USA > Ohio > Crawford County > A centennial biographical history of Crawford County, Ohio > Part 37
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dent, earnest and discriminating, and his knowledge of legal principles is pro- found and comprehensive. Thorough preparation well fits him for the con- tests of the courtroom, where he has won many victories for his clients. . 1 careful and conscientious counselor and an able advocate, he holds his pro- fessional integrity as a sacred trust.
Mr. Tracht was married to Miss Myrtle Gledhill, a daughter of Joseph Gledhill, of Jefferson township. Our subject and his wife hold membership in the English Lutheran church, and in his political views he is a stalwart Democrat. He possesses exceptional oratorical ability and power, and through the past five years has delivered many political addresses which in their effective eloquence have wrought good for the party. He has been hon- ored with a number of local offices, and in 1898 he was a prominent candidate for nomination for prosecuting attorney, but was defeated by a small vote. His education and his success are due to his own efforts. His own labor pro- vided him with the means of continuing his more advanced study, and since entering upon his professional career his thorough understanding of legal principles, combined with the utmost fidelity to his clients' interest, have insured him continued advancement.
CHARLES W. MCCRACKEN.
The name of McCracken has been so long closely connected with the history of Crawford county that representatives of the family need no special introduction to the readers of this volume. James McCracken, the father of him whose name introduces this review, was the first mayor of Bucyrus, and through many years took a leading part in the work of public progress along the lines of material, intellectual and moral advancement.
He was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, July 16. 1800, a son of James and Rachel ( Kelly ) McCracken, both of whom were natives of Ireland. After arriving at man's estate the former came to the new world, the date of his emigration being about 1790. The Kellys, however, came to the United States before the Revolution, and the great-grandfather of our subject served as a quartermaster in the American army during the struggle for independence. Being captured, he was placed on an English prison ship in New York harbor, where he was incarcerated for some time. James Mc- Cracken, Sr., located in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, upon a farmi seven miles from Greensburg. He was married in that state to Miss Kelly, and in 1807 removed to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he made his home
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for about nine years. In 1816 he went to Wayne county, taking up his abode near Wooster. In that year his wife was drowned in Killbuck creek. The children of their family were: James, the father of our subject ; Thomas and Nathaniel, who lived and died in Columbiana county; John, who became a resident of Crawford county ; Mrs. John Moderwell, who died in Crawford county, where her husband served as sheriff; Mrs. Josiah Scott, who also died in this county and whose husband was a judge of the supreme court of Ohio and for twenty years practiced law in Bucyrus and in Hamilton; and Mrs. Hattie Adair, of Wayne county, Ohio.
James McCracken, the father of our subject, accompanied his parents on their removal to this state, residing first in Columbiana and afterward in Wayne county. From Wooster, Ohio, he came to Bucyrus, in 1825. He was a wheelwright by trade, and for some years engaged in the manufacture of spinning-wheels at this place. A recognized leader in public thought and ac- tion, he took a very prominent part in public affairs and had marked influence in shaping the policy of the county and promoting its interests. On the in- corporation of Bucyrus, in 1832, he was elected its mayor. For many years he served as justice of the peace, discharging his duties in a strictly fair and impartial manner, and from 1840 until 1844 he served as postmaster of the county seat. He married Miss Ruth Marquis, a daughter of William V. Marquis, who came to Crawford county in 1829, settling on a farm two miles south of Bucyrus. Her mother bore the maiden name of Mary Park and was a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania. Her father was killed by the Indians soon after the close of the Revolutionary war. From Belmont county, Ohio, the Marquis family came to Crawford county, but the father of Mrs. McCracken was a native of Virginia, born in Winchester, where his people lived during the Revolutionary days. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. McCracken was blessed with eight children, who attained to years of matur- ity. Portia A., the eldest, died in Bucyrus. William V., who married Juliet Mason, of Tiffin, Ohio, died in New York City. He was a soldier in the Civil war. serving as captain of a company in the One Hundred and Twenty- third Ohio Infantry and remaining at the front for two and a half years. Joseph Kelly, who was orderly sergeant in the Eighty-sixth Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, married Miss Ella A. Davis and is living in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Alexander McBride, a resident of Louisville, Kentucky, married Miss Augusta F. Van Fleet, of Pennsylvania. Augusta N. is librarian of the Memorial Library, of Bucyrus. Harvey Marquis, who married Cather- ine Freeman, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, is now living in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Charles W., the youngest of the family, is yet a resident of Bucyrus. The children were all educated in the schools of this city. The sons are mostly connected with railway business, and in politics are Republicans. The father of the family died in Bucyrus in 1875, at the age of seventy-five years, and in his death the community lost one of its most valued and reliable citizens
Charles Wallace McCracken, whose name introduces this review, is a civil engineer, and has followed his profession all over the county. His marked skill and ability in that line and his efficiency have won him a liberal patronage. From 1886 until 1890 he was state canal commissioner, having been appointed to that office by Governor Bushnell.
E. M. FREESE.
The subject of this notice, the senior member of E. M. Freese & Com- pany, manufacturers of clay-working machinery and appliances at Galion, Ohio, was born in Medina county, this state, September 23, 1845, a son of Harlow and Almira ( Morton) Freese, the former a native of Lee, Massachu- setts, and the latter of Pittsfield, that state. Harlow Freese was a son of B. WV. and Clarrissa (Beaumont) Freese, who removed from Lee, Massachu- setts, when Harlow was eight years of age, in 1818, and located in Brunswick. Medina county, Ohio, becoming the owner of about one thousand acres of land .. then an unbroken wilderness, and engaged extensively in farming.
Harlow Freese grew to manhood in Brunswick and there married Almira Morton, continuing his residence there during his life and following the occupation of a farmer, and was an exemplary man and an estimable citizen. To Harlow and Almira ( Morton) Freese were born two children ( sons). E. M. and M. L. Freese. The last mentioned died about twenty years ago. Harlow Freese died in 1890, at the age of eighty years, and Almira, his wife, in 1887, at the age of seventy years.
E. M. Freese obtained a practical education in the public schools near his home. Early in life he developed a decided love of mechanics, and following his inclinations he became, at the age of twenty, a machinist's apprentice at the works of Turner Parks & Company, manufacturers of grain-cleaning and sewer-pipe machinery at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where during the succeeding four years he gained much proficiency in mechanical work. He then entered the shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Crestline, Ohio, where he was employed until 1881. Here, by the exercise of industry and economy, he accumulated the means with which to engage in a small way in the mann-
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facture of clay-working machinery at Plymouth, Ohio. Beginning with two partners, he successively purchased the interests of each and became sole owner of the business in 1890, and has continued the same up to the present time. By the advantage of natural mechanical genius and persistent and industrious effort, he was able to greatly improve the machinery used for the manufacture of building, street-paving and fire brick, and for terra-cotta, fire-proofing and drain tile, and was largely instrumental in this way in revolutionizing these industries, which have had a wonderful growth in the United States, the value of clay products now ( 1901) amounting to about one hundred million dollars vearly. Conservative methods soon placed the venture upon a firm footing and the business was constantly increased in extent and larger facilities became necessary, and in 1891 the works were removed to Galion, Ohio, where they are permanently located, occupying extensive and commodions buildings erected for the purpose and equipped with modern machinery and appliances especially suited to this class of manufacture and with many conveniences not usually found in other works of this kind. The machinery manufactured here is sold in all parts of the United States and in some foreign countries, and is noted for originality of design, the economy of its operation and the supe- riority of the wares it produces.
Familiarity with all details of the manufacture and sale of the variety of machinery in this class now manufactured, and painstaking and conscientious attention to the demands of the trade, on the part of the subject of this sketch, have developed a large and prosperous business which is destined to continue to flourish.
In 1882 E. M. Freese was married to Miss Rosina Berger, of Galion. They have three children,-Herbert H., Arthur J. and Horace E. Freese.
JOHN REXROTH.
There is much in the life history of John Rexroth that is worthy of emu- lation. He possessed a determined. resolute character that was well balanced by sound judgment and upright principles, and throughout his business career he not only won prosperity but also gained for himself that good name which is rather to be chosen than great riches, thus leaving to his family a priceless heritage.
Mr. Rexroth was born in Bucyrus, on the 10th of May, 1835. and died on his farm two miles south of the city, May 8, 1895. when sixty years of age, lacking two days. He was the son of John N. and Anna M. (Wirtman)
John Kerrytto
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Rexroth. The father was born in the village of Erbach, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, November 6, 1800, and in his native land attended school between the ages of six and fourteen years, after which he learned the trade of black- smithing, following that pursuit in his native country until thirty years of age, when he came to the United States. He landed at Baltimore after a voyage of six months, being shipwrecked twice on the way. In Baltimore he met and married Anna M. Wirtman, the wedding being celebrated on the Ist of March, 1831. The lady was born near Carlsruhe, Baden, and came to America about the same time her husband made the voyage-the only one of her family to seek a home in this country. Immediately after their marriage they removed to Gettysburg. Pennsylvania, where they remained for a little more than a year, and in 1833 they came to Bucyrus. The father followed his trade until 1855. In the meantime he resided in Winchester from 1839 until 1849. He accumulated property rapidly, but by going security for others he lost nearly all that he had made with the exception of his home. He was reared a Lutheran but when he came to Bucyrus he united with the Evangeli- cal Association-a society which did not prosper, however, and he afterward joined the German Methodist Episcopal church. He remained a devoted Christian up to the time of his death, which occurred on the 15th of June. 1867. He was the father of ten children, nine of whom reached years of maturity, namely: Adam, deceased: Catherine: John, deceased : Daniel ; Elizabeth, deceased; Sarah; David; Margaret ; and Lydia, deceased.
John Rexroth was only three years of age when his parents removed from Bucyrus to Winchester, where ten years of his youth were passed. He attended school there for three months each year, and in 1849 he again be- came a resident of Bucyrus, where he continued his studies in the winter sea- son until 1854. and throughout the remainder of the year he assisted his father in the blacksmith shop. About this time, however, his father met with reverses in financial life and our subject and his brother rented farming land and by farming and teaming supported the family. In 1857 the family ex- changed town property for eighty acres of land lying just south of Bu- cyrus, to which they removed, remaining there for some time, after which they took up their abode upon another farm near by. That continued to be their home until after the death of the father in 1867, when they returned to Bucyrus.
Thus far John Rexroth had been a member of his father's family, but on the 18th of December. 1867. he was united in marriage to Miss Maggie S. Frey, a daughter of John Martin and Magdaline (Lininger ) Frey, who
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were natives of Germany and came to America in 1853, settling in Plymouth, Ohio, whence they removed to Bucyrus. They spent their last days, how- ever, in the home of their daughter, Mrs. Rexroth. She was born in Ger- many and was a little maiden of six summers when her parents came to the United States. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rexroth were born the following chil- dren: Charles F., a farmer of Bucyrus township, who was born October I. 1868, and married Catherine Keiffer; John Jay, who died when about three years of age: Lillian Iona, born July 5, 1875; Royal A., born December S, 1877 ; Clyde N., born September 15, 1879; and Elva May, born July 8, 1881.
After his marriage Mr. Rexroth removed to the farm upon which his widow yet resides and began the cultivation of the land .He became one of the largest agriculturists and stock raisers of the county and his landed pos- sessions were extensive. For years his flock of sheep outnumbered almost every other in the county and this branch of his business proved to him a profitable industry. For a number of years he successfully conducted his business affairs and year by year his capital increased, but one cold night a few months before his death his home was destroyed by fire, and the ex- posure which he endured brought on a severe cold, which eventually ter- minated his life. His was a useful career, and in business affairs steady ad- vancement attended his earnest and well directed efforts, so that he left his family in comfortable circumstances. In politics he was always a Re- publican, and in religious belief he was a Methodist, belonging to the church in Bucyrus. A straightforward business man, a faithful friend, a devoted husband and father and an earnest Christian, in his death the community lost one of its valued representatives.
BURTON R. MILLER, M. D.
Dr. Miller, who occupies an enviable position as a member of the medical fraternity in New Washington, was born November 16, 1864, in what was known as the Half Way House, located midway between Tiffin and Republic, in Clinton township, Seneca county, Ohio. His parents were Peter and Lovina (Robenalt) Miller. The father was born September 16, 1833, in Ontario county, New York, and was a son of Daniel and Anna ( Bergstresser) Miller, both of whom were of German descent and were probably natives of the Empire state. With their family they removed to Seneca county, Ohio, in 1837, locating in Scipio township. Subsequently they removed to Lincoln township, where they spent their remaining days. The father of our subject
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was reared under the parental roof and in early life learned the trade of a cooper. As the family located in the midst of the vast wilderness, he also did his share in the work of reclaiming the wild lands for purposes of civilization, cutting away the trees and preparing the fields for the plow. On the 2d of March, 1854, he was united in marriage to Miss Lovina Robenalt, a native of Clinton township, Seneca county, and a daughter of Solomon and Catherine (Powell) Robenalt, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, but were of German descent. Coming to Ohio in 1829, they took up their abode in Seneca county, where they remained until called to the home beyond. The grandfather of our subject died in 1863, at the age of sixty-two years, and his wife, long surviving him, passed away in 1881, at the age of eighty years.
After his marriage Peter Miller and his wife began their domestic life upon a small farm in the eastern part of Clinton township. He there built a log cabin and a log shop, and of evenings and on rainy days when he could not work in the fields he followed coopering, but in good weather he worked upon farms, and thus in two years he was enabled to pay for his property. He purchased the Half Way House, which he used as a residence. He continued his coopering business and resided there until 1865, when he exchanged his property for a dwelling in Tiffin, and in that city he followed his chosen trade for three years. On the expiration of that period he purchased the old Robe- nalt homestead and removed to the farm, which is located four miles east of Tiffin. For five years he resided in the old pioneer log house and then pur- chased an adjoining farm, upon which he erected a modern and commodious brick dwelling, making one of the handsomest homes in the county. He con- tinued coopering until within the past ten years, but now gives his entire atten- tion to the management of his extensive farming interests. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and for twelve years he served as trustee of his township, called again and again to that office by his fellow townsmen, who recognize his worth and ability. He is one of the influential men in his dis- trict, and wherever known is held in high regard. Socially he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Seneca Lodge. No. 35, of Tiffin.
In 1887 Mr. Miller was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 28th of February of that year. She was an active and earnest member of the Lutheran church, to which Mr. Miller also belongs, being one of its liberal supporters and zealous advocates. This worthy couple were the parents of seven children, of whom six are yet living, namely : Franklin P., of Morris, Ohio; Orlando A., who is living near Lawton, Michigan; Daniel
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W., who makes his home in Clinton township, Seneca county, Ohio; Alice V., wife of Otto F. Swander, of West Lodi, Ohio: Burton R., of this review ; and Anna May, wife of N. R. Heaton, of Clinton township, Seneca county.
Dr. Miller pursued his education in the country schools until he had mas- tered the common English branches of learning and later became a student in the Milan Normal, the Festoria Normal and in Heidelberg University, at Tiffin, Ohio. He attended the country schools, however, until he was twenty years of age, and then successfully passed an examination entitling him to teach in the country schools. On his twenty-first birthday he began educa- tional work, and followed teaching for five terms, during which period his salary was steadily increased, and when called to the Tiffin schools he received twenty-five cents more per day than any other teacher in the township. In the autumn of 1890 he began teaching as principal of the fourth school dis- trict in Tiffin, where he remained for four years. Determining to make the practice of medicine his life work, he began reading under the direction of Dr. H. K. Hershiser in the summer of 1894. and during the two succeeding vacations he was a student in the office of Dr. H. B. Gibbon. He entered the Starling Medical College, at Columbus, in the fall of 1894. and in the autumn of 1895 matriculated in the Ohio Medical University, where he was gradu- ated on the 6th of April, 1897. Immediately afterward he took up the prac- tice of medicine, which he has since followed with good success.
Soon after his graduation Dr. Miller was married, on the 21st of July, 1897. near Lawton, Michigan, to Miss Myrtle M. Hooper, a daughter of George and Jennie E. ( Laughlin) Hooper. Her father was born May 20, 1842, in Brooklyn, New York, and was of English parentage, and on the Ist of November, 1865. he was united in marriage to Jennie E. Laughlin, whose birth occurred in Berlin township, Erie county, Ohio. She was a daughter of Milton Laughlin, whose grandparents were natives of Ireland and came to America with their family of eleven sons, settling in Georgetown, Pennsyl- vania. The date of their emigration is unknown, but it must have been over a century ago.
John Laughlin, one of the eldest children of this family. married Eliza- beth Hoak, and after a few years joined the party of adventurers who left Walnut Creek. Pennsylvania, for the Huron river. Subsequently he re- moved from the bottom lands of the river to Milan, then an Indian village. where he resided for two years. He became greatly attached to the Indians and they to him. He was an excellent hunter and they admired his dexterity. His children played with the Indian children, and when his little son Benjamin
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was taken ill he was doctored by the Indian medicine man, and when he died was buried by the Indians after their custom. In 1810 Mr. Laughlin built a small log house on lot 8, which has since been known as the Laughlin place, and there he removed with his family. One of his six children, Henry, suc- sumbed to fever and was buried on the high bank of Huron river. The fam- ily had a desperate struggle to get along, owing to the unhealthful climate and pioneer conditions. While living there news of Hull's surrender was received, and the settlers, expecting the Indians to rush down upon them, fled for safety. Mr. Laughlin and his family started for the old home in Pennsylvania, and on horseback and on foot made their way through the almost interminable forests. Scon after reaching their destination Milton Laughlin was born, the date of his birth being Christmas of 1813. After two years, however, the family returned to Ohio, and in 1814 a log cabin was erected, in which the grandfather resided until his death. The family experienced all the hard- ships and difficulties of pioneer life. Corn was pounded into meal in a mortar made in a stump hollowed out by fire. Milton Laughlin was reared amid such surroundings and became a hard-working, persevering and determined man, yet rather silent and of undemonstrative habits. The other members of the family were Katy, Henry, John, Nancy, Benjamin, Anna, Betsey and Belinda.
On the 28th of November, 1837, Milton Laughlin married Mary B. Krom, of Wilkesbarre, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, but formerly of New York city. He arranged with his father to pay some of the latter's debts, and in return he was to receive a part of the old homestead. He worked on his farm during the summer and in the winter season was employed in the ship-yard at Milan. He aided in sawing the timber for the docks on the canal and often made four dollars and forty cents per day, although the average wages paid were only one dollar and a half per day. His efforts were admirably seconded by his wife, and by perseverance, industry and attention to business he ac- cumulated a handsome competence and gained the title of West Berlin banker. The children born of his marriage are as follows: Ransom F., who was born June 9, 1839, married Sarah Springer on the 8th of August, 1860, and now resides in Milan township : Naney L., born June 16, 1842, was married April 14, 1868, to William Squire, of Milan, and died April 19, 1875 ; Jane E., born January 23, 1843, married George Hooper on the Ist of November, 1865, and resides in Ohio, near Tiffin; Frank W., born February 5, 1849, enlisted in the Union army and died in the service in South Carolina, March 2, 1865; Willis M., born June 29, 1859, was married August 8, 1880, and resides on the old homestead ; Bertha E., born March 14, 1868, was married June 24,
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1890. In the spring of 1883 Mr. Laughlin removed with his family to Milan, where he resided until his death, which occurred October 16, 1884, when he was seventy-two years of age. In early life he united with the Methodist church and was ever a consistent Christian.
After the marriage of George Hooper and Jennie E. Laughlin they re- moved to Milan, in 1866, and on the 19th of August, 1873, went to Van Buren county, Michigan. Subsequently they became residents of Allegan county, that state, and in the spring of 1875 returned to Ohio, locating in Berlin township, Erie county. In 1877, however, they again went to Michi- gan, spending the winter in Lawton, and in the spring took up their abode upon a farm in that state, where they continued until the fall of 1900, when they located in Seneca county, Ohio. Mr. Hooper was a member of the Thirteenth Michigan Infantry during the Civil war and served for three years and eight months. He was taken prisoner November 14, 1864, when on the march of Sherman to the sea, and was incarcerated in the prison at Florence, South Carolina, but after three months was paroled at Goldsboro, North Caro- lina. On the 26th of February. 1865, he was sent to Camp Chase and there discharged. He now owns and operates an eighty-acre farm, which is highly improved. For five years he served as a justice of the peace and was also school director for several years. In politics he is a Republican. He belongs to the Methodist Protestant church, has served as class-leader and has been quite prominent in church work.
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