye state in a very early day, locating on a farm in
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