USA > Ohio > Hancock County > A centennial biographical history of Hancock County, Ohio > Part 11
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contributor to the material advancement and substantial progress of his adopted county. His resistless energy and resolute purpose have placed him in the forefront, so far as material matters are concerned, and his high quali- ties of citizenship insure him the respect of his neighbors.
GEORGE F. PENDLETON.
Whatever else may be said of the legal fraternity, it cannot be denied that members of the bar have been more prominent actors in public affairs than any other class of American people. This is but the natural result of causes which are manifest and require no explanation. The ability and train- ing which qualify one to practice law also qualify him in many respects for duties which lie outside the strict path of his profession, and which touch the general interest of society. The subject of this record is a man who has brought his keen discrimination and his thorough wisdom to bear, not alone in professional paths, but also for the benefit of his county and state.
Hon. George F. Pendleton, at present one of the leading attorneys of Findlay, Ohio, was born in Waldo, now Knox county, Maine, September 27, 1840, and the following year was brought by his parents to Hancock county, of which he has since been a resident. Mr. Pendleton is a son of Darius and Rachel Pendleton. His father was a farmer, builder and contractor, and lived out his life in Hancock county, where he died in September, 1876. He was born in South Fox Island, Maine, in 1816. At the breaking out of the Civil war he entered the service, becoming first lieutenant of Company G, One Hundred Eighteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served until April 19, 1863, when, not being able to stand the rigors of active campaigning on account of physical disability, he returned home and was appointed colonel of the Second Regiment of Home Guards of Hancock county, in which position he continued to serve as long as the regiment preserved its organization. James Gilkay Pendleton, father of Darius, was born in 1783 on Long Island, Maine, located in Licking county, Ohio, and continued to reside there until his death, which occurred August 8, 1867. The father of the last mentioned was Gideon Pendleton, a large owner of real estate on Long Island, Maine, and also extensively engaged in the shipping industry, owning a number of vessels. The family is of English origin and traces its genealogy to the sixteenth century. The emigrant ancestor was Major Brian Pendleton, who came to America ten years after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock.
George F. Pendleton, heir to this long line of worthy forefathers, passed the period of his boyhood upon the farm, and received his education prin-
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cipally in schools at Stanley, Putnam county, Ohio, and near McComb, Han- cock county, Ohio. The father of our subject had in 1849 yielded to the gold excitement and in the spring of 1850 went to California. He returned in 1851, and removed from his previous location in Union township to a tract of two hundred acres in Blanchard township, in Hancock county. Here at the immature age of fifteen our subject began work for himself, using that stepping stone in the lives of so many of our prominent men-the school room. He taught in the winter and worked on the farm in the summer until August, 1862, when he closed his school at Union Center and responded to the call of his country for asistance in preserving the Union. August 19, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Eighteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, of which his father, Darius Pendleton, was first lieu- tenant and his brother John a private. After a year's service as private in this company our subject was advanced to the position of corporal, in which he served in the company and on detached service until he was mustered out on June 5, 1865, at Columbus, Ohio. Our subject, after remaining with his company for the first fifteen months, was detailed to act as chief clerk of the brigade commissary, and shortly afterward was advanced to the position of chief clerk of the post commissary, with headquarters at Kingston, Tennes- see. After the war Mr. Pendleton returned to Nashville, Tennessee, where he assisted in closing the military accounts of different officers. In August, 1865, his health compelled him to resign, and he returned to his home in Hancock county, where he resumed his work of teaching. In 1867 he was appointed chief deputy in the office of C. B. Wilson, internal revenue col- lector for the seventh district of Ohio, with headquarters at Findlay, and in this office he passed the two following years. Having made up his mind to adopt the law as a profession, he at that time entered the office of Brown & Anderson in Findlay, and after doing the requisite amount of reading, passed the examination and was admitted by the supreme court of Ohio to the bar, at the December term in 1870. A partnership was at once formed with W. H. Anderson, who was the junior member of the above firm, the firm name being Anderson & Pendleton, which continued with a year's intermission, until 1876. At that time the partnership was dissolved, and our subject connected himself with Hon. Henry Brown, the senior member of the firm who had been his preceptors. This partnership continued for a period of two years, after which time Mr. Pendleton practiced alone until 1883. He had taken a very active interest in the campaigns of the party, and as a recognition of his services he was elected common pleas judge for the tenth district in October of that year. In this office he served for a period
L of G.
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of seven years, during which he established a reputation for the correct ad- ministration of justice, which but few have equalled. He left this office in Feb- ruary, 1890, and again resumed the practice of law, in which he has been continuously engaged since that date. Mr. Pendleton has served in a number of public positions, all of which he has filled with credit to himself and sat- isfaction to his constituents. About 1867 he was appointed county school examiner for Hancock county, in which position he served for a period of seven years, at the same time acting as examiner for the city schools of Findlay. From April, 1870, to the same date in 1872, he officiated as mayor of the city of Findlay, and from January 1, 1872, to January 1, 1876, covering a period of two terms, he was prosecuting attorney of Hancock county.
May 2, 1871, Mr. Pendleton was married in Hancock county, to Emma F., the daughter of George W. Galloway, who died in 1874, Jeaving no issue. The second marriage of Mr. Pendleton occurred in Middletown, Ohio, De- cember 14, 1877, when he led to the altar Mary B., daughter of Joseph Sutphin. The Sutphin family came from New Jersey to Ohio. John Sutphin, the grandfather of Mrs. Pendleton, who was a large landowner of Warren and Butler counties, Ohio, died in Middletown, Ohio, at an advanced age. Jo- seph Sutphin, the father of Mrs. Pendleton, was a prominent flour and paper manufacturer of Middletown, Ohio, and died there at about seventy-five years of age. The mother of Mrs. Pendleton was Miss Caroline Johnston, a native of Ohio, who died in Cincinnati at more than seventy years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton have four children : Charles S., who graduated at Ober- lin College, in 1901, and who is now professor of English at that institution; Emma G .; George F., Jr .; and Chester. Mr. Pendleton is a prominent and worthy member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of Stoker Post, Grand Army of the Republic. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.
AARON J. GLATHART.
It some times happens that though a man may wander over a considerable territory in the course of his life, that he will turn like a magnet to his birth- place and early environments and spend his remaining years as he began them. Farm life at the time when Aaron J. Glathart was born in Big Lick township, Hancock county, Ohio, February 14, 1844, was not what it is to-day. The hardships and work of those early days sent many a young man away from home to seek his fortune in other fields. For every pound of produce in those days meant a disproportionate amount of toil to secure it, so that there is
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ยท Glathank and Wife
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small wonder that so many young men left the farm as soon as they found a way to do so.
As his name would indicate, Mr. Glathart is of Swiss parentage, his father having emigrated from Switzerland, and directly to Hancock county in 1828, at the age of twenty-six. He lived the remainder of his life in Han- cock county, where in connection with farming he had followed the trade of a stone mason. He was one of the men who helped build the old Erie canal. His wife was Susannah von Kannall before her marriage, and their family consisted of eleven children, of whom three survive, being Jeremiah H .; Eliza- beth G., widow of William L. Wisley; and Aaron J. They gave three of their sons to their adopted country, the older one being Rudolph H., who was killed on Brazos river, Texas, in May, 1865, by guerrilla Confederates. Manassa C., who was a scout under General Lyons, was killed at Wilson's Creek, Missouri, August 10, 1861. Leon L. Glathart, the third of these patriotic sons, was a private in Company C, Forty-ninth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, having enlisted at Findlay in January, 1864, and died of smallpox at Chattanooga, Tennessee, February 29, 1864.
The life of Mr. Glathart is an exceedingly interesting one, it having been full of both romance and danger, showing a surprising amount of pluck and courage all the way through. When but a boy of fifteen he went west to Law- rence, Kansas, where an older brother, J. H. Glathart, was running a bakery and provision store. The younger brother immediately went into his broth- er's business and in 1859 was taken into partnership. In the early part of 1860 the firm sold out, and Aaron returned to Hancock county, in which year his father's death occurred. In August, 1861, Aaron J. Glathart enlisted as a private in a company formed at Findlay, being Company H, Fifty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, First Brigade, Second Division, Fifteenth Corps, army of the Tennessee, and his service in the war of the Rebellion is equaled by few of his countrymen for valor and hardships. He was engaged in many battles, some of them the most notable of the war, including Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Siege of Corinth, Morning Sun, Tennessee, Wolf Creek Bridge, Tallahatchee, Holly Springs, Mississippi; Chickasaw Bayou, Yazoo Pass, Mis- sissippi ; Arkansas Post, Arkansas; second expedition to Chickasaw Bayou; Steele's Bayou, Deer Creek, Mississippi; running the batteries at Vicksburg on the ram Queen of the Wesst on April 16, 1863; Raymond, Mississippi; Jackson, Mississippi-the first and second battles; Champion Hills; Big Black River, Mississippi, May 17, 1863; Siege of Vicksburg, May 18 to July 4; Chattanooga; Missionary Ridge; Knoxville, Tennessee; Snake Creek Gap, Dalton, Resaca, Kingston, New Hope Church, Big Shanty, Kenesaw
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Mountain, Pumpkin Vine Creek and Atlanta, Georgia. On July 19, 1864, the army of the Tennessee swung around Atlanta, and about 4 p. m. on the 22d, just after General McPherson was killed, he was captured and sent to Ander- sonville prison, where he was held from July 25 to October 1, 1864. He was then sent to Savannah and held about two weeks, and from there sent to Millen, Georgia, and held until about the first of December, when he was sent to Charleston, South Carolina, and there placed under the fire of the Federal batteries. His lucky star never deserted, or perhaps it would be more truthful to say his pluck never failed him, and after being held at Charleston three or four days he was sent to Florence, South Carolina, to a new stock- ade. He was paroled in the last part of December, 1864, and sent to the hos- pital at Annapolis. At that place he received a furlough and returned home in a very bad conditon, being unable to speak aloud for seven months. But he could not be contented to stay at home, and at great risk to himself he went to Richmond, Virginia, where he rejoined his regiment, and with it par- ticipated in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C., filling his old position of color bearer, which he had held for the last fourteen months of his service, and carrying the battle scarred flag of his regiment. Another incident which showed his indomitable courage and pluck was when on May 19, 1863, he was severely wounded in the abdomen. The wound was of a peculiar nature, a ball having pierced through twenty-seven thicknesses of his rubber blanket and a heavy brass belt plate, this ball and plate being now a dearly appreciated heir-loom in the family. He was immediately sent to the hos- pital, but on the same evening, he escaped the guards and crawled back to the battle field, accompanying his regiment on a forced march up the Yazoo. However the wound did not heal and later became so serious that he was unable to carry a gun or wear a belt. He was assigned to light duty about camp, and was made camp postmaster. He positively refused to go to the hospital, preferring to stick to his regiment and take the fortunes of war as they came. He was mustered out on August 25, 1865, at Little Rock, Ar- kansas, being at that tinie color bearer and postmaster of his regiment. He returned to Findlay broken in health, but remembering the healthy life of the western frontier and being inured to the outdoor life, he set resolutely to work to recover his health, and went to Kansas and camped on the prairie for three months. He again went to Lawrence and went into the auctioneer- ing and second-hand furniture business. A year later he bought a farm near Lawrence and remained there some six years, but his faith in Ohio had not wavered, and in 1874 he returned to his native county, where he farmed
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until 1897, when he retired and moved to Findlay, where he has resided ever since.
His faithful wife, who has shared his fortunes and misfortunes, was Amanda J., daughter of Anthony W. and Mary J. (McRill) Strother, and whose great uncle, Robert Strother, was a soldier of Revolutionary war fame, from the colony of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Glathart have seven chil- dren : Lena B., the wife of Captain T. L. Huston, Second United States Engineers; Harry A .; Floy M., wife of Levi K. Harvitt; Edna E., wife of Samuel H. Warren, died August 25, 1897; Rolland L .; Gail J., wife of Harry Riemund; and Carl A. Rolland L. Glathart was a private in Company A, Second Ohio Infantry, in the Spanish-American war, enlisting in March, 1898, with his company, of which he had been a member since April 21, 1897. He served eleven months, holding the rank of sergeant when mustered out, having received his promotion on August 1, 1898. He was located in the camps at Knoxville, Chickamagua and Macon, Georgia. Carl A. Glathart enlisted in the United States. navy June 6; 1900, and was immediately as- signed to the training ship Essex, where he remained a year. His second assignment was on the battleship Alabama, and he is now with that ship.
The only order to which Mr. Glathart pays allegiance is that of Stoker Post No. 54, Grand Army of the Republic, in which he is a time-honored and much esteemed member. In politics he is of Republican faith, in the ranks of which party he is a conscientious voter. He does not associate with any religious body.
CHRISTIAN HEYN.
Christian Heyn, editor and proprietor of the Wochenblatt, a weekly Ger- man newspaper, published at Findlay, Ohio, was born in Elgersburg, Thur- ingia, Saxony, in 1859, and he is a son of Christian Heyn, who was a native of Manebach, Germany, born in 1832. He came with his family to America in 1886, and died in 1894, at Findlay, where his widow still resides.
Our subject came to America in 1881 and located in Cincinnati, where he started the first mask factory in the United States, which he carried on for three years, selling to other parties at the end of that time. In 1884 he came to Findlay, where many of the most highly esteemed citizens are of German birth, and again started a mask factory, which business is still carried on under the name of the American Mask Manufacturing Company. After four years Mr. Heyn sold his interest in the factory and bought an interest in the newspaper of which he became sole owner a year
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later. He is an independent Democrat and his journal is conducted in the in- terest of that party, but aside from politics, it is a paper of great merit and general interest.
In 1885 our subject was married, in Findlay, to Miss Clara Dietsh, and their two daughters were named Hilde and Emilie. Mrs. Heyn died March I, 1892, at the age of thirty-seven years. In fraternal connection Mr. Heyn is a Mason of the blue lodge, and his religious association is with the German Lutheran church.
MAJOR BRIGHT.
One of the large landowners and successful agriculturists of Hancock county is Major Bright, who is descended from old pioneers of the county, prominent in business and public affairs. Our subject's grandparents were Major and Deborah (Moore) Bright, both natives of Maryland, who came to Hancock county in 1829, when there was little evidence of its becoming the great country it now is. The family first made their home in Fairfield county but later removed to this county. Mr. Bright was a hard-working man and when he came to this state he had little personal property and no real es- tate; but he entered a thousand acres of government land and by his industry soon possessed valuable interests, which were subsequently divided among his children. He was a man of some influence and held one of the important public offices of the county. He died about 1845, and his wife in 1879 at ninety-three years of age. Of the ten children of the family some became prominent citizens in the county.
One of the sons of the above family was Nimrod, who was born in Fair- field county in 1813, but came with his father to this county. He inherited four hundred acres from his father and to this added fourteen hundred acres more, at the time of his death his property being worth thirty thousand dollars. He was a man of strong convictions and not easily changed from his ideas of right, and that he was a good business man is shown by his large property. He was one of the influential members of the United Brethren church, and in his early years he was a Democrat in political belief, but about the time of the formation of the Republican party he joined its ranks. His death occurred December 27, 1893. He had been married three times, in June, 1833, to Har- riet Wisely, who died in 1860, the mother of nine children, of whom seven are living. His second wife was Margaret Flack, who bore him two children, one living. For his third wife he took the sister of his second wife, Julia A., who is now (1902) living; by this marriage were four born, of whom two are living.
Major Bright 98 Wife
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Major Bright, the subject of this sketch, is a son of the first marriage, being born on July 23, 1835, in Big Lick township, Hancock county. He was reared and educated in his native township, also at Westerville, in Franklin county. He inherited his share of his father's estate, to the amount of three hundred and twenty acres and to this he later added two hundred and forty acres more. He now owns and operates three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land in Amanda township and is recognized as one of the leading agriculturists of the county.
In 1856 Mr. Bright was married to Sarah S. Firman, the daughter of Erastus and Kesiah W. Firman, of Delaware county ; she was born in Licking county, December 11, 1834. Of the four children born to them three are now living : Elizabeth A., now Mrs. Ewing; Emma Lois, the wife of Edgar Wil- cox; and Nimrod W., a prominent man of the county and a candidate for probate judge. The Bright family are menibers of the United Brethren church, in which Mr. Bright has served as class leader, steward, superintendent and teacher of the Sunday-school. In politics the members of the family hold the views of the Republican party.
GEORGE W. PETERS.
The subject of this sketch is of Virginia ancestry and comes of a family whose descendants have long been settled in Ohio. His grandfather, Am- brose Peters, came with his wife from the Old Dominion in 1849 and first settled in Jefferson county, Ohio, but later removed to Hancock county, buy- ing land in Washington township, a part of which afterward became the site on which the town of Arcadia now stands. The family of Ambrose Peters consisted of ten children: Ann, deceased wife of J. Laughlin; Cath- erine, deceased wife of Joseph Dillery; John; Abraham; Mary, wife of Seth Smith; Elizabeth, wife of George Taylor; David; Susan, wife of John Ribley ; Middleton and Sabina (both deceased). John Peters, third of the above enumerated children, was born in Virginia, February 5, 1829, and was con- sequently twenty years old when his parents reached Ohio. October 9, 1851, he married Cynthia McFadden, by whom he had eight children : Ambrose, married to Elizabeth Ewing; Christena J., wife of John C. Thomas; Amos W., married Rosa Kamp; George W., subject of this sketch; Ida, Abraham L., Alice and David. Six of these are residents of Hancock county. The father settled in Big Lick township, where he accumulated several hundred acres of land, some of which he gave to his children, and with his wife is liv- ing at his old homestead in the enjoyment of a serene old age.
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His son, George W. Peters, was born in Big Lick township, Hancock county, Ohio, July 10, 1860, and was trained to farm life from childhood. At the present time he owns and operates a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Big Lick township and ranks as one of the progressive agriculturists of the county. All of his adult years have been spent in agricultural pursuits and he has been successful in his business, as the result of industry, combined with good judgment and good management. August 18, 1882, Mr. Peters was united in marriage with Miss Lucy Kinsel, a native of Big Lick township, where her birth occurred August 31, 1863. The children resulting from this union, four in number, are as follows: Nellie, born July 23, 1884; Edna, born January 14, 1886; Wilber, born March 15, 1887; and Clara, who was born October 11, 1899, and died September 13, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Peters are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which the former has held the position of steward. The Peters family, both of the older and younger generations, during their long connection with Hancock county affairs, have always enjoyed good standing as friends, neighbors and citizens. They have contributed their full share to that agricultural development which has given Hancock county prominence for its fine stock, well cultivated fields and beau- tiful country homes.
ALBERT L. EWING.
Among the younger generation of farmers in Hancock county none stand better or have made better use of their opportunities than the gentle- man whose name heads this sketch. The family has long been identified with the affairs of Hancock county and three generations of the name have contributed their share toward its growth and prosperity. It was about the year 1832 that William Ewing came with his wife and young children to Ash- land county, Ohio, where he settled and remained a number of years. Dur- ing this period he visited Hancock county and being pleased with its outlook, purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land. This property he event- ually gave to his children and eighty acres went to his son, John D. Ewing, who later traded the same for a farm in Big Lick township. John D. was born September 7, 1822, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was only ten years old when his parents settled in Ashland county. He was a man of in- telligence and after locating in Hancock county rose to positions of influence, holding the offices of land appraiser, township trustee and treasurer. His religious affiliations were with the Presbyterian church, his politics Demo- cratic and he ended his days on his farm in Big Lick township February 4,
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1901. In early life John D. Ewing had married Martha E. Cooper, with whom he lived happily until the time of her death, which occurred February 14, 1881. They became the parents of four children : Amanda J., Sarah E., A. P. and A. L. Ewing. The latter, who is the immediate subject of this sketch, was born on the home farm in Big Lick township, Hancock county, Ohio, January 23, 1861. He was reared and trained on the farm which he now occupies and there is little connected with the details of practical agri- culture which he has not learned from experience. At the present time he owns one hundred and sixty acres, all of which is in excellent condition and exhibits the evidences of scientific cultivation, painstaking care and other signs of good husbandry. Mr. Ewing has been successful in his ventures, his farm has yielded him fair returns and he has received the reward which seldom fails to follow intelligent labor backed by cool judgment. In 1884 Mr. Ewing was united in marriage with Miss Eva R., the estimable daughter of William and Rachel Warren, the former of whom was a successful farmer, who died at the age of sixty-two years. This union has proved congenial in every way, and the happy household of Mr. and Mrs. Ewing is the meeting place of many friends who are always entertained in the most cordial and hospitable manner. Mr. Ewing is of Scotch-Irish descent through his father, and of German extraction on the Cooper side.
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