USA > Ohio > Hancock County > A centennial biographical history of Hancock County, Ohio > Part 40
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After being mustered out of service at Nashville, Mr. Holliger returned to Ohio, going to Columbus, where he received his discharge and returned to his home in Tuscarawas county. He remained there for some time, farming a little, and working in a grist mill and in the coal mines. In 1879 he went to Troy, Ohio, for a year and later to Piqua, Ohio, continuing in the sewing machine business in which he had engaged in Troy. In 1887 he left the sew- ing machine business to start into the grocery business, which later he merged into a confectionery jobbing business. In 1887 he sold out and came to Findlay, and went into the wholesale confectionery and cigar business, which he now continues, the members of the firm being F. A., H. L., C. C. Holliger and C. F. Eckhardt.
Mr. Holliger was first married in 1869 to Mary A. Lehn, who died in 1880, leaving three children as follows: Harry L .; Charles C. and Mary Maud, wife of C. F. Eckhardt. Mr. Holliger married again in 1882, his second wife being Mary A. McWilliams; there have been no children by this union. A brother of Mr. Holliger also served as a private the Civil war, enlisting in Company B, Fifty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was captured at Somerset, Kentucky, but was not held long, being soon paroled.
The subject of this sketch belongs to the Knights of Pythias, Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows, and Stoker Post, No. 54, Grand Army of the Republic.
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EPHRAIM TROUT.
For many years this gentleman, now deceased, was one of the leading citizens of Allen township, Hancock county. He was the son of John and Eleanor Trout, who, with their family removed from Perry county to the village of Van Buren, Hancock county, in 1828. The father entered one hundred and sixty acres of land from the government, part of which original purchase is now owned by Allen Dorsey, of Van Buren. This land was soon brought under a good state of cultivation. Mr. John Trout is remembered as having been one of the principal movers in the matter of laying out the town of Van Buren. He was a thorough business man as well as a good practical farmer. His death occurred early in life. His family consisted of Ephraim, George, Philip, John F., Eliza, Ella and Cornelius.
Ephraim Trout was born in Perry county, Ohio, November 24, 1817. He was, therefore, only eleven years old when his parents came to Hancock county, Ohio. Having been reared on a farm and educated in the common schools of the township, he naturally took to agricultural pursuits and fol- lowed in the footprints of his father. He passed his life as a resident of Allen township, was prominent in public affairs, ranked among the best farm- ers, and served in many of the local offices. His farm consisted of a quarter section, upon which he lived until his death, which occurred October 18, 1900. He twice entered the state of matrimony. His first wife was Sarah E. Shafer, whom he married April 25, 1839, and who died in October, 1871, leaving seven children : John, Mary E., Amanda, Hiram (deceased), Caro- line (deceased), Philip and Sarah E. April 6, 1873, Mr. Trout married Miss Isabelle J., daughter of Daniel and Mary ( Hymer) Warner, whose children were. Eliza M., born February 20, 1874; William D., September 4, 1875; Mollie F., April 9, 1879 (deceased ) ; Edward G., December 7, 1880; and Ros- coe L., September 9, 1889. Of these children, Eliza married W. Mickey, whom she bore two daughters. Martha B., and Florence E. William D. married Clara B. Mccullough, and they have two children, Roy E. and Clyde E. Mrs. Isabelle Trout was born in Allen township, November 17. 1842, and is the owner of real estate in her own right, upon which are three pro- during oil wells. Her father, Daniel Warner, was born in Dutchess county, New York state, in 1799, and her mother in Philadelphia in 1801, coming to Ohio in 1815. They were among the very earliest pioneers in the county of Wayne, Daniel being the first white boy in what is now Wooster, Ohio, and his brother Alanson the first white child born in the same place. The Warners removed to this county about 1830, where they located in what is
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now Portage township. Mr. Warner is remembered as being a man of great activity, buying and selling different parcels of real estate, which he improved while he held them. He died in 1880, in Portage township, and his wife in August, 1865. Only two of their eight children are living: Daniel Warner and Mrs. Isabelle Trout. The latter is a member of the United Brethren church, and the family is esteemed for having been honorably and prom- inently associated with the building up of the institutions of Hancock county.
JOHN A. SUTTON.
This is an honored name in the business circles of Hancock county, Ohio, its possessor being at the present time auditor of the county. He is one of the products of this utilitarian age when every man may be the architect of his own fortune. If Mr. Sutton ever reaches the highest office in the gift of the American people, he may attribute it to the fact that he was shrewd enough in his early life to add Lincoln's accomplishment to his repertoire, that of a railsplitter, and later that other almost necessary qualification, an experience as a printer in a country newspaper: office. Mr. Sutton has always been exceedingly active in the political circles of his county and state. He is a Republican of the stalwart kind, and has always held himself ready for service in any position that would advance the interests of the grand old party. Born in 1856, on the 28th day of November, on a farm in Morgan county, Ohio, he there passed the period of his early boyhood, and in the year 1864 removed with his parents to Trenton, Missouri. Here he passed two years of his life, and then, his mother having died in the meantime, he returned with his father to the old home in Morgan county. On the farm he remained until 1873, when he came to Deshler, Ohio, where he re- mained for a year, engaging in the arduous labor of getting out railroad ties, logs and stave blocks. Back again to Morgan county and Noble county he went, where he continued in the laborious labor of farm life up to the year 1878, when in the fall he came to Hancock county, locating on a farm in Blanchard township. He passed but a year on this farm when, in 1879, he came to Findlay, where he entered the office of the "Jeffersonian" as print- er's devil, from which position he has worked up through the grades until he is at the present time associate editor of that paper. His labors with this paper have not been continuous, he having passed a period in North Balti- more, Wood county, Ohio, where he founded, in 1884, the North Baltimore "Beacon," a Republican weekly, which he continued to run with great suc- cess for a period of two years. During his residence in Wood county he was
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elected clerk of Henry township, which was the beginning of his public career. He served until 1886, when he resigned the office, sold out his paper and returned to Findlay to accept the position of associate editor of the "Jeffer- sonian." This position he still holds. In this city he has been quite active in the public life of the community from 1893 to 1897, being a member of the library board, which he resigned to become a member of the city election board. In this position he served one year. Prior to leaving Findlay to engage in the newspaper business he had served a period as supervisor of elections of Hancock county, having been appointed by the secretary of state in 1900. This office he resigned to accept the nomination on the Republican ticket for county auditor of Hancock county, to which office he was elected after a very stirring campaign. For a period of twenty years Mr. Sutton has been continuously connected with the local machinery of the Re- publican party, serving on the central and executive committees most of that time .. His previous experience was an earnest of what might be expected in his conduct of the auditor's office. Fraternally he affiliates with the Ma- sonic fraternity, and favors the form of worship of the Methodist Episco- pal church. His domestic life began in Findlay in 1884, when he was mar- ried to Mary M. Mungen, who presides over his home with dignified grace. He is the father of two interesting daughters, Mary Lucille and Dorothy Anna.
L. S. WOODS, M. D.
This gentleman, who is the oldest resident physician of Rawson, is a native of the county and the state, also descended from Ohioans born and bred on the side of both father and mother. Such a pedigree would seem to entitle Dr. Woods to be designated as a "genuine Buckeye," a heritage to which it is generally regarded as a high honor to be born. But the Doctor is not one of those who would rest his claims for distinction on the fact that he "was born in Ohio," preferring to show merit of a different kind, and be- fore this biography is concluded the reader will find reason for believing that the subject thereof needs no factitious aid in advertising his standing as a pro- fessional man. As stated, both his parents were natives of Ohio, the father, James Woods, hailing from Columbiana and his mother, Hannah Hatcher, claiming origin in Stark county. They were children of pioneer settlers, the first born November 16, 1810, and the latter July 5, 1815, and were conse- quently familiar with the scenes characteristic of Ohio in its formative period as a state. James Woods and Hannah Hatcher became acquainted early in
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their lives, were married April 11, 1833, and a few years later decided to locate permanently in Hancock county. They arrived September 20, 1837, and first settled in Delaware township, but three years afterward bought forty acres of improved land in Madison township, on which they constructed their home and ever after resided there. John Woods was one of the first trustees of the new township of Madison, which was formed out of a part of Delaware, and he became a man of influence in that locality. His original investment in land was subsequently increased by the purchase of sixty additional acres, and the tract was converted into a comfortable and productive homestead. Mr. Woods is now ninety-two years old, and a fine sample of the sturdy race whose energy and industry placed Ohio in the front rank of the great com- monwealths of the central valley. Mrs. Hannah Woods, the beloved mother of an affectionate family, passed away in peace with all the world on the 23d of March, 1894. Of the eight children of this worthy couple the five now living are: Enos H., Samantha A., Dr. Thomas E., Nathan B., route agent on the Northern Pacific Railroad for the last twenty years, and the Doctor, whose life work is now to be unfolded in outline.
L. S. Woods, youngest of his father's children, was born on the old family homestead in Madison township, Hancock county, Ohio, November 3, 1853. After finishing the usual course in the common schools he entered the office of his elder brother, Dr. Thomas E. Woods, at Rawson, for the purpose of studying medicine, and remained three years under that efficient preceptorship. The ground work being thus laid, he next attended the Col- lege of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, and obtained his medical de- gree from that famous institution on March 17, 1887. Without much delay he opened an office at Rawson, and has since practiced continuously at that place, being now the oldest resident physician of the village. He belongs to what is called the allopathic or regular school of physicians, and is regarded as one of the most skillful as well as best informed of the county's medical practitioners. He is a member of the Northwestern Ohio and the Hancock County Medical Societies, and takes an active interest in their meetings and discussions. January 1, 1884, Dr. Woods was united in marriage with Miss Inez A., daughter of George J. and Caroline Kelly. The father of Mrs. Woods. who is one of the oldest citizens of Rawson and furnished most of the land for the town site when the place was laid out, is noticed at some length in an - other part of this volume. Dr. and Mrs. Woods have three children: Leo Mozelle, born April 15, 1888; Scott K. and Hannah K., twins, born Septem- ber 24, 1894. Dr. Woods is quite prominent in Masonic circles, being wor- shipful master of Lodge No. 418, and a member of the chapter and command-
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ery at Findlay. He has also been long connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which fraternity he is past grand. In politics, Dr. Woods is an uncompromising Republican as his father has always been since the for- mation of that party. His home was a station for the "Underground Rail- road" before the war. It is hardly necessary to add that the families of Woods and Kelly, being among the oldest, are also among the most respected in their localities and form part of the best social circles.
SYLVANUS W. TROUT.
The annals of Hancock county, to be complete, must have written into them the deeds of heroism accomplished by her soldier element, and it is with pleasure that notice is taken of one of that honorable class of citizens, who is at the present time a well-to-do farmer of Allen township, where he is engaged extensively in stock raising on a well tilled farm of one hundred and twenty acres. He was not of military age at the time when the war cloud gathered over our nation, but just as soon as he could prevail upon the mustering officer to accept him, he entered the army and gallantly did his part to maintain unbroken the constitution written in the blood of our fathers. In 1863 he became a private in Company I, of the Twenty-first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He participated with this regiment in a number of well contested battles in the middle west, such as Buzzard's Roost, Resaca, the Atlanta campaign, Franklin, Nashville. He was present at fourteen of the principal battles of the war, and in a number of smaller skrimishes. He bravely did his duty during these years of service, and on July 29, 1865, re- ceived an honorable discharge.
Sylvanus W. Trout was born on the farm on which he now resides on the 7th of February, 1845. He was the son of George W. and Delilah (Heller) Trout. He received his early training and education in his native township, and has always followed agricultural pursuits. He is a practical farmer and enjoys the full confidence of his fellow citizens. His married life began in 1869, when he led to the altar Miss Clarissa, daughter of An- thony and Lucy Huntington, to whom one son, Milton E., was born in 1870. This boy's mother died in 1872, and after a western trip to California, which lasted nearly two years, Mr. Trout returned home, and in 1876 was mar- ried to Rachel S., daughter of Abraham and Susan Kempher. The follow- ing children have been born to this marriage, namely: Carrie K .; Charles E .; Merrill W .; Fannie B .; Susan A., deceased; Nellie J .; and Floyd, also deceased. The mother of these children is a native of Portage township,
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where she was born in 1849, and where her parents removed from West- moreland county, Pennsylvania, some eleven years previous.
George W. Trout, father of our subject, removed to this county with his father, John Trout, in 1829, when but a lad. John Trout entered a farm now owned by Allen Dorsey in Van Buren, then containing one hundred and sixty acres of timber land in its natural state. In conjunction with his farm- ing, John Trout kept a hotel in Van Buren, known as the Trout House, he exploiting that fact by the rather unique sign of a trout. These two enter- prises he carried on up to his death. He was a gallant defender of the Union against British aggression in 1812, a good citizen generally and reared a family of five children. When George W. Trout came of age he entered from the government eighty acres of land, but afterward exchanged his in- terest in the homestead for eighty acres which his brother James owned, and joined him on the west. This property is now owned by our subject. George W. Trout was a practical farmer, a good neighbor, a loyal citizen, and a loving husband and father. He made the best possible use of his time, valuing it as so much capital. He was a member of the United Brethren church, in political affiliations a Republican and fraternized with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. His death, which was mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances, occurred in October, 1882, the mother of his children surviving him some thirteen years. They reared a family of seven children, six of whom grew to maturity, and five of whom are now living. Sylvanus W. Trout has passed his entire life in Hancock county, and his many acquaintances know him to be a man of sterling worth, reliable in business, and trustworthy in all life's relations.
He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Stoker Post, No. 54, Grand Army of the Republic, and the United Brethren church. Mrs. Trout is a member of the Christian church.
MILTON E. TROUT.
This gentleman is a young and enterprising farmer residing in Allen township, on a farm of seventy-two acres of well tilled land. He was born in July, 1870, and is the son of Sylvanus W. and Lucy (Huntington ) Trout. Milton Trout is a worthy representative of a worthy family, and is dis- tinguished himself, as time passes, in agricultural pursuits. His entire life, with the exception of two years, has been passed on the farm he now occu- pies and owns. He is in the oil belt of Hancock county, and has a producing well on his farm. He married Irma, daughter of Almond E., and Theresa
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S. (Woodward) Hadsall, a native of Lima, Ohio, where she was born Feb- ruary 6, 1875. They have four children : Samuel A., born January 6, 1896; Inez L., July 3, 1897; Theresa M., January 31, 1899; and Edna L., March 20, 1901. Mrs. Trout's father was a native of Hancock county and her mother of Erie county, Ohio. By his first marriage Mr. Hadsall had seven children and five by the last.
GEORGE W. SNYDER.
Among the representative citizens of Jackson township none are more deserving of mention in this volume than George W. Snyder, who for many years has been connected with the agricultural interests of Hancock county. Although he has met with reverses in life he has steadily overcome all the obstacles in the path to success, and is now one of the well-to-do and substan- tial citizens of his community.
A native of Hancock county, Mr. Snyder was born in Findlay township, April 20, 1854, his parents being Samuel and Catherine (Spangler) Snyder, who were natives of Perry and Fairfield counties, respectively, and were married in the latter county. A year later, in 1833, the father came to Han- cock county, at which time there were only thirteen buildings in the city of Findlay. He entered a. tract of land in Findlay township, two and a half miles northeast of the city, on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad. It was covered with a heavy growth of timber and there were but few settlers in that locality at that time. Mr. Snyder worked at his trade of cabinet making most of the time, devoting his evenings and what other time he could spare to the improvement and cultivation of his land until he had a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres. Upon that place he con- tinued to make his home until called to his final rest on the 4th of October, 1884, at the age of seventy-two years, and his wife died May 6, 1888, at the age of seventy-three. Politically he was first a Whig and later a Repub- lican, and was always very outspoken and decided in his views on any ques- tion. He was very active in religious work, being one of the original mem- hers of the English Lutheran church of Findlay and assisted in building the first church of that denomination at that place, in which he served in an offi- cial capacity throughout life. He lived peaceably with all men, never being engaged in a lawsuit, and was noted for his generosity, giving liberally to all enterprises calculated to improve the moral, social or material welfare of his community.
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In the family of this worthy man were ten children, of whom one died in infancy, those reaching maturity being Solomon, a resident of Big Lick township; Emanuel, of Arcadia; William, a ranchman of Kansas; George W., of this review; Rebecca, wife of Henry Ebersole, of Washington township, this county ; Emma, wife of William P. Small, of Findlay, all of whom are still living, while Isabella, the eldest of the family, married J. G. Orth, of Arcadia, and died at the age of sixty-two years; Louisa married Michael Snyder and died in Arcadia some years ago; and Mary wedded Samuel Sny- der, of Putnam county, Ohio, and died when a young woman.
George W. Snyder, of this review, is the youngest of the family, and remained at home until twenty-five years of age, having charge of the farm during the last years of his residence there. In 1879 he bought the place and continued its operation until 1888, when he rented it and removed to Findlay, where he engaged in the livery business for four years with satis- factory results. Prior to this time, however, he had lost all of his property by going security for twenty-seven thousand dollars, he and his brothers, Emanuel and Solomon having endorsed the notes of their brother William tor that amount. To meet his obligations our subject gave up the old home farm and in fact all that he possessed with exception of a few tools and some stock valued at between two and three hundred dollars. During the following three years he was engaged in farming on rented land, and at the end of that time removed to his present farm, his father-in-law having given Mrs. Snyder eighty acres. She also purchased another eighty-acre tract, so that they now own a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he lias placed under excellent cultivation. It is known as the Henry Bowers farm and here Mr. Snyder has made his home since 1897, during which time he has kept paying off old obligations to the amount of twenty-five hundred dollars. In some instances the notes had run for eleven years. In 1886, during the boom in Findlay, Mr. Snyder was offered four hundred dollars per acre for his old Snyder farm but did not make up his mind to sell until thirty days later. When ready to accept the offer his brother Solomon ad- vised him to wait, believing the land would bring six hundred dollars per acre, but the offer was never repeated. There had been previously sold some adjoining land for three hundred dollars per acre, which shortly af- terward brought eight hundred dollars, and this led him to believe that which he possessed was worth more than four hundred dollars per acre. In 1888. on his removal to Findlay, he leased his farm for twelve hundred dollars cash, receiving his pay in twenty dollar gold pieces. A gas well was sunk upon the place, but it did not prove a valuable one. At that time the streets
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of Findlay were crowded with an excited lot of people who expected soon to realize vast fortunes from their gas wells.
On the 10th of December, 1878, Mr. Snyder was united in marriage to Miss Alice S. Wyer, then twenty-three years of age, the daughter of Henry Wyer. She was born in Fairfield county but when a young girl came with her parents to Hancock county and was educated in the high school of Find- lay. By her marriage she has become the mother of two sons : William B., born June 30, 1882; and Cloyd C., born August 22, 1884. Both are at home with their parents. The family hold a high place in the esteem of the community in which they live, and as a genial, courteous gentleman Mr. Snyder has made a host of friends throughout the county.
JOHN F. STALL.
The Stall family were of German extraction, the American branch or- iginating from settlers in Pennsylvania. From Franklin county, in that state, during the earlier half of the nineteenth century, George and Mary Stall came to Carroll county, Ohio, where they resided until 1853. In that year they removed to Hancock county and located on eighty acres of land which had been but little improved and contained no better building than a log house. The newcomers remained on this farm until 1892, when it was sold and a residence purchased in Findlay, which was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Stall until their deaths, which occurred September 24, and Jan- uary 2, 1895, respectively. George Stall was a man of influence in his town- ship, where he held the offices of treasurer and clerk. While holding the office of township treasurer he was robbed of one thousand two hundred dollars of the public money, which he made good by selling some property which he owned in the town of Arcadia. This robbery occurred in 1868, but Mr. Stall's prompt restitution of the funds by sacrificing his individual means, not only satisfied the people, but raised him higher in their esti- mation. During the Mexican war he held a commission as colonel given under Governor David Todd, of the state of Ohio, and fought under General Scott with such gallantry as to obtain recognition as a brave and loyal soldier. By his marriage, which occurred December 31, 1835, he became the father of seven children, of whom five are still living and four of these are residents of Hancock county. His son, John F. Stall, who is the subject of this sketch, was born in Carroll county, Ohio, January 12, 1837, and received his education at the schools in Findlay after his parents removed to Hancock county. In 1855 he went to Illinois, where he was employed six
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