USA > Ohio > Crawford County > A centennial biographical history of Crawford County, Ohio > Part 49
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Our subject was reared at home, but had few educational advantages on account of the unsettled state of the locality. This lack has long since been remedied. In 1849 he married Miss Mary Young, but a year later the young
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wife died, and soon after her infant child also passed away. After his mar- riage Mr. Shupp settled on a portion of his father's property, which he farmed on shares until he was bereft of his wife and child, when he returned home and soon after began making preparations for a western trip. However, his parents dissuaded him from carrying out this plan, as they were advanced in years, and to gratify them he settled down at home again and took up his old occupations. Later he married Miss Rosanna Schaal, a native of Germany, and then purchased the home farm and had his beloved parents take up their residence with him, giving them filial care and loving attention until their death.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Shupp were: John L., of Sandusky, Ohio: Mary A., the wife of Rev. Isaiah Laipply, an Evangelical minister in Nebraska: Simon F., of Marion, Ohio: Sarah J., the widow of Elias Candel, of Lykens township ; Rebecca, the wife of C. P. Deervester, of Broken Sword, this county; and Emma, E., the wife of Samuel Cover. Mrs. Shupp died in February, 1863, and on March 31, 1864, Mr. Shupp was married to Miss Elizabeth Gerhart, a native of Lykens township, the daughter of Martin and Eve E. (Leliman) Gerhart, both natives of Germany. They came to Crawford county early in the '30s. Three children were born to this last marriage : Edwin, of Holmes township; Rolandus, a farmer on his father's land in Holmes township : and Bessie B., at home.
Mr. Shupp retains only one hundred acres of land, although he has owned much more. His political belief is in the principles of the Republican party, although prior to the Civil war he was a Democrat. For more than forty years he has been an active and prominent member of the Evangelical church and has faithfully served it as trustee, class-leader, local preacher and in the minor offices, contributing generously to all of its charitable and benevolent enter- prises.
ANTHONY SMITH.
Anthony Smith is a retired farmer living in New Washington, and his position of financial ease has been won by years of indefatigable labor in the earlier period of his manhood. He was born in Hardin county, Virginia. February 24, 1831. his parents being John and Rebecca ( Davis) Smith, of whose family of eight children our subject is the only survivor. The father was born in Virginia, about 1785, and in the Old Dominion was reared to manhood, early becoming familiar with farm work in its various departments.
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He married Miss Rebecca Davis, also a native of Virginia, and upon a farm they began their domestic life. In the fall of 1833 they removed to Crawford county, Ohio, and the father entered three hundred acres of land in Chatfield township from the government. It that ine there were only two houses in New. Washington and no roads had been made through this section of the country, so that the pioneer settlers blazed the trees in order to mark a path through the forest. Mr. Smith erected a hewed-log house in the midst of the wilderness and then began the arduous task of clearing his land and preparing it for the plow. He was a frugal, energetic man, and had placed much of his farm under cultivation at the time of his death, which occurred in 1845.
Anthony Smith, of this review, was then only fourteen years of age. His childhood and youth were passed at home and he received but a limited edu- cation, owing to the inadequate school facilities found in the pioneer settle- ment. After his death our subject and his brothers operated the home place until the time of our subject's marriage, in 1866. He then purchased the in- terest of the other heirs, becoming the owner of two hundred and twenty-five acres of the old homestead, and from that time until his retirement to private life he was successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits. In the fall of 1867, however, he sold the old home farm and purchased a better improved property comprising one hundred and sixty acres in Cranberry township, where he cultivated the fields until 1878. He then rented his farm and removed to New Washington, purchasing the present home property in which he yet resides.
On the 30th of January, 1866, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Koehler, a native of Cranberry township and a daughter of Herman and Martha (Guiss) Koehler. Her father was a native of Helserberg, Ger- many, born August 2, 1817, and when a lad of twelve years he came to Amer- . ica with his parents, the family settling in Cranberry township, Crawford county, in 1833, being among the first residents of this locality. His wife was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, February 1, 1825, and on the 12th of November, 1842, she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Koehler, Her death occurred June 22, 1893. Both were consistent members of the Evan- gelical Lutheran church and were beloved by all who knew them. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Smith have been born three children, namely: John H., a resident of New Washington; Margaret M., wife of George Longyear, of New Wash- ington ; and William H., who is living with his parents.
Mr. Smith exercises his right of franchise in support of Democratic prin- ciples. He, too, belongs to the Lutheran church, and is a man of genuine worth, highly regarded for his sterling traits of character. He has made his
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home in Crawford county since pioneer days and has witnessed the wonderful changes which have transformed this region from a wild tract into cultivated farms and comfortable homes. He has seen the forests cut away, to be re- placed by fields of waving grain, and has watched the introduction of the rail- road, the telegraph, the telephone, the business enterprises and industries and all improvements known to the older east. He takes just pride in what his county has accomplished, and is a loyal and public-spirited citizen.
FRANK O. SEARS.
Frank O. Sears, a son of Benjamin Sears, a well-known resident of Craw- ford county, was born on the homestead farm in Bucyrus township, on the 24th of April. 1863, and has always resided in this portion of the state. The first four years of his life were spent on the farm, at the end of which time his parents removed with their family to the city of Bucyrus, where his youthful days were passed. In the public schools there he acquired a fair literary edu- cation, and at the age of seventeen years, in partnership with his brother, Rufus V. Sears, he began farming and stock-raising upon his father's land, a short distance west of the city. This partnership continued for five years from the spring of 1880, but since 1885 our subject has operated the farm alone, and is now accounted one of the leading agriculturists and stock-raisers of the county.
On the 20th of May, 1891, Mr. Sears wedded Miss Elizabeth Walker, a daughter of L. L. Walker, and four children have been born unto them, namely : Sallie M., Melissa M., Benjamin and Annie B. In politics Mr. Sears is a Republican. His life is a busy and useful one, and the capable manner in which he manages his farm has brought to him a good financial reward for his labor.
PETER SEERY.
In pioneer days Peter Seery came to Crawford county and has been an interested witness of the growth and development of this portion of the state since that time. He has borne his part in the work of upbuilding and progress, and has aided in transforming the wild land into beautiful homes and farms. He well deserves mention among the pioneer settlers, and gladly we present the record of his life to our readers.
Mr. Seery was born in Ross county, Ohio, near Chillicothe, October 5,
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1818, his parents being Solomon and Magdeline ( Vangundy) Seery. The father was born in Pennsylvania, and when young went to Ross county. After arriving at years of maturity he married Miss Vangundy, and unto them were born twelve children : Mary, John, David, Peter, Samuel, Ann, Solomon, Magdeline. Jacob, Francis, Jeremiah and one that died in infancy. The only ones now living are Peter, Solomon, Jacob and Francis.
In the spring of 1833, accompanied by his two oldest children, the father came to Crawford county, making the journey by ox team. He located in Lykens township, entering eighty acres of land from the government, and erected thereon a log cabin, built of split logs and containing but one room. He spent the summer in clearing his land and in the fall returned to Ross county for his wife and the other members of the family. Again the journey was made with ox teams, and here in true pioneer style the Seery family began life, sharing in the trials and experiences of the frontier. Later the father entered a quarter section of land from the government, and throughout the remainder of his life successfully carried on agricultural pursuits. He was a progressive and public-spirited citizen, who aided in laying out the roads, organizing the school districts and otherwise promoting the work of public progress and improvement. He served as township trustee and in other local offices, and his labors in behalf of the community proved of great value. He was a member of, and active worker in, the United Brethren church until his death, which occurred in 1861, when he was seventy-two years of age. His wife, who survived him thirteen years, was also a consistent member of the United Brethren church.
The subject of this review was a youth of fourteen when he came with his parents to this county. He aided in the work of clearing and developing the land and in an early day engaged in hauling grain. He remained on the farm with his father until twenty-seven years of age, when he was married and removed to the farm upon which he now resides. Only a few acres had been cleared at that time and the home was a primitive log cabin. To-day he owns one hundred and thirty acres of valuable land, constituting a fine farm, splen- didly improved.
Mr. Seery first wedded Margaret Pennington, and unto them were born five children, namely : Mary F., now deceased ; William H., a carpenter residing in Kansas ; Williard W., of Polk county, Wisconsin ; Rhoda M., wife of James Delinger, a stock-buyer of Lykens township: and Phoebe J., wife of John Kannel.
Mr. Seery married Sarah Livensparger, a native of Richland county,.
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Ohio. The family attended the United Brethren church, of which Mr. Seery is an earnest and active member, having served therein as steward and trustee and aided in every possible way in advancing its growth and extending its influence.
GEORGE SHROLL.
The time has gone by when the life of a farmer was one of toil with dis- couraging and depressing surroundings. At present no class of citizens are so independent or so comfortably fixed as are the farmers of a county like that of Crawford, Ohio. Among the well-improved and productive farms and com- modious and attractive residences is that owned by George Sholl, farmer and stock-raiser, in Bucyrus township. His birth was in this county, October 18, 1855, and his parents were Levi and Barbara ( Wisman) Shroll, both of Ger- man descent.
Levi Shroll was born in Pennsylvania and came to Crawford county with his parents, and later married Barbara Wisman, whose family has notice in another part of this volume. Five children were born of this union, two of whom died in childhood, and one, Sarah, died at the age of twenty-one. Maria is the wife of Frederick Trisk, of Todd township, our subject being the only other survivor. The mother died when George was but an infant of one and one-half years. After marriage the father had settled on our subject's present farm, and here he died in 1876, having been a successful farmer and respected citizen.
Reared on the farm and educated in the public schools, George Shroll grew to self-respecting manhood, and by the time he was prepared to set up a house- hold of his own he most thoroughly understood the science of farming from practical experience. In 1881 he married Leafie Conkle, the only daughter of Nicholas and Susan Conkle, a pioneer and one of the most successful farmers of this county, who was born in Bucyrus township. In 1879 he moved to Sedalia, Missouri, and died January 11, 1885. The mother and five brothers of Mrs. Shroll all live in Missouri. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Shroll : Clarence C., Jesse E. and Raymond.
The land owned by Mr. Shroll shows its fine cultivation on every side, and his flocks cover many fields, as he is largely interested in the raising of sheep. The stranger is immediately impressed with the air of neatness and thrift which pervades the surroundings of Mr. Shroll, his buildings being mod- ern in style and finish and models of their kind. For many years he has been
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a leading member and willing supporter of the United Brethren church and is deservedly popular among his acquaintances, and through the township is known as honest, upright and industrious.
THOMAS TOBIN.
The name of Tobin is a familiar one in Crawford county, for through many years its representatives have been actively connected with its agri- cultural interests and have been promoters of the progress and development of this portion of the state. Thomas Tobin, of this review, was born in Letter Kenny county, Donegal, Ireland, about 1822. Little is known concerning the ancestral history of the family, for during his early boyhood his par- ents died within one week of typhoid fever.
After the death of his parents Thomas Tobin found a home with his uncle, John Gibson, where he remained until his twentieth year. Then, in connection with his brother William, he rented a field and raised a crop of flax. With the sale of this crop and through other means the brothers ac- quired enough money to enable one of them to come to America, and as William was the elder our subject turned over his money to him, with the agreement that William was to send for Thomas when he had earned the sum sufficient to pay the latter's passage to the new world. In 1844 our subject started for the United States, landing in Philadelphia on the 3d of July,after seven weeks spent on the bosom of the Atlantic. Two weeks later he came to Ohio, making the trip by rail to Johnstown, thence by canal to Pittsburg and on to Wooster, Ohio, by stage. From that place to Rome he continued the journey on foot. During the succeeding autumn he went to work for a Mr. Haymaker, in Franklin township, Richland county, by whom his brother William was employed, and for a year continued in that service, receiving the meager compensation of three dollars per month for his services. He next went to Mansfield, where he engaged in carpentering for two years, and in the spring of 1847 he returned to Franklin township, entering into partnership with his former employer, Mr. Haymaker, the connection being maintained until late in the succeeding autumn. Their relation being then severed. Mr. Tobin continued carpentering and building on his own account until after his marriage. when he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits.
On the 6th of April, 1849, was celebrated the marriage of our subject and Miss Elizabeth Shilling, a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of David and Anna (Hollister) Shilling, both of whom were natives
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of Germany and came from Pennsylvania to Crawford county, Ohio, about 1847. During the years of a happy married life eight children have come to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Tobin, and the family circle yet remains unbroken by the hand of death. The children are: Anna Mary, widow of Samuel Springer, of Cranberry township; William James, who conducts a blacksmith shop in New Washington; David Elmer, a resident farmer of Cranberry township; John Franklin, who is proprietor of a grocery store in New Washington: Margorie E., wife of Allison Bittikoffer, of Bucyrus; Thomas G., of Canyon City, Colorado; Eva E., at home; and Clement L., who is living in Denver, Colorado.
For a year after his marriage Mr. Tobin resided upon the farm which adjoins his present home place, and then purchased the eighty acres which he has since improved and cultivated. He first erected a log cabin in the midst of the forest and removed to his home, the family experiencing many of the trials and hardships of pioneer life during the early days in which he was gaining a start. After some years he erected his present substantial residence and other farm buildings and has since carried on the work of development and improvement, until the property is now very valuable. In politics he is a Democrat and in religious faith is an English Lutheran. Strong purpose and indefatigable energy have been the means of bringing to him success in life, and he is now numbered among the men of affluence and among the lead- ing and influential citizens of Cranberry township.
HUGH M. CORY.
Hugh M. Cory has a wide acquaintance in Crawford county and enjoys the highest esteem of his fellow townsmen. He makes his home in New Wash- ington and is one of its representative citizens, well deserving representation in this volume.
Mr. Cory was born in Cranberry township, Crawford county, December 28, 1845, and comes of one of the old New England families of Scotch de- scent. Early in the seventeenth century three brothers of Scotch birth emi- grated from the land of hills and heather, and braving the danger incident to an ocean voyage in that early period of trans-Atlantic navigation, came to America. Aaron Cory, one of these brothers, soon after settling in the Massachusetts colony, was married and for many years continued his resi- dence in Massachusetts. One of his descendants, though in what generation is not known, was Nathan Cory and his eldest son was Joseph Cory. An-
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other link in the family history is missing, but we have record of John Cory, who about 1725 removed to Trenton, New Jersey. He married Elizabeth Brown, who was also of Scotch descent, and the eldest of their large family of children was Thomas Cory, who was born in New Jersey, in 1734, and when thirty-six years of age was united in marriage to Miss Mary Wallace, by whom he had three sons and three daughters. One of these sons was Aaron Cory, the paternal grandfather of our subject.
Aaron Cory was born in New Jersey, in the year 1773, and near the close of the eighteenth century located in Washington county, Pennsylvania. In that state he was married to Elizabeth McGuire in 1798. In 1802 he emi- grated westward to Ohio, settling in Tuscarawas county, where he remained for a number of years, or until about 1819, when he took up his abode in Ash- land county. There he remained for seven years and in 1826 came to Craw- ford county, casting in his lot among its pioneer settlers. He made his home in Cranberry township. entering a tract of land from the government and there he began the development of a farm. In addition to his farming opera- tions Aaron Cory labored earnestly for the spiritual uplifting of his fellow men. He was an ordained minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, pos- sessed great personal magnetism and an undaunted will and did a vast amount of good in founding and encouraging the church and Sunday-school organizations. He died in 1834. in the sixty-first year of his age.
Since 1826 the Corys have been among the most distinguished and lead- ing citizens in the northeastern part of Crawford county. Thomas Cory, a son of Aaron Cory and the father of our subject, was a man of great natural ability and served with marked fidelity in various positions of honor and trust. He was born in New Jersey, in 1810, was reared under the parental roof, and when about twenty-five years of age married Esther G. Brown, who was born in Nescopeck, Luzerne county .. Pennsylvania, in 1808, her parents being James and Mary Brown, natives of Pennsylvania and representatives of Dutch ancestry. They came to Ohio at an early period in its development, locating in Auburn township. Crawford county, whence they afterward re- moved to Van Wert county, where the maternal grandfather of our subject was accidentally killed while hauling logs. At the time of his marriage Thomas Cory began his career as a farmer on a little tract of land of twenty acres in Auburn township. After some time his success enabled him to in- crease his landed possessions, and. selling his first property, he purchased the farm now owned by T. B. Carson, comprising one hundred and sixty acres in Cranberry township. Thereon he made his home until his death, which
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occurred in 1854. Six years previous his constitution had been broken down by the suffering caused from milk sickness. He was a stanch member of the Methodist Episcopal church and was a Democrat in his political affilia- tions, but was never an office seeker. Unto Thomas and Esther Cory were born seven children, of whom six are yet living, namely: Mary E. is now the wife of James Morrow, of Auburn township. James E. is a dealer in oil and gas lands in Marion, Indiana, and was for four years representative from his county in the state legislature. He was the author of several im- portant enactments, which passed both the house and the senate. Robert W. is a veteran of the Civil war, serving for three years as a member of Com- pany C, Sixty-fifth Ohio Infantry, and is now a farmer living at Galena, Missouri. Hugh M. is the next younger. Sarah E. is the wife of Henry C. Martin, a farmer of Montgomery county, Kansas. Susan N. is the wife of John Morrow, an agriculturist of Auburn township. The second mem- ber of the family was Thomas C. Cory, a veteran of the Civil war, who after- ward became a prominent attorney of Kansas, but died in that state, as the result of his wounds, in 1888.
Hugh M. Cory spent his childhood days under the parental roof and acquired his education in the district schools. On the return of his brothers from the army the burden of the farm work and management was taken from his shoulders and he was then able to acquire a better education, so that in 1864 he entered Lexington Seminary, where he pursued his studies during the summer months for four years. In the winter season he engaged in teach- ing in order to pay his tuition. He was also a student for one term in the Delaware University. In April, 1870, he went to Kansas, and shortly after- ward, on account of the building of the two branches of the Missouri, Kan- sas & Texas Railroad, he went to Parsons, Kansas, which was at the junction of the two railroads and there the company purchased four sections of land, laying out the town of Parsons. Believing that the new town would prove a desirable place Mr. Cory and his brother hastened thither, acquiring some property, and for eight years Mr. Cory, of this review, was engaged in the real-estate business at that point, while his brother practiced law. Our sub- ject read law with his brother in his leisure hours, but never applied for ad- mission to the bar. However, during that time he argued many cases before the justice court and was very successful in law work. In August, 1878, he sold his real estate in Kansas and returned to Ohio, soon after- ward locating in New Washington, where he engaged in the real-estate and fire insurance business. In 1882 he was elected justice of the peace, and
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with but two or three terms intermission has continuously filled the posi- tion since that time. In 1885 he was elected mayor of New Washington and served for fourteen consecutive years in that office. He has a record for public service that is scarcely paralleled and no comment need be made con- cerning his ability and fidelity, for this is indicated by his long continuance in office. Mr. Cory was one of the founders of the Settlers' Advocate, a weekly publication in the interests of the settlers, as well as real-estate men.
In 1886 occurred the marriage of our subject and Miss Carrie F. Baker, a native of Crawford county and a daughter of George W. Baker, a prom- inent farmer of Vernon township. Six children have been born unto them : Hazel, now deceased; Minnie M., who born in 1888: a son who died in in- fancy; Thomas, born in 1894; Lois, born in 1898; and Mary E., born on the Ist of May, 1899. The parents hold membership in the Methodist Epis- copal church and Mr. Cory is one of the well known and highly esteemed residents of New Washington.
GEORGE STUCKEY.
While Germans and men of German extraction have won success in nearly every walk of life, they have been especially successful as farmers, a fact that has been amply demonstrated by farmers of German blood in: Crawford county, Ohio, notably in Lykens township, where George Stuckey and others have made records which distinguish them above many other well- to-do farmers in the county.
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