USA > Ohio > Champaign County > A centennial biographical history of Champaign county, Ohio > Part 8
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In 1883 Dr. Ziegler was united in marriage to Mary Winters, the widow of David Winters and a daughter of John F. Rettberg, of Kings Creek. Four children have been born into this union : Vaughan, born April 7, 1885; Naomi, born March 7. 1890; Ruth, born February 16, 1895 : and John, born April 14, 1898. Dr. Ziegler gives a stanch sup- port to the Republican party, and in all the varied relations of life he 1 has been honorable, sincere and trustworthy, winning the praise and admiration of all with whom he has been associated.
JACOB HORR.
An enterprise in Mechanicsburg which represents in its rapid growth a vast amount of well directed energy and pronounced business sagacity is the lumber and coal business of Jacob Horr, one of the well known citizens of the town. Owing to his honest and careful methods of dealing with the general public Mr. Horr finds himself the recipient of a patronage gratifying from both a personal and financial standpoint. and a continued demand for his necessary commodities is a prediction
Jacob Hour
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justified by the success of the past. So nearly were his first business expectations realized that in 1889 he broadened his interests to the extent of operating a well equipped saw and planing mill, and the combination thus effected has materially augmented the output of the yards.
With the exception of temporary absences, Mr. Horr has spent his entire life within the radius of his present surroundings, and he was born not far from Mechanicsburg, March 13. 1844. His parents, Will- iam and Mary (Coan) Horr, were born in Carthage, Jefferson county, New York, in which city they were married, and from there removed to Goshen township, this county, in 1837. As early pioneers of their lo- cality they contributed much to the agricultural prosperity, and their well tilled farm continued to be their home for the remainder of their lives. Not the least meritorious of their many claims to the consid- eration of the community was the rearing to lives of usefulness of seven children, two of whom are now deceased. The children were taught the dignity and utility of a model farming existence, and educationally . were permitted every advantage at the disposal of their parents. With his brothers and sisters Jacob Horr attended the public schools of Mechanicsburg, and further qualified for the future by taking a course in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, from which he graduated in the spring of 1866. His career at the university was interrupted in the spring of 1864, at which time he enlisted in Company C, One Hun- dred and Thirty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with the rank of cor- poral, and served until October of the same year. Although not a long service, he gained a fair knowledge of the horrors of war, and of the character of that grand and silent soldier, Grant, with whom he fought at and around Petersburg. Since the war he has been a member of the Stephen Baxter Post, No. 88, Grand Army of the Republic.
After completing his education Mr. Horr taught school for about four years, and then turned his attention to farming in the vicinity of
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Mechanicsburg until 1886. During that year he saw an opening for a live business in coal and lumber, and wisely devoted his energies to the building up of his present lucrative industry. A large measure of success he attributes to the assistance of his wife and helpmate, who was formerly Sarah Magruder, and whom he married in Mechanicsburg in IS7I. Of this union there is one daughter, Nellie, who is now the wife of John B. Outram, of Lippincott, Ohio. Mr. Horr is a Republican in national politics, but has never desired or accepted official recognition. He is a member of and generous contributor to the Methodist Episcopal church. The farming and stock-raising enterprises to which he devoted several years of his life are still maintained on a large scale, but in other respects he is identified with the energetic and resourceful life of the town which has benefited to no slight degree by his admirable citizenship.
THOMAS MCCARTY.
One of the straightforward, energetic and successful agriculturists of Champaign county is Thomas McCarty, whose birth occurred in Rush township, this county, September 5. 1849. His father, James Mc- Carty, was a native of Virginia, but became one of the early pioneers of Rush township, Champaign county, where he followed the tilling of the soil until his life's labors were ended by death, in Wayne township, when he had reached the age of sixty-nine years. He married Sarah Ann Lease, a native of Virginia. and they became the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters. Thomas, John, Elizabeth and Deborah. John by accident died when eight years of age.
Sarah Ann (Lease ) McCarty, soon after the birth of Deborah, her fourth child, passed away, nearly fifty years ago. James McCarty then
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married Nancy Johnson, by whom he had six children, three now living. two boys, George W. and William M., and Augusta, all of whom are married and settled in life.
Thomas McCarty, the eldest son and second child in the above fam- ily, was about four year's of age when he was taken to Auglaize county, Ohio, there remaining for the following sixteen years, and since 1866 has made his home in Wayne township, Champaign county. In 1871 he was united in marriage to Mrs. Martha J. ( Kimball ) Chatfield. She was born three miles south of Woodstock, Rush township, Champaign county, May 15, 1843, and was the widow of David H. Chatfield and the daughter of T. M. and Mary ( Fullington ) Kimball. Her father was born in Vermont, but when thirteen years of age came with his mother to near Milford Center. Ohio, the journey being made with ox teams, and they located in Rush township. He lived to the good old age of nearly ninety-two years, being born April 1, 1803, and his death occur- ring December 18, 1894, in Champaign county, where he had located in a very early day. He gave his support to the Whig party in early life, but after the organization of the Republican party joined its ranks and on its ticket was elected justice of the peace, which office he held for a number of years. He was twice married, and by his second union, when Mary J. Chatfield Hunter became his wife, two children were born. By his first marriage he had twelve children, Mrs. McCarty being the sixth child and fifth daughter in order of birth. She was reared in her native township and there received her education in the common schools. By her first marriage, to David Chatfield, she became the mother of three children, but only one of the number is now living, William S., a farmer of Wayne township. The union of Mr. and Mrs. McCarty has been blessed with two children,-Eva, the wife of Lymon B. Wheeler, of Westerville, Franklin county, Ohio; and Susan May, who died at the age of three and a half years.
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Mr. McCarty is now numbered among the leading and representa- tive farmers of the community, and in Wayne township he owns one hundred and ninety acres of rich and well improved land. His wife, Martha, lived upon this land since 1866, and her husband since his marriage. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Protestant church, in which they are active and prominent workers, and Mr. McCarty is now superintendent of the Sunday-school at Jenkin's Chapel.
NELSON B. JOHNSON.
Throughout his entire life Neison Boggs Johnson was numbered among the citizens of Wayne township, Champaign county. His birth here occurred in the parental home on the Ist of July, 1810. His father, Jacob Johnson, was born in Maryland, July 27. 1766, while his mother was born in Pennsylvania, October 20, 1774. In 1804 the father came to Champaign county, locating on the east fork of Kings creek, and in the following year he took up his abode in Wayne township. they being the first white family to locate in the Mingo valley. There the father's life's labors were ended in death in 1845. His wife, nee Martha Boggs, (lied on the same farm in 1854, at the age of eighty-two years. Of their nine children Alford is the only one now living, and he resides in Mingo, Champaign county.
Nelson B. Johnson, the eighth child in order of birth, with his two brothers remained on the old home farm until he was fifty-eight years of age, engaged in farming and stock-raising, and at that time the place was divided, it then consisting of nineteen hundred acres. After his marriage our subject located on the farm on which his widow now re- sides, where he continued his farming and stock-raising interest :. As
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the years passed by success abundantly rewarded his well directed efforts, and at his death he was the owner of twelve hundred and twenty- seven acres, a princely domain. He carried forward to successful com- pletion whatever he undertook, and his business methods were ever in strict conformity with the ethics of commercial life. He was also a strong temperance man, and throughout his entire life he never used tobacco in any form or never uttered a profane word. He passed away on the IIth of August, 1895, at the age of eighty-five years, but in the hearts of his friends are enshrined many pleasant memories of him, and his influence for good remains with those who knew him. In early life he gave his political support to the Republican party, and afterward be- came a supporter of Greeley.
On the 12th of May, 1868, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Anna Eliza Gilbert, who was born in Harrison county, Virginia, Febru- ary 16, 1839. Her father, Amos Gilbert, was a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, but when a young man he removed to Harrison county, West Virginia, and throughout his business career he was engaged both in farming and merchandising. His father, Amos Gilbert, Sr., was a native of England, but in early life he came to this country, and was here married to Latitia Canby. After a happy married life of only one year he was called to his final rest. Amos Gilbert, the father of Mrs. Johnson, was married in Harrison county, West Virginia, to Phoebe D. Wilson, who was there born, reared and educated, and they became the parents of eight children, four sons and four daughters, and four sons order of birth, was eight years of age when she came with her parents and two daughters are yet living. One daughter died at the age of thirteen years. Mrs. Johnson, the fourth child and third daughter in to Clinton county, Ohio, and in 1849 she accompanied the family on their removal to Champaign county. She received her education in the dis- trict schools and in the Urbana high school, and for twelve years there-
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after she was one of the county's successful and prominent teachers. It was her intention in early life to become a physician, and as a means to that end she began the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Butcher, after which she attended four courses of lectures at the Phila- delphia Woman's Medical College. By her marriage to Mr. Johnson she became the mother of three children, namely: Mary D., born September 2, 1869; Rodney P., who died on the 22d of October, 1876; and Amos N., who was born April 9, 1877. With her daughter, Mary D., Mrs. Johnson now resides on a valuable farm in Wayne township, but it is her intention to remove to North Lewisburg, where she also owns prop- erty. The family occupy a very prominent position in social circles, and their home is justly celebrated for its charming hospitality.
WARREN D. SIBLEY.
For many years the list of the thoroughly public-spirited and enter- prising business men of Champaign county has included the Sibleys. The family was founded on American soil by the great-grandfather of our subject, Jonathan Sibley, who came from Saint Albans, England, on the Mayflower. Samuel Sibley, the grandfather, was born in Connecti- cut, but afterward removed to New Hampshire, from which state he served for three years in the Revolutionary war.
Benjamin Dow Sibley, the father of him whose name introduces this review, was born in Belknap county, New Hampshire, on the 7th of March, 1791. When twenty-eight years of age he drove an ox team from that state to the Darby Plains in Ohio, and for three years he was employed by Eli Gwynn, one of the landowners and stock-raisers in Madison county, this state. He subsequently came to Rush township,
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Champaign county, where he purchased a portion of the land on which Woodstock now stands, and there cleared and improved a valuable farm. There he followed the tilling of the soil for thirty years, until his life's labors were ended in death, when he had reached the seventy-seventh milestone on the journey of life, passing away on his farm about two miles from Lewisburg. He was one of the public-spirited and influential citizens of the county, in which he held many public positions. and took an active part in the construction of the roads, of which he served as supervisor for several years. In the early days he was an intelligent and active supporter of Whig principles, and after the organization of the Republican party he joined its ranks, remaining loyal to its teachings during the remainder of his life. He was a valued member of the Uni- versalist church, and assisted in the erection of its first house of worship in Woodstock.
Mr. Sibley was united in marriage to Lydia Hillard, a native of Stowe, Vermont. In her girlhood she came with her parents to Ohio and for several years she taught school in Union county, in the old town of Homer. She was born in 1798, and lived to the age of fifty-seven years. Her father, Richmond Hillard, came with ox teams to Ohio in a very early day, taking up his abode in Knox county. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sibley was celebrated in Homer, Union county, in 1831, and they became the parents of five children, two sons and three daugh- ters, namely: Maria, who became the wife of George W. Coates and is now deceased; W. D .. the subject of this review ; Richmond H., also de- ceased : Mary, who died at the age of fifteen years ; and Adelaide, who died when only one year old.
W. D. Sibley was born in what is now Woodstock. Rush township. Champaign county, on the 28th of October. 1823. and in the primitive log school house of that place he received his early education. When only seventeen years of age he began teaching in a school near Marys-
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ville, and for several years he devoted his time to that profession. In the spring of 1848 he came with his father to the farin on which he now resides, the tract at that time consisting of ninety acres, and this was given him by his father. As the years have passed by he has added to his landed possessions until he is now the owner of four hundred and fifty acres of excellent land. Throughout the years of his manhood he has kept well informed on the interests concerning his state and nation, and is a representative of the progressive and intelligent American farmer. He assisted in the organization of the Bank of North Lewis- burg, of which he served as president for twelve years, and is still one of its stockholders. The bank was organized with twelve stockholders, but there are now only five, they being Seth Clark, of Union county; John C. Thompson, who has been the cashier for twenty years; Mrs. Johnson, and Robert Eason.
On the 29th of October, 1850, Mr. Sibley was united in marriage to Sarah A. Clark, who was born in Connecticut, August 7, 1831, a daughter of Jeremiah and Lucretia ( Ripley) Clark, who were among the first settlers of Woodstock. Mrs. Sibley was but seven years of age when she was brought by her parents to Ohio, the family locating in Clark county, where she remained until about fifteen years of age. She then accompanied the family on their removal to Woodstock, where she also taught school for a time. Death came to her on the 21st of August, 1901, after a happy married life of fifty years, they having celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on the 29th of October, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Sibley became the parents of seven children, as follows: Flora, the wife of T. J. Corkery, a prominent attorney of Toledo, Ohio; Ida, at home; Mary D. married Charles G. Markley, a prominent business man of Madison county, Ohio, and now serving his second term as county commissioner ; Benneal, the wife of Otis W. Beck, of Bowling Green, Wood county, Ohio; Glenn, who died when only a year and a half
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old : Staley S., who married Claudia B. Jackson, and at her death she left two sons, Harry Dow and Philip Reed; and Stella, who was a twin of Staley S., and her death occurred at the age of twenty-six years. Mr. Sibley gives a stanch support to Republican principles, and in 1871 he was elected to the office of county commissioner, in which he served for three years. He has also held the position of trustee, and for thirty-five years he was a school director, during which time he took an active part in the erection of the brick school house near his home. For fifty-two years he has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and since his boyhood days he has held membership relations with the Universalist church at Woodstock.
OLIVER TAYLOR.
To indulge in fulsome encomium of a life which was eminently one of subjective modesty would be palpably incongruous, even though the record of good accomplished, of kindly deeds performed and of high relative precedence attained in connection with the practical activities of life might seem to justify the utterance of glowing eulogy. He, to whom this memoir is dedicated was a man who stood "four square to every wind that blows," who was possessed of marked business acumen and was vitally instinct with the deeper human sympathies, and yet who, during his long and useful life, signally avoided everything that smacked of dis- play or notoriety,-and in this spirit would the biographer wish to have his utterances construed. His was a sincere and earnest life and one that brought additional honor to a name that has been honored in connection with the annals of Champaign county from the early pioneer epoch, while the families represented in his agnatic and cognatic lines have been iden-
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tified with American history from the colonial period of the nation. Thus is intensified the consistency of here entering memoir of the honored citizens of Champaign county whose name appears above and who here passed his entire life.
Oliver Taylor was a native son of Champaign county, having been born near Springhill, Harrison township, on the 7th of December, 18IS. The ancestry traces back to the Old Dominion, where was cradled so much of our national history, and the lineage is of Scottish extraction, the original American ancestors having located in Virginia in the early colonial epoch. In that patrician old commonwealth was born Jolin V. Taylor, the father of the subject of this memoir, and in 1804 he emigrated from his native state to Ohio and took up his residence in the primitive wilds of Champaign county, where the work of progress and develop- ment had as yet scarcely been inaugurated. Soon after his arrival in the Buckeye state he was united in marriage to Miss Jane Vance, a sister of Joseph Vance, one of the early governors of Ohio and for several terms a member of congress from this state. John V. and Jane (Vance) Taylor became the parents of eight children, of whom Oliver was the sixth in order of birth and the youngest son. The father rendered valiant service as a soldier in the war of 1812, being a member of the company commanded by his brother-in-law, Captain Joseph Vance, who afterward became governor of the state, as has already been noted. Mr. Taylor developed a fine farm estate in this county and was here exten- sively engaged in agricultural pursuits and in the raising of and dealing in live stock, in which line he attained a more than local reputation, driving his cattle through to the castern markets, across the Alleghany mountains. He was a man who commanded the highest confidence and esteem of the people of the county and was known as one of its distinc- tively representative citizens. He served about fifteen years in the office of county commissioner and was an elder of the Presbyterian church, of
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which his wife likewise was a devoted member. He died on the 28th of January, 1858, at the age of seventy-three years, and his wife was sum- moned into eternal rest more than a decade later, passing away on the 29th of January, 1869, at the venerable age of eighty-one years.
Oliver Taylor, the immediate subject of this memoir, was reared on the old homestead farm, amid the scenes of the pioneer epoch, and early began to contribute his quota to the work of reclaiming and other- wise improving the paternal acres, while his educational advantages were such as were afforded in the typical log school house of the locality and period, the same being equipped with slab benches, puncheon floor, yawn- ing fireplace, etc., as were all of these primitive "backwoods colleges," from which have gone forth some of the most eminent men of our nation, as history amply records. Mr. Taylor continued to be identified with the cultivation of the homestead farm and the carrying on of the live stock business until the time of his marriage, which was solemnized in the year 1848, when he was united to Miss Catherine Caraway, who was born in Champaign county, on the 9th of November, 1819, being the daughter of John Caraway. The latter was a native of Greenbrier county, Virginia (now West Virginia ), whence he removed to Champaign county. Ohio, about the year 1802, settling in Urbana township as one of its early pioneers, and here liis wife died in the year 1823. About two years later he removed to Concord township, where he developed an ex- cellent farm and where he continued to reside until his death, which oc- curred in 1860. Oliver and Catherine (Caraway) Taylor became the parents of three children, namely : John C., who died in infancy : Duncan V., who also passed away in infancy; and Charles Oliver, of whom specific mention is made in appending paragraphs. Both Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were signally consistent and devoted members of the Presby- terian church, and no residents of the county were held in higher estima- tion in the community which was their home throughout the entire course
ยท
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of their unpretentious, worthy and signally useful lives. Mr. Taylor at- tained a high degree of success in temporal affairs, becoming the owner of a fine estate in Concord township and being extensively engaged in the raising of and dealing in live stock in connection with his general agricultural operations. He was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Citizens' National Bank, of Urbana, having been for many years a member of its directorate, while for several years he was incumbent of the chief executive office of the institution, being its president and guiding its affairs with signal discretion. He was a capable and conservative business man and had a maturity of judgment which rendered his advice and counsel of inestimable value. He was entirely devoid of ostentation, was of a kindly and generous nature and held the respect and regard of all who knew him, and his acquaintanceship in the county was exception- ally wide. His political support was given to the Republican party, and, keeping well informed on the questions and issues of the hour, he ever maintained a lively interest in public affairs and was to be found enlisted in the support of all worthy measures projected for the general good. Mr. Taylor died on the 5th of January. 1885, in the fulness of years and well earned honors, and thus passed to his reward one of the sterling pio- neer citizens and native sons of Champaign county. His devoted and cherished wife passed away on the 7th of November, 1871, having been a woman of gentle and gracious character, retaining the affection of a wide circle of friends in the community where she had practically passed lier entire life.
CHARLES O. TAYLOR.
From the foregoing memoir it will be discerned that the subject of this review is a representative of one of the stanch old pioneer families of Champaign county, -- in fact, of two, since his maternal ancestors were
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likewise numbered among the early settlers of this favored section of the Buckeye commonwealth. As the only living child of his honored parents he remains to perpetuate the name, and his own life has been one of use- fulness and definite accomplishment and has been guided and guarded by that intrinsic integrity of purpose which ever invokes objective confidence and respect. He is one of the representative business men of the city of Urbana and is one of the county's progressive and public-spirited citizens.
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