USA > Ohio > Crawford County > A centennial biographical history of Crawford County, Ohio > Part 67
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but eighteen months later sold his interests there to his uncle and came to Shelby, Ohio. Here he was employed by B. F. Lash on a farm for some three years, leaving there to embark in the lumber business.
From the start Mr. Allen has been successful in this business, buying and selling great quantities of timber. In 1881 he came to Tiro, and since then has been one of the leading factors in industrial trade. His operations in lumber are very large, and sometimes he has as many as eleven mills engaged in cutting for him. For many years he has conducted the sawmill in this place and is one of the largest shippers in this county of ash timber.
The marriage of Mr. Allen was on October 13, 1873, to Miss Fannie E. Snyder, who was the daughter of Francis and Mary A. (Swartz) Snyder, the former of whom was a miller by trade, but later entered the mercantile business, and for twenty-two years he was postmaster of Honey Grove, Juniata county, Pennsylvania, where he died. He had given the name to Honey Grove and he was one of the well-known and highly esteemed citizens of the county. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Allen, the two survivors being .- Ray and Ethan. In his political belief he is a stanch Re- · publican, but is better known as a business man than as a politician. His standing in the county is high and his circle of both business and personal friends is large.
GEORGE W. WICKHAM.
The state of New York was recruiting ground of early settlers in western Pennsylvania and Ohio and from those points descendants of early settlers from New York have gone to all parts of the great west and southwest, and wherever they have planted the banner of civilization development and prosperity have followed until literally the desert has been made to bloom like the rose. Some of the early settlers in Crawford county, Ohio, were New Yorkers, who trace their lineage to old and honorable colonial families, and one of the best known of these was Willard Wickham, father of George W. Wickham, a prominent citizen of Texas township.
George W. Wickham was born in Texas township, Crawford county, Ohio, on the farm on which Mrs. David Bouks, his sister, now lives, Novem- ber II, 1841. His father, Willard Wickham, was born in Columbia county, New York, and was taken early to Ithaca, in central New York, where he was reared to manhood. In 1837 he went with his father, David Wickham, to Ohio, and they bought an eighty-acre improvement in Texas township, Craw-
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ford county, on which a few acres had been cleared and a log cabin had been erected. There David Wickham died at the age of sixty-three years. For three years after his arrival in Ohio Willard Wickham taught winter terms of school. He served his fellow citizens as justice of the peace for twelve years and held other important local offices. He was a devout member of and an active worker in the United Brethren church. He married Phebe Pennington and they had nine children. He died in Texas township, December 15, 1900, aged eighty-five years, and his good wife died in 1888.
The following facts concerning their children will be of interest in this connection : William H. Wickham, their eldest child, died at the age of three · years. George W. Wickham, the immediate subject of this sketch, was the second in order of birth. Margaret married Peter Huffman, of Texas town- ship. M. W. is well known in Texas township. Anson, a lawyer, lives at Bucyrus, Ohio. Mary F. married David Banks, of Texas township. William H., the second son of that name, is a practicing physician of Sycamore, Ohio. Wallace M. is ticket agent for the Ohio Central Railroad Company at Pem- berville. Wood county, Ohio. Grant died at the age of fifteen years.
George W. Wickham was born in 1841, in Texas township, and later dur- ing that year his father removed with his family to Lykens township, where the boy grew to manhood. August 22, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Com- pany H, One Hundred and Twenty-third Regiment, Ohio Volunteer In- fantry. The regiment was stationed for a time at Parkersburg, West Vir- ginia. It participated in the battle of Winchester, where most of its members, Mr. Wickham among them, were made prisoners of war. After being con- fined in Libby prison for two days they were taken to the Belle Isle prison. After about a month's confinement there they were paroled. Mr. Wickham went to Annapolis, Maryland, where he was clerk for the adjutant of the federal camp, and thence he went home to Ohio on a furlough. He rejoined his regiment at Martinsburg, Virginia, and participated in the battle at New- market. Afterward he fought at Piedmont and at Lynchburg, Virginia, and after being in camp for a time at Harper's Ferry his regiment participated in the fight at Snicker's Gap, the engagement near Winchester, the battle of Berryville, and fought under Sheridan at Opequan. After that he fought at Fisher's Hill and at Cedar Creek. His regiment was transferred to the Army of the Potomac, under Grant, and was encamped at Deep Bottom, Virginia. until April, 1865. Next, under General Ord, it helped to storm and take Petersburg and Richmond. After the fall of Richmond that regiment and the Fifty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, were detached
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to cross the river and burn a bridge to prevent the escape of Lee's army. In this expedition he was again made a prisoner of war and was under guard with Lee's command when Lee surrendered. At the battle of Newmarket a minie ball penetrated his thigh, wounding him severely.
After the war Mr. Wickham returned to Ohio and attended college at Westerville. After a year as a student there he became a school-teacher. . He taught three years in Ohio and then went to Cass county, Missouri, where he taught three years and a half. Then, returning to Ohio, he located on his present farm in Texas township. He owns eighty acres of good land and de- votes himself to general farming. He is a member of Roberts Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Benton, and of the Masonic lodge at Sycamore, Ohio. In politics he is a Republican and exerts a recognized influence in the councils of his party, and he has served six years as justice of the peace, three years as assessor and six years as township trustee.
He was married March 12. 1872, to Mary Coder, and they have had. seven children,named : Fleta: Dock D., deceased; Elizabeth; Josie C .; Ulysses ; Georgia ; and Jerome G.
VALENTINE UNDERWOOD.
The gentleman whose name is mentioned above is a prominent citizen of Todd township. Crawford county, Ohio, and is known not only in connection with local farming interests but in connection with milling interests at Lemert and elsewhere.
Valentine Underwood was born in Crawford county, Ohio, September 6. 1844. a son of Lorenzo D. and Martha ( Warner) Underwood, who had four sons and two daughters, three of whom are living. Mr. Under- wood's father removed to Crawford county in the pioneer period of its history, and in 1852 he went to Illinois. Thence after a year he removed to Centerville, Iowa, where he took up government land and remained until 1859, when he started for the California gold fields, Pike's Peak being his objective point, driving a team of horses overland, but sickened and died by the way. In 1860 his widow took her family to Lib- erty township. Crawford county, Ohio, where her son Valentine learned the miller's trade, in the old Warner flour mill, in which he was employed con- tinuously for seven years. After that for two years he operated the old Taylor water-power gristmill in Sycamore township. Wyandot county, Ohio, under lease. Then, in company with B. W. Warner, his brother-in-law, he built a
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flouring mill at Melmore, Ohio, which he operated for six years, when, on account of failing health, he sold his interest in it to his partner and bought a farm of seventy-five acres in Todd township, Crawford county, where he has since lived, devoting himself to general farming and since his health has im- proved somewhat to the manufacture of flour. He leased the Oceola mills for four years, and since 1897 has operated the Lemert roller mills, which have a capacity of one hundred barrels.
April 13, 1865, Mr. Underwood married Miss Lucetta Quaintance, who has borne him two children, Tilley Edwin, who is a coal operator near Corn- ing, Perry county, Ohio; and Benjamin F., who is an engineer in the Lemert mill for his father. In politics Mr. Underwood is a Republican, but he is not an active politician, and has always been too busy to trouble himself with office-holding, but he is not without a recognized influence in his party coun- cils, and is known as a man of public spirit, who feels much solicitude con- cerning important interests of his township and county.
GEORGE L. JENNER.
George Lewis Jenner enjoys the distinction of being one of the most en- terprising and successful farmers and stock-raisers in Crawford county. A. native son of the Buckeye state, his birth occurred in Liberty township, Craw- ford county, in 1852, a son of Jolin George and Mary A. (Ackerman) Jenner. The father was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1816, but came with his parents to the United States when sixteen years of age, the family locating in Whetstone township, Crawford county, Ohio, but some years later removed to Liberty township, one and a half miles southwest of Sulphur Springs, where the grandfather purchased a farm of seventy acres. There he spent his re- maining days. After one year spent in Sulphur Springs the father of our subject removed to a farm of forty acres south of the town, which he owned and operated for about ten years. He had learned the manufacture of spin- ning wheels in his young manhood, and he divided his time between that oc- cupation and the work of clearing and improving his farm, which was covered with a native growth of timber. He subsequently sold that land and purchased ninety-four acres of the farm where our subject now resides, to which he after- ward added sixty-six and a half acres, making him the possessor of one hun- dred and sixty and a fraction acres of land. He was a stanch Democrat in his political views, and was an active member of the Lutheran church.
The mother of our subject was also a native of Wurtemberg, Germany,
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but when ten years of age she came to America with her parents, the family locating in Columbiana county, Ohio. Her father was a tanner by trade, and followed that occupation as a means of support for himself and family. He passed away in early life, his death occurring about 1840, and his wife was called to the home beyond some years prior to her husband's death. Mrs. Jenner is still living, and now makes her home with the subject of this review. By her marriage with Mr. Jenner she became the mother of eight children, only three of whom survive, and the two daughters, Mary C. and Amelia, still reside on the old homestead with their mother.
George Lewis Jenner, whose name introduces this review, was reared upon the home farm, and the educational advantages which he enjoyed in his youth were extremely limited. As he was the only son of the family the work of the farm early fell upon his young shoulders. When he was twenty-one years of age he assumed the entire management of the homestead, farming the same on shares, during the first two years receiving one-third of the crops, but the farm implements becoming badly worn he purchased new ones and from that time on received one-half of the proceeds. After the father's death, through the liberality of the children, the farm was given to the mother during her life-time, but our subject has ever since continued its management. In political matters Mr. Jenner is a stanch advocate of Democratic principles, and was the choice of his party for township treasurer, in which he served for one term, refusing to again become an incumbent in the office. Mr. Jenner is one of the practical and progressive farmers of the county, his fields being under a fine state of cultivation, the place stocked with the best grades of cattle and horses, and everything about the farm indicates its owner to be a man of wise judgment, perseverance and excellent business ability.
ALLEN B. MULFORD.
The name above will be recognized by readers of this work throughout Crawford county, Ohio, as that of a prominent farmer of Texas township, now living in well-earned retiracy after many years of useful and fruitful endeavor.
Allen B. Mulford was born at Monroeville, Huron county, Ohio, March 4, 1839, and came to Crawford county with his parents at the age of twelve years. He received his education in the common schools near his parents' home and early became an assistant to his father in his agricultural enterprises, and after his father's death he acquired the ownership of the old family home- stead of one hundred and forty-two acres. He devoted himself to general
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farming and stock-raising until 1892, and since that time has rented his farm but has retained his residence upon it.
During the Civil war Mr. Mulford offered his services to the country but they were rejected because of his physical disability. Later he became a member of the home guards, and as such performed such duties as devolved upon him, regretting that he had been unable to go to the front and participate in the more stirring and dangerous scenes of the war. He is a member of D. A. Roberts Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Benton, Ohio. In poli- tics he is a Republican, but he never sought nor accepted office or has been especially active in political work, but his public spirit has impelled him to further so far as has been possible all measures having for their object the enhancement of the public weal. He was married November 16, 1893, to Miss Christine Beard.
WILLIAM F. McCONNELL.
Crawford county, Ohio, has many public-spirited and progressive citizens who have long had her best interests at heart, and one of these is William F. McConnell, who is a native of this county, born in Auburn township, on April 23, 1858. His parents were Samuel and Charity A. (Lash) McConnell, who reared a family of three children, these being as follows: Jennie, who is the wife of Francis M. Wilford and they reside on the home farm in Auburn town- ship ; Mary M., who is the widow of Frank Stock, of Tiro, Ohio; and William F., who is the subject of this sketch.
Samuel McConnell was born in Jefferson county, near Steubenville, Ohio, on February 19, 1827, and he was the son of Charles and Nancy (Taggart) McConnell. When about twelve years of age he came with his parents to Richland county, Ohio, settling in Auburn township, and here Samuel grew to manhood. In 1850 his uncle, William Taggart, decided to go to California and proposed to take Samuel with him, the latter agreeing to pay to his uncle one-half of all he earned during the first year to reimburse him. They made the trip by way of the isthmus, and Samuel remained in California for three years, during which time he was very successful. Upon his return to Craw- ford county, in 1853, he purchased one hundred and six acres of land in Auburn township and engaged in farming, and lived in this same place until the time of his death, in December, 1890. In his immediate neighborhood he was regarded with esteem and was one of the leading members of the United Brethren church.
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William F. McConnell, of this sketch, grew up at home and acquired his education in the common schools. After his marriage he located in Mechanics- burg and there engaged for a time in farming, but in September, 1883, he pur- chased a butcher shop and removed to Tiro, where he did a retail meat business for the following six years. In 1889 Mr. McConnell changed his business from a retail to a wholesale trade, and began the buying and shipping of stock, in which business he is still engaged, finding a market in Chicago. He has been the means of bringing much fine stock into Crawford county, while his shipments from the county have created a great agricultural industry. Dur- ing the spring and summer of 1893 our subject was employed by Armour & Company as a traveling salesman, but being a man of family and fond of domestic life he resigned that position. In connection with his stock interests Mr. McConnell also operates a farm of eighty acres.
On August 9, 1882, our subject was united in marriage to Miss Lucy Daugherty, who was a native of Auburn township, and was the daughter of Aaron Daugherty. To this marriage six children were born, these being : Sherman C., deceased : Donna M., Claude, Blanche, George S., Glenna E. and Genevieve. The children are all attending school, as Mr. McConnell advo- cates a thorough education for all. For four years he was the capable marshal of the town.
In 1892 Mr. McConnell built a large grain elevator in Tiro, which he successfully operated for one year, but his other business required his attention and he sold that property. He is a valued member of Tiro Lodge, No. 592, Knights of Pythias, and is one of the progressive and truly representative men of Crawford county. His energy and his thoroughgoing business methods have opened up avenues of industry through the county and he is well known and appreciated by a large circle of both personal and business friends.
JOHN BROWN, JR.
John Brown, one of the wealthy and influential agriculturists of Crawford county, is a native son of the Buckeye state, his birth having occurred in Ver- non township, Crawford county, on the 27th of February, 1849. His father, John Brown, Sr., was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, on the 12th of March, 1819. His father died when he was but an infant, and his mother, Catherine Brown, reared her family of five children, two of whom, Gottlieb, of Ottawa county, Ohio, and John, still survive. The latter grew to manhood in his
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native country, and there learned the baker's trade, which he there followed until 1847.
In that year, in company with his brother Gottlieb, he came to America, sixty-four days having been spent on the water, and they landed in New York in May of that year. Mr. Brown made his way to Ohio, settling in Vernon township, Crawford county, where he purchased ninety-three acres of land, the property being now owned by his son Philip. Shortly after his arrival here he was united in marriage with Mrs. Weidemeyer, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Kinney. She was born in Baden, Germany, in 1819, and was there married to a Mr. Weidemeyer, four children having been born unto this. union after they came to the United States. Three of the number still sur- vive, --- Barbara, wife of Jacob Glower, of Vernon township; Leonard, also a resident of this township; and Catherine, wife of Emanuel Knapp, of Henry county, Ohio. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born five children, namely : John, the subject of this review ; William, a farmer of Vernon township: Ja- cob and Philip, who also make their home in Vernon township; and Charlie, a resident of Toledo, Ohio.
After his marriage Mr. Brown, Sr., located on forty acres of land belong- ing to his wife, where he remained until her children reached adult age, when he purchased ninety-three acres in Vernon township, making his home thereon from 1858 until 1899. In the latter year he removed to the home of his son Philip, where he still resides. His wife was called to the home beyond on the 16th of December, 1896. Both she and her husband were active members of the German Lutheran church, in which the latter has served as a trustee and treasurer for many years. In political matters he affiliates with the Demo- cratic party, and for six years he held the office of township treasurer. Mr. Brown has long held rank among the leading citizens of Crawford county, and in all the relations of life he has borne himself as a kind husband and father, a true friend and an honest man of business.
John Brown, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared to manhood in his parents' home, acquiring his education in the common schools of his neighborhood. At the age of nineteen years he left the parental roof and began the active battle of life as a farm hand, continuing that occupation until after his marriage, when he located on one of his father-in-law's farms, making his home there for two years. The place was then sold and our sub- ject took up his abode upon the Brown homestead, his father-in-law removing to Tiro, and there he resided until 1895, when he removed to his present loca- tion, this farm being also the property of his father-in-law and contains one
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hundred and sixty-nine acres. Some time in the 'Sos Mr. Brown purchased land in Vernon township, the purchase price being seventeen thousand dollars, and this land is now operated by his brother Philip, who also has charge of their father's farm.
On the 28th of April, 1874, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Brown, a daughter of Joseph D. Brown, whose history will be found on another page of this volume. Four children have been born unto this union, namely : Eva M., who was first married to Frank Turner, by whom she had two children, John H. and Hazel L., and she is now the wife of Ed Lucabaugh, of Crestline, Ohio: Sarah Josephine; Florence C .; and Nora Luella. Mr. Brown exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Democratic party, and many times he has served as a delegate to county conventions, while at the present time he is serving his fourth term as treasurer of the township. In his social relations he is a member of Tiro Lodge, No. 592, K. P. He was reared in the Lutheran faith but is not a member of any religious denomination, although his wife and children hold membership in the Presbyterian church. The family is highly esteemed in the community. Mr. Brown has now reached the plane of affluence, but his pos- sessions represent his own earnings. He is honorable and upright in all that he does, thus deserving the respect and esteem which are accorded him as one of the substantial and representative citizens of Crawford county.
SAMUEL HILBORN.
One of the prominent farmer citizens of Crawford county, Ohio, who is well known and highly esteemed, is Samuel Hilborn, who was born in Rich- land county, Ohio, on June 28, 1826. His parents were Isaac and Nancy (George) Hilborn, and both of them were natives of Pennsylvania, where the former was born in 1798, and the latter on May 22, 1801. They were the parents of nine children, these being as follows : Polly, Robert, Samuel, Amos, William, Elizabeth Isabella, John and Sarah. The father died April 30, 1865, and the mother April 17, 1841. Isaac Hilborn was one of the early settlers of Auburn township.
Samuel Hilborn, who is the subject of this sketch, was reared on the home farm and received the best education possible in that locality. At the age of seventeen years he left the parental roof and apprenticed himself to the blacksmith trade, remaining three years under instruction. Then he opened a shop of his own on the cross roads in Auburn township, which was later
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known as Mechanicsburg from the fact of the establishment there of a shoe- maker, a wagonmaker and a blacksmith, the combination being very satisfac- tory to the surrounding farming region.
For ten years Mr. Hilborn conducted his blacksmith shop and then gave up his trade in order to engage in farming on his father's place on shares. In 1856 he purchased eighty acres of land in Cranberry township, removed to the same and resided there for two years. Selling that, he then bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Auburn township, which was timber land, located one mile north of the home farm, and here, in company with two others, our subject erected a sawmill, which was operated by them for several years. When this mill was sold to other parties our subject built a log cabin on the land and resided upon it for a short period and then returned to the home farm. Later, through exchange of land and a money consideration, our sub- ject acquired the home farm, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, and here has been the permanent family home ever since.
In 1851 Mr. Hilborn was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Irwin, a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Israel H. Irwin, who came to Crawford county about 1834, settling in Auburn township. To our sub- ject and wife five children were born, these being as follows: Ellsworth I., who conducts the home farm in Auburn township; Zella M., the wife of James Michener, of Tiro, Ohio; Charles M., of Massillon ; and Isaac N. and Emma L., both deceased.
In politics Mr. Hilborn is a stanch and outspoken Republican, and in his religious belief he is a Lutheran and is one of the liberal supporters of that church. His reputation in Auburn township is that of a man whose word is just as good as his bond, and he well deserves the high regard in which he is held.
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