USA > Ohio > Crawford County > A centennial biographical history of Crawford County, Ohio > Part 57
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E. M. Neff, their youngest child, was reared in Crestline and acquired. his education in the schools of the town, but at the age of fifteen years he started out in life on his own account, securing a clerkship in the employ of the firm of MeKean & Thoman, with whom he remained for twelve years, master- ing the business in principle and detail and giving the fullest satisfaction to employers and patrons, as shown by his long continuation with the house. For about five years of the time he was chief clerk. In 1891 he embarked in business on his own account, opening a small "Rackett" store with a very limited stock. From that humble beginning, however, has grown his present excellent establishment with its large stock and modern appointments. In
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1896 he erected a two-story brick building on Setzer street, and now has one of the largest dry goods establishments in the town. He enjoys a large and con- stantly increasing patronage and has a very enviable reputation for straight- forward dealing. In addition to his store he has other business interests, being a stockholder in the Schill Brothers Manufacturing Company and in the First National Bank.
In 1884 occurred the marriage of Mr. Neff and Miss Emma Lampert, a native of Crestline and a daughter of William and Jamima Lampert. Their marriage has been blessed with eight children : Stella J .. Arthur J., Theador M., Norma E., Millita, Edward G., Catherine and Marthia. The parents hold membership in the German Lutheran church, in which Mr. Neff has held sev- eral offices, including that of treasurer for six years and trustee for two years. He has taken a very active part in its work and is a generous contributor to all measures calculated to prove of general good along lines of reform and prog- ress. In politics he is a Democrat, and, as every true American should do, feels an interest in the success of the principles in which he believes, but has never been an office seeker, preferring to devote his energies to his business affairs, in which he is meeting with very creditable prosperity.
ROBERT T. JOHNSTON.
Among the worthy pioneers of Crawford county was Robert Thompson Johnston. More than a half century of his useful and exemplary life was spent in Bucyrus, and to the upbuilding of the city he contributed in no smail degree, so that no compendium of the county would be complete without the record of his career. He was born on the 30th of October, 1822, in Wooster, Ohio, his parents being Thomas and Abigail ( Powell ) Johnston. In tracing the family genealogy it is found that the first of the name in America was the father of our subject. He was born in County Down, Ireland, in 1782, and probably left the Emerald Isle when about seventeen years of age, for he be- came a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1808, in Fayette county. Pennsylvania, where his naturalization certificate was issued, stating that he had been a resident of the country for five years. Hence the probable date of his emigration was 1802. He was a tailor by trade, and in the early part of the century he settled in Columbiana county, Ohio, where in 1816 he took an apprentice. The paper of indenture is now in possession of his grandson, and is a contract between Thomas Johnston and a youth who desired to learn tailor- ing. We infer that Mr. Johnston was married at the time, for according to
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the terms of the contract he agreed to clothe and board the youth, for in those days apprenticeship nearly always carried with it the agreement that the pupil should be taken into the home of the "master." Thomas Johnston died at Wooster, Ohio, in the year 1853, his wife preceding him in death, passing away in the year 1841, aged fifty-seven years.
Unto Thomas and Abigail ( Powell) Johnston five children were born, namely : Thomas Powell, Mary, Eliza, Rebecca and Robert Thompson. With their family the parents removed from Columbian county to Wooster, Wayne county, and there they continued to reside until Robert T. Johnston, their sec- ond son, was eight years of age, when they removed to a farm in the same county, making it their home for seven successive years. This while, the early childhood of Robert T. Johnston was spent in the town of his nativity. His youth, up to the age of fifteen, was passed upon the farm, where his lot was not unlike that of other farmer lads, whose privilege it is while developing into manhood to enjoy the wholesomeness of rural life and there learn lessons of industry and perseverance. His educational privileges were necessarily limited, for the schools of Ohio at that time were quite unlike those of to-day, which have reached a high standard of excellence. For the purpose of edu- cating their children the parents returned to Wooster, where Robert attended school for a year and then entered a printing office, where he was employed for a little more than two years. Owing to failing health he decided to give up the printing business and turn his attention to the study of medicine. For three and a half years he was a student in the office of Dr. S. Bissell, of Woos- ter, teaching school in winter, and for two years he attended medical lectures at Willoughby College. He then practiced for one year in association with his preceptor at Wooster.
Dr. Johnston came to Bucyrus in November, 1845,-a poor young man. His chosen profession did not prove congenial and he engaged in the drug business shortly after arriving in the city, opening the first drug store here in 1845, with Jabez B. Larwill as a partner. This relationship was maintained for about three years. While Dr. Johnston remained a member of the medical fraternity for only a brief period, he was always called by the title. Upon the close of the partnership with Mr. Larwill, Dr. Johnston sought to continue in the drug business, but having no capital of his own, and it being the custom of wholesale druggists in the east to lend a helping hand to worthy and reli- able young men in the rapidly growing west, he was aided by the firm of J. M. Maris & Company, of Philadelphia, which house, at its own risk, in 1848 sup- plied him with a stock of goods. This was a strong testimonial of the busi-
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ness reputation which he bore. The confidence thus reposed in him he ever merited, and the firm of J. M. Maris & Company remained his friends for years afterward, even until his demise. It was at the beginning of his career as a druggist that Jabez B. Larwell became associated with him. The store was located in a frame building on the east side of Sandusky avenue, but after the dissolution of the partnership in 1848 Dr. Johnston removed into the building still occupied by the Johnston Drug Store. There he continued business uniil his life labors were ended in death. For more than half a century he was in the drug business in Bucyrus, and throughout the greater part of that period he occupied one building. As the years passed his trade became increasingly profitable and he amassed a very comfortable competence as the result of his close attention to business, honest dealing, steady habits and a thorough knowl- edge of drugs and their properties, together with a spirit of kindness and friendship toward his fellow men.
In his youth Dr. Johnston was taught that the principles of the Demo- cratic party were for the good of all classes, but he was opposed to the institut- tion of slavery, and as the Republican party opposed the extension of slavery he joined its ranks in 1856. During the administration of President James K. Polk he served as postmaster of Bucyrus, but other than this he held no political position of any importance. In matters religious he was of the Pres- byterian faith. The records of the Bucyrus Presbyterian church show that on the 14th of August, 1846, he united with that congregation by letter from the church at Wooster, Ohio. His faithful, consistent and blameless Christian life made him not only a strong influence in behalf of Christianity at large but also a strong pillar in his immediate church. His clear comprehension and unusually strong mentality rendered him authority in all points of church doc- trine and polity. For years he was a ruling elder in the church and labored earnestly and effectively for its welfare. He was one of the organizers of the Oakwood Cemetery Association and served as its treasurer for about thirty years. For several years prior to his death he was afflicted with rheumatism. and, being unable to walk, he would ride each week day to and from his place of business, and seldom did he miss divine services at the church on Sunday. He was stricken with paralysis Tuesday night, January 31, 1899, and on Sun- day, February 5, he passed to the great beyond. Thus passed away a man whose life was blameless, whose example was well worthy of emulation. His life shed a helpful and beneficent influence upon all with whom he came in contact, and his memory remains as a blessed benediction to all who knew him.
Dr. Johnston was united in marriage, October 24, 1850, to Miss Pamelia
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F. Haskell, of Pittsburg, who survives him and still resides in Bucyrus, where she is loved and esteemed for her many sterling qualities and Christian char- acter. She was born in Newport, Ohio, February 2, 1830, a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth ( Dana ) Haskell. Her father was a son of Major Jonathan and Phoebe ( Green) Haskell, the former a native of Massachusetts, who served with distinction as an officer in the war of the American Revolu- tion. Unto the marriage of Dr. and Mrs. Johnston were born three children : Belle C., who lives with her mother; Frank Thompson; and Pamelia Dana, now the wife of Charles M. Hord, of Columbus, Kansas. The son was born in Bucyrus. March 23, 1857, was reared in his native city and has here spent his entire life. He pursued his preliminary education in the schools of Bu- cyrus and then entered Wooster University, returning home in 1878. He then became associated in business with his father, who made him a partner in the enterprise, and in 1879 he was graduated in the Cincinnati College of Phar- macy. After his return the firm style of R. T. Johnston & Son was assumed. and for a number of years before the father's death the son was the active manager of the business which he has since conducted with excellent success. In 1882 Frank T. Johnston was married to Miss Clara L. Rupp, a native of Bucyrus and a daughter of Charles G. and Margaret J. ( Ruhl) Rupp. Three children, Ralph R., Bessie P. and Margaret H., have been born of this marriage.
ADAM LEONHART.
For almost a third of a century Adam Leonhart has resided upon the valu- able and attractive farm in Chatfield township which is now his home and where he owns and operates two hundred and thirty-four acres of land. He was born on the old Leonhart homestead in the same township, September 15. 1846, and there remained until twenty-one years of age, his childhood and youth being passed in the usual manner of farmer lads of the period. The duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the labors of the fields on the home farm occupied his attention. Thus the years went by until he had attained his majority, when he sought as a companion for the journey of life Miss Mary Crabach, and their marriage was celebrated on the 8th of March, 1868. Mr. Leonhart then began farming as a renter, first renting a portion of his father's farm, later other lands, and for several years farmed rented lands. He owns two hundred and thirty-four acres of land, all in one body, including a tract of valuable timber land. It has been divided into fields
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of convenient size for cultivation, and almost always he raises good crops, which sell at high market prices, thus bringing him a merited reward for his labor.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Leonhart has been blessed with six children, as follows: Elizabeth, the wife of William Kline, of Cranberry township, Crawford county; Ira A., who is living in New Washington ; Emma; Oliver H., a veterinary surgeon ; and Nora and Walter, at home. They have also lost one child, Clara B., who died at the age of seven years. The family attend the German Evangelical Lutheran church, of which Mr. Leonhart is a con- sistent member. He exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Democratic party, but has never been an aspirant for the honors and emoluments of public office, preferring to give his attention to his farming operations, whereby he has gained a place among the men of affluence in his community.
Mention of his parental history is made in the biography of John Leon- hart, his eldest brother.
ADAM REICHHARD.
For a quarter of a century Adam Reichhard has made his home upon the farm in Chatfield township which he still occupies. He is numbered among the native sons of the county, his birth having occurred in Cranberry township, November 4, 1836, his parents being Henry and Elizabeth Reichhard. The father was born in the western part of Germany and when a young man crossed the briny deep to the new world. Here he was married and six children were born of the union, namely: Elizabeth, now deceased ; Adamı ; Annie, who has also passed away : John, a resident of Columbus, Ohio; Cath- erine : and Henry, who is living in New. Washington. It was in the year 1834 that the father came to Crawford county, establishing his home in Cranberry township, where he died in 1848. our subject being then twelve years of age.
When a child of two years, however, Mr. Reichhard, of this review, be- came a member of the family of Adam Kaylor, whose wife was an aunt of Mr. Reichhard's mother, and with them our subject remained throughout his boy- hood and youth and when they were old they made their home with Mr. Reich- hard. Farm work occupied much of his attention in youth, and the district schools of the neighborhood afforded him his educational privileges. On the 9th of July, 1857, he wedded Miss Elizabeth Leonhart, a daughter of George Leonhart, and unto them have been born thirteen children, of whom ten are
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yet living: Frank, John, William, Fred, George, Kate, Maggie, Ella, Lena, Helma and Elizabeth. Adam and Tillie are now deceased.
Soon after his marriage Mr. Reichhard began farming in Chatfield town- ship and in 1876 took up his abode upon the farm where he now lives. For four years prior to that time he had engaged in buying and selling stock of all kinds. He owns here eighty acres of land and has six hundred and forty acres in Texas. He deals in stock and also carries on general farming and for thirty- three years engaged in the operation of a threshing machine.
His life has been a busy one, industry being one of his most marked char- acteristics. This forms the basis of all success, and his extensive operations and well directed business affairs have brought to Mr. Reichhard enviable pros- perity. He has yet found time to devote to public interests and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have frequently called him to public office. For seven years he served as constable, was road master for eighteen years and school director for twenty years, discharging the duties of all the offices in a most capable and reliable manner, so that over the record of his public career there falls no shadow of wrong. In his political views he is a Democrat, and religiously he is a member of the German Evangelical Luth- eran church. Those who have known him from boyhood are numbered among his warmest friends-a fact which indicates that his has been a life worthy of high regard. Through more than six decades he has resided in the county and well does he deserve mention among her representative citizens.
ALEXANDER McKEN.
There is not in Jefferson township. Crawford county, Ohio, a man who is held in higher esteem for all that constitutes good citizenship than the sub- ject of this sketch. Alexander McKean was born in Leesville, Ohio, June 27, 1839, a son of Dr. John and Rebecca ( McClaskey ) Mckean. Dr. John Mc- Kean, a detailed account of whose life would be very interesting reading, was born at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, February 10, 1810. Long before that time his father had carried the mail on horseback between Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania, and Baltimore, Maryland, and in 1819, when the future physician was about nine years old, the family removed to Calcutta, Columbiana county, Ohio, where the youth gained a good common school education and a practical knowledge of business as it was transacted there at that time. When quite young he began teaching school, studying medicine in his spare moments and in that employment he earned money with which to pay for his professional ed-
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ucation. In 1830, equipped with the necessary diploma and some little experi- ence as a medical practitioner, he started out on horseback in quest of a location in which to practice his profession. He passed through Mansfield, Ohio, which did not appear promising to him, and at Galion he found only a few log cabins. While taking dinner at the last mentioned settlement he met the Rev. Robert Lee, the founder of the village of Leesville, who pursuaded the young physician to locate at that point. For four years he boarded with the Rev. Mr. Lee and was practically a member of his household. Then he married Miss McClas- key, who bore him nine children, the following information concerning the most of whom will be of interest in this connection. Their daughter Mar- garet, who became Mrs. Robert Hall, is dead. Alexander, who is the imme- diate subject of this sketch, was the second in order of birth. William. Re- becca J. and John L. are dead. Eugenia is the wife of John Ludlum, superin- tendent of the Barnett shops at Canton, Ohio. Jacob lives in California. Emma is the wife of D. G. R. Edwards, of Los Angeles, California.
Dr. McKean lived at Leesville, Ohio, giving his entire attention to a grow- ing medical practice, until 1866, and then removed to Crestline, Ohio, where he practiced his profession until 1879, when he retired. He died in 1890, aged eighty years. His wife died in 1886. They were consistent members of the Presbyterian church, in which he took great interest. He was a well read man who gave much attention to the world's progress in every department of hu- man endeavor, and he was a charitable man who gave his professional services freely even when there was no hope of pecuniary reward. He rode over the country in all directions from his place of residence and had hundreds of ac- counts on his books, but it is said of him that he never sued on any claim or pressed any delinquent unduly.
Alexander, his oldest son, was born and reared and educated at Lees- ville, Ohio, and at the age of twenty-two moved upon a farm near that place, where he lived until 1872. From 1872 to 1889 he lived on a farm near Crest- line, and in 1889 he located on his present farm in Jefferson township. Craw- ford county. He is the owner of eighty acres of good land and gives his atten- tion to the production of miscellaneous erops. He is a Republican, and while not a practical politician he has been active in promoting all measures tend- ing to benefit the township and county. Devoted to his church, the Lutheran, he has been liberal in the support of religious worship wherever he has lived. His life embraces not only the modern but the pioneer period of the history of this part of the country and is rich in reminiscence of the early days. Among other recollections is one concerning the advent of the first cook stove at Lees-
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ville. Money as a commodity those times was scarce, and his father having secured a load of wheat from the settlers for medical services, and for the express purpose of buying a stove, hired John Clements to haul it to Sandusky City, a distance of sixty miles. Clements returned with the stove on the even- ing of the fifth days after leaving. when every one in the village turned out to see it.
Mr. McKean was married January 1, 1862, to Margaretta Osborn, who died August 19, 1897. To them were born ten children, nine of whom are liv- ing. Bernhard, the oldest son, is married and lives on the farm. Sherwood. a railroader, lives in Crestline. Ohio. Irene died April 4. 1880. Hall and Claude, both railroaders, reside in Pratt, Kansas. Grace is the wife of William Thoman, also a resident of Pratt, Kansas. Pearl is the wife of Elmer Courter, whose home is in Galion, Ohio, and who is a railroader. The three youngest, Ariadne, Edna and Philena, live with their father on the old homestead.
BENJAMIN F. LASH.
One of the highly respected farmers of Crawford county, Ohio, is Ben- jamin Franklin Lash, who was born in Crawford county. in Auburn town- ship. on December 17, 1840, and he was a son of Peter and Mary ( Fredline ) Lash, extended notice of whom may be found in the sketch of Peter B. Lash, in another part of this volume.
Benjamin Franklin Lash was reared on the home farm and obtained his education in the common schools of the neighborhood. His father died at the age of forty-three years, and from the age of seventeen years the manage- ment of the home farm fell upon his shoulders. After his marriage he still continued on the home farm, operating it for his mother, on shares, for some five years. He then purchased a farm of fifty acres in Sharon township, in Richland county, and resided upon that property for the following two years. During this time the Mansfield, Cold Water & Michigan Railroad was built through his property, and he was made foreman of construction for four miles of the road, and after the completion of this division of the road he was made an offer of the important position of division master, but he did not accept the position, on account of the objections of his family to his becoming a rail- road man.
Selling his farm at this time, Mr. Lash went to Plymouth township, in Richland county, and there bought eighty acres, but in the following summer the railway officials solicited him to accept a position in their service, but he
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still declined. For four years he remained on the Plymouth farm and then purchased one hundred and twenty acres of his present home farm, in Auburn township, in Crawford county. This was in the spring of 1876, and five years later he purchased the sixty acres lying directly across the road from his home property. Both of these farms are highly improved and well represent the excellent agricultural conditions for which Crawford county has long been noted.
On January 12, 1865, Mr. Lash was united in marriage to Miss Sarah J. Kauffman, who was a native of Cranberry township and a daughter of Dan- iel and Elizabeth Kauffman, the latter having come to Crawford county and settled in Cranberry township early in the 'Jos. Three children have been born to this union, the two survivors being : Mary E., at home ; and Nellie Clyde, the wife of Elias Cashman, who resides on our subject's sixty-acre farm and operates the whole farm.
The first vote Mr. Lash cast for president was for Abraham Lincoln, and he has always been active in party affairs, serving in several of the local offices, notably during one term as land appraiser and one term as township assessor. His parents were among the organizers of the United Brethren church on the Auburn circuit, and some of the family is still connected with that religious body, but our subject and family are connected with the Methodist church, and for the past forty-four years Mr. Lash has been one of its leading members and hearty and liberal supporters. For many years he has served as superintend- tne of the Sunday-school and has done much to awaken and keep alive an active interest in religious work in his locality. At present he is one of the class-lead- ers and has been the chorister ever since his earliest connection with it. Mr. Lash is a representative of an honored and esteemed ancestry, and he enjoys the position of being one of the representative men of Auburn township. With regard to his personal habits we may add that Mr. Lash has never chewed a particle of tobacco or smoked a cigar or pipe, and has never taken a drink of liquors of any kind. nor has played a game of cards or danced a jig.
JOHN W. HUMPHREY.
A prominent and highly esteemed citizen of Crawford county, Ohio, is John W. Humphrey, of Vernon township, whose birth was in New Haven, Huron county, Ohio, on January 28, 1836. He was the eldest son of Evan and Saralı E. ( Hoyt) Humphrey, who reared ten children to useful manhood and womanhood. The other members of the family are as follows: Matilda,
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the wife of Peter Will, of Richland county; Franklin, who enlisted in Com- pany H, One Hundred and Twenty-third Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, and died of wounds received in the battle of Winchester, Virginia, in 1861 ; James, who was in the same company and died in Salisbury prison ; William, a resident of Kansas City; Sarah E., the wife of Samuel Esterline, of this township; Mary J., the wife of Ira Gloyd, of Kansas City; Jacob, a resident of Texas ; Elmira, the wife of Henry Esterline, of Crestline ; and Evan, a horse dealer of Kansas City.
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