USA > Ohio > Hancock County > A centennial biographical history of Hancock County, Ohio > Part 47
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At McMinnville, Tennessee, in the year 1886, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Growden to Miss Ella E. Walling, daughter of Jesse Walling, formerly mayor of that city.
HILTON A. VICKERS, M. D.
A man who has worked his way to an enviable position in his profession and has won the confidence and respect of a large part of the population of Findlay is Dr. Hilton A. Vickers. His father was also a physician, and it was from him the son inherited the ambition which he afterward found the means to gratify. The father, W. H. Vickers, was a physician in Coshocton county, Ohio, for about forty years, and his death occurred in 1870, in Old Plainfield, Ohio, at the age of fifty-nine years. Two brothers of our subject, Victor and Lorenzo, served their country faithfully through the Civil war.
Dr. Hilton A. Vickers was born in Old Plainfield, Ohio, June 18, 1857, at which place he lived until he was eighteen years old. A desire to go west led him to venture alone to Henry county, Indiana, where he worked on a farm for about seven months, and then attended school at Dover Hill, In- diana, at the same time working for a farmer in order to defray his expenses. He then taught for two terms, and next, after four years, having resolved to enter his father's profession, returned to his native state and studied medi- cine in the office of Dr. A. E. Walker, completing his course at the Columbus Medical College, at which seat of learning he was graduated in 1884. He first located in Evansburg, Ohio, where he built up a practice and lived for
J. G. Vickers M.D.
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eight years. He then practiced his profession in Deshler, this state, for two years, and in 1893 removed to Findlay, where he has ever since continued in the active practice of medicine.
Dr. Vickers was married at Old Plainfield, Ohio, his birthplace, in 1881, to Miss Sallie A. Smith, and they have had eight children, seven of whom are living, as follows: Archie V., Raymond F., Goldie, Ella, Bertha, Earl and Grace. The Doctor is a chapter Mason, of which fraternal organiza- tion he is a very popular member. Politically he affiliates with the Republi- can party, in the principles and doctrines of which he is entirely sympathetic. He keeps up his professional interests outside of this city as a member of the Northwestern Ohio Medical Association, and is also an active member of the Hancock Medical Society. In Findlay Dr. Vickers has a very success- ful practice, which is becoming more extensive and more satisfactory each year.
HENRY SHEETS.
Mathias Sheets, who founded the family of that name in America, was a blacksmith by trade in his native country of Germany, and was brought to this country in 1776 with the German allies of the British army. Just after the battle at Monmouth, New Jersey, Mathias and a companion deserted and started off in search of the American army. On their way they saw a squad of British cavalry in pursuit and to escape them hid in some hay that was contained in an old building near by.
When the troopers, who had not seen the runaways, came near the place of their concealment, they thrust their sabers into the hay through the cracks between the logs, but fortunately did not reach far enough to touch the trembling fugitives. When the latter heard the squad ride away they lost no time in leaving their place of refuge, and eventually arrived within the lines of the Revolutionary forces. After the war Mathias Sheets settled in southeastern Pennsylvania, where he reared a family in which was in- cluded a son named Jacob. The latter married Christina, daughter of Nich- olas Boher, who served as a private on the American side in the war for in- dependence. Jacob and Christina (Boher) Sheets became the parents of nine children, three sons and six daughters, two of the former and four of the latter still living. The second son, Joseph, was a member of Company I, Twenty-fourth Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, with which he served creditably throughout the Civil war. He was with General Banks during . his expedition up the Red river, and was on board a steamboat with his regi-
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ment when the part of the army to which he belonged passed the fortifica- tions at Vicksburg under the cover of a dark night. History relates how the forts opened a furious cannonade on the daring fleet as it passed, and one cannon-ball passed through the boat containing the regiment to which Joseph Sheets belonged. Later this regiment was sent around by water to Wash- ington and from there to Shenandoah Valley, where in the battle with Early's army, October 19, 1864, Joseph was captured and sent with others to the prison at Richmond. After being exchanged in January, 1865, he was sent to Maryland and later to Benton Barracks, St. Louis, where he died and was buried.
Henry Sheets, the eldest of the children of Jacob and Christina, and the subject of this sketch, was born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, July 26, 1824, and when only nine months old was taken by his parents to Center county, in the same state. They lived on a rented farm and there Henry spent most of his boyhood, attending district school during the three months' term in winter and helping on the farm at other times. In 1842, at the age of seventeen, Henry gained permission of his parents to go to Hancock county, Ohio, where he worked by the month on a farm owned by his uncle near the location of the present village of Arcadia, and in the winter taught the district school of that neighborhood. After spending eighteen months in Ohio Henry Sheets returned to Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1847, and then came back to Hancock county, which has ever since been the place of his residence. For about nineteen years his two-fold occupa- tion was carpentering in the building season and teaching school during the inclement weather of winter. In 1859 he engaged in farming and the next year was elected to the office of auditor of Hancock county, in which posi- tion he served two terms of two years each. In March, 1861, Mr. Sheets located with his family at Findlay, where he spent five years and returned to the farm near Arcadia, which has been his home from that time to this. After serving two years as examiner of county schools Mr. Sheets was ap- pointed, in 1870, to fill out the unexpired term of the county treasurer, who had left the county. In 1876 he was elected to the lower house of the Ohio Legislature to fill the unexpired term of Hon. A. H. Phillips, who died after serving half his term. and in 1877 he was re-elected to a full term of two years.
December 18, 1851, was solemnized the marriage of Henry Sheets and Miss Martha, daughter of James Campbell, a prominent farmer of Han- cock county, residing in Cass township. Of the eight children born of this union two died within less than three weeks after birth and Mathew, one
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of the sons, died of typhoid fever at the age of twenty-eight years. The five survivors consist of three sons and two daughters, of whom Rufus, the eldest son, is living in Marshall county, Iowa, where he owns a flouring mill on the Iowa river. James H., the second son, is a carpenter by trade and follows that occupation for a living. Homer, the youngest son, at- tends to the farming on the old homestead and, like his brother, James, is unmarried. Ellen, the eldest daughter, is unmarried and remains at the family homestead. Elizabeth, the youngest daughter, married Albert Kopf, with whom she resides at Fort Wayne, Indiana, where her husband holds the position of blacksmith for the New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Company, doing all needed repairing in his line for the road from Stony Island, near Chicago, to Bellevue, Ohio. Considering the fact that he had only four dollars when he arrived in Hancock county, the subject of our sketch may truly be said to have achieved a creditable success in life, but he is a modest man, and does not brag either of what he has or what he has done. At the present time his farm consists of one hundred and fifty acres, after Mr. Sheets gave the right of way to two railroads and to the electric road from Fostoria to Findlay. Since 1849 Mr. Sheets and his wife have been members of the Evangelical Lutheran church in Arcadia, to which three other members of the family also belong. In politics Mr. Sheets is now and always has been a member of the Democratic party, but he has never be- longed to any of the secret societies. He has aimed always to do his duty as best he could, both in public and private life,-to be just toward his fellow man and to fulfill all the requirements of good citizenship.
ISAAC W. COOPER.
Isaac WV. Cooper, retired farmer, and one of the solid and prosperous men of the community, is not only a native of the state of Ohio, but also of Hancock county, where he was born in Portage township in the year 1842, and he is a typical American farmer of the broad-minded, liberal and suc- cessful class. Mr. Cooper is of English descent. His grandfather (also Isaac W. Cooper) was born in England, but came to this country and settled in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where his son, Amos Cooper, was born in 1808. Later, in the year 1812, the grandfather, Isaac W. Cooper, moved with his family out into the great new state of Ohio, which a few years before had been a part of the Western Reserve country, and located in Perry county. When the war of 1812 broke out he sided with the country of his adoption, and was a soldier in that war, fighting against the English
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and for the United States. Amos Cooper, father of Isaac W. Cooper, came with his parents in 1812, from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, to Per- ry county, Ohio. Later, in the year 1832, he moved to Hancock county, Ohio, where he afterwards resided and where he died in 1879. He was a farmer all his life, and was an honored and esteemed citizen. Isaac \V. Cooper was reared on the farm in Hancock county where his father lived for years, but in 1879 he moved to Allen township, where he resided until 1900. when he moved to Findlay to take life a little easier and enjoy some of the comforts of life for which he had worked and planned for so many years.
In the year 1864, when more volunteers were called for, he entered the Union army and served four months in Company G, One Hundred and Thirty-third Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a private. He was in the fighting between Richmond and Petersburg during the Virginia cani- paign, and under fire for almost a month. After being mustered out at Columbus he returned home to Portage township, Hancock county, Ohio. Mr. Cooper belongs to Stoker Post No. 54, G. A. R.
Mr. Cooper has been township assessor, having held that office for two terms in Allen township, and two terms in Portage township, and was trus- tee of Allen township for one term. Mr. Cooper is a Democrat. He is a member of the Presbyterian church and belongs to the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Cooper was married January 29, 1865, in Allen township, Hancock county, Ohio, to Amanda, daughter of Ephraim Trout, and they have two daughters living, as follows: Sarah E. and Phoebe C., wife of the Reverend Earl Kempher. Their eldest child and son, William Grant Cooper, died in April, 1900, in the very prime of his life, loved and honored by all who knew him.
William Grant Cooper was born May 19, 1866, and was the pride and hope of his father's heart. He was reared on his father's farm in Allen town- ship, attending the country schools, and at the age of sixteen commenced teaching school and taught for seven terms, and then, in 1886, he entered Findlay College and graduated in 1891. William Grant Cooper was not content to be a farmer ; he felt that he was fitted for a professional life, and his great desire was to be a doctor-one of the noblest callings, and where he could do good to his fellow men and ease the sufferings of humanity. After graduating from Findlay College he was made superintendent of the schools of Van Buren, Hancock county, and held that position for one year. Then he entered the Baltimore Medical College, at Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated with honor in 1894 .. He located first at Bowling Green, Ohio, but about three months later was appointed by the late President Mc-
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Kinley, then governor of Ohio, who recognized his sterling worth and char- acter, on the medical staff of the State Hospital at Toledo, Ohio, which posi- tion he held until March, 1900, when he resigned, intending to go to Findlay, Ohio, where his parents were to locate. One month later, in April, 1900, he died of typhoid fever. His was a short life, not quite half of the three score years and ten allotted to mankind, but in that time he had risen in his profession and was honored and beloved by his fellow citizens. He belonged to the United Brethren church, and had been superintendent of the United Brethren Sunday-school at Van Buren, Ohio. William Grant Cooper re- ceived from Findlay College the degrees of Doctor of Philosophy, and Bach- elor of Philosophy. He was a Knight of Pythias, and they had charge of his obsequies and passed resolutions on his death.
ANDREW SAGER.
Among the prominent dairymen and farmers of Liberty township, Han- cock county, Ohio, whose fine, well cultivated farm of two hundred and thirty-six acres is one of the most valuable in this locality, is Andrew Sager, who was born in Fairfield county. Ohio, on February 4, 1830. He is a son of Shem and Mary B. Sager, the former born in Virginia and the latter in Germany. They removed to Fairfield county in the days of its early set- tlement, and were prominent and worthy people.
Andrew Sager was reared and educated in his native county. In 1854 he moved to Hancock county, locating upon his present farm, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres in section 35, in what was then Findlay town- ship, later purchasing the additional acres to complete the present two hun- dred. In 1862, when his country asked her sons to come to her defense, our subject was one who loyally responded, enlisting on August 23, in Com- pany G, One Hundred and Eighteenth Olio Volunteer Infantry, and gal- lantly serving until the close of the Civil war, being honorably discharged on July 5, 1865. He was connected with the Fourth brigade and second divis- ion, and participated in the battles of Mossy Creek, Columbia, Franklin, Nashville, and belonged to the part of the army that pursued General Hood in the Georgia campaign.
Upon his return from his honorable service in the army Mr. Sager re- sumed his agricultural pursuits and gradually enlarged his business, adding buildings and conveniences until he was able to engage extensively in a dairy business. This he has managed with success, keeping a fine strain of cows and selling his products with very satisfactory results. He is a systematic
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farmer, and much of his prosperity is due to his close and careful attention to every part of his large domain.
November 15, 1855, Mr. Sager was married to Miss Susannah Powell, who was born in Liberty township November 2, 1834, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah Powell, and Mr. and Mrs. Sager have four children: Raymond S., Laura A., Ilvie I. and Mellie M.
Mr. Sager is a public spirited citizen, who lives up to the demands of the day, and takes an interest in all enterprises which he thinks will be of ad- vantage to the farmer. He is a leading member of the United Evangelical church of Findlay. He is highly esteemed in Liberty township as a man of integrity and excellent business ability. In politics he is a Republican.
MARTIN P. McGEE.
The above named is forty-two years old, and nearly two-thirds of that time has been spent around oil and gas wells, in which business he has be- come an expert. Mr. McGee is entitled to the distinction of having worked upon the first producing gas well in the Findlay field, which started the great boom of 1884 and attracted so much attention all over the country. He is one of the seven living children of Michael McGee, who was born in county Wicklow, Ireland, in 1837, came to the United States when sixteen years old and located in Allegany county, New York, where he remained a number of years, but is now a resident of Indiana.
Martin P. McGee was born in Allegany county, New York, March 22, 1860, and when six years old was taken by his parents to Warren county, Pennsylvania. Martin grew up and received his early education in that locality, and in the sixteenth year of his age went with the family to McKean county, Pennsylvania, where he obtained work around the oil wells, which kept him employed until 1882, when he returned to Allegany county, New York, where oil had been discovered during his absence. He secured work in this business and remained there until the spring of 1884, when he went to Erie, Pennsylvania. Remaining here but a short time, however, he came to Findlay in October of the same year, and until 1890 worked by the day. The day after his arrival in Findlay he started out to work on a gas well a mile east of town, on the farm of Dr. Austin, and two weeks later struck gas. This proved to be a "gusher," and was the first producing well drilled in the Findlay field of northwestern Ohio. It was an event in the history not only of Findlay but the state of Ohio, as the subsequent discoveries of this precious fuel led to a growth and development of unprecedented rapid-
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ity. In 1890 Mr. McGee became a producer on his own account, and has since been one of the busy men of this locality, his interests being located in Wood, Sandusky and Hancock counties.
In 1886 Mr. McGee was married at Findlay to Jennie, daughter of James McCall, and they have an only son named Frank. Mr. McGee is a Knight Templar Mason and has served in the city council, being elected a member of that body in the spring of 1901 as a representative of the Demo- cratic party, of which he is one of the leaders in Hancock county.
J. B. KARST.
J. B. Karst, a leading manufacturer of tile, used in the draining of land, has been an important factor in the development of Hancock county, his business being one closely associated with agricultural success. The modern farmer no longer struggles with undrained land and poor soil, and it is due to able and energetic men like Mr. Karst that no such conditions are longer necessary.
It was in Germany that our subject was born, in 1829, and from there he emigrated in 1848, locating for a short time in New York. From there it was but a short journey to Philadelphia, but it was in Hancock county, Ohio, that Mr. Karst finally decided to found his home. His parents, Peter and Elizabeth Karst, emigrated also in 1848, and it was in conjunction with his father that he made his first land purchase of forty acres, in Eagle town- ship. In the course of time they sold this land and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Orange township, and so great was their industry that in three years' time they had seventy-five acres fenced. This farm was the property of our subject's father, who at his death gave the son eighty acres of it. This land our subject retained for seven years, selling it to remove to Allen town- ship.
Mr. Karst has always been a busy man and is one able to fill a num1- ber of different positions in life. From 1854 to 1860 he was an efficient grocery clerk in Findlay, and then he learned the carpenter trade, following . the same until 1870. He then located upon his present valuable farm of sixty acres in Liberty township. Upon this farm he discovered the clay in great abundance which he uses in the making of tile, and this business he car- ries on extensively, in connection with farming.
In April, 1860, Mr. Karst was married to Miss Josephine Deitz, and to this union there were born thirteen children, eight of whom still survive, namely : Sylvester, Christina, Amelia, Clara, Frederick, Anna, Agnes and
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John A. The mother of this family was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1841, and still survives to be her husband's companion and helpmate. The family are all members of the Roman Catholic church.
Mr. Karst is justly held in high esteem in this community. He is a man of great kindness of heart and of generous impulses, and is ever ready to assist his neighbors with a helping hand. His financial position is very secure, as in addition to the valuable clay deposits on his farm he has some producing oil wells.
LORENZO FIRMIN, M. D.
On the 12th of October, 1901, there passed away at his home in Findlay, Dr. Lorenzo Firmin, a well beloved physician, whose many years of faithful toil in his profession made his name a household word in the community. Nor were his influence and efforts confined to his profession alone, for in all the varied activities of common life he took a helpful part as a loyal citi- zen, devoting his abilities to the cause of progress. His loss is deeply mourned by all classes and the following brief account of one so esteemed will be read with unusual interest.
The Doctor was born in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, March 31, 1808, and was the fifth child in a family of ten, his parents being John and Lovina (Green) Firmin, who belonged to good old New England families and were married in Wilbraham in 1800. The father was a shoemaker and under his direction the Doctor learned that trade during his youth, following it in the village of his birth until he reached the age of twenty-two. Coming to Ohio in 1834, he first located in Richfield, Summit county, where he engaged in the tanning business in connection with Dr. Secretary Rawson, who after- ward became his father-in-law. It was at Richfield in 1838 that he married Clara Harriet Rawson, a daughter of his partner, and from that place they drove to Findlay on their wedding trip.
After locating in this city Dr. Firmin continued following the shoe- maker's trade for a time and then took up the study of medicine with his wife's uncle, Dr. Bass Rawson, with whose name Findlay is very familiar. After completing his course of study and preparing himself for his chosen profession he opened an office in Findlay, but in 1847 removed to Benton Ridge, where he spent one year. As some of Findlay's physicians had en- tered the army during the Mexican war, leaving a professional opening for him here. he returned to this city in 184S and continued in active practice until 1877. when he retired. During three years of this time, the present
Lorenzo. Funnin
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well known physician of this city, Dr. F. W. Firmin, was associated with him as partner. After his retirement from medical practice our subject gave his attention to his private business matters, which were many and impor- tant.
His first wife having died in 1891, Dr. Firmin was again married in 1894, his second union being with Miss Mary B. Humphrey, a native of Findlay and a daughter of Jarvis Humphrey. Her father was born in Sims- bury, Connecticut, in 1809, and was a son of Dudley Humphrey, also a native of that place and of English descent. In 1851 Jarvis Humphrey became a resident of Hancock county, Ohio, and after spending about six months in Findlay he located on a farm and throughout his active business life was engaged in agricultural pursuits, but his last days were spent in retirement in the city, where he died at the ripe old age of eighty-four years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Julia Barber and was also born in Simsbury, Connecticut, died at the age of seventy-seven years. In the family of this worthy couple were six children, namely: Chauncey D., a fruit farmer of Hancock county; Marian, wife of George E. Cook, of Torrington, Connecti- cut ; Ellen A., wife of B. O. Robinson, of Putnam county, Ohio; Justine, wife of John H. King, of Findlay; Jarvis S., a resident of Indianapolis, In- diana; and Mary B., now Mrs. Firmin. All of the children were born in Connecticut with exception of the last named. The father was an active and consistent member of the Congregational church and was a stanch Republi- can in politics. Mrs. Firmin received a good education in the schools of Findlay and for ten years successfully engaged in teaching, three years of this time being employed in the village school of Arcadia, and the remainder in other schools of Hancock county.
As an earnest Christian, Dr. Firmin took quite a prominent part in re- ligious work, was one of the organizers of the First Congregational church of Findlay and contributed liberally to its support, although he did not be- come a member of the same until 1871, from which time he was one of its most active and faithful adherents. He was exceedingly generous and ben- evolent and was one of the first three men to each donate one hundred dol- lars to assist in organizing the Young Men's Christian Association here. Later when it was in need of funds to keep up current expenses, he made a donation of five hundred dollars, payable in sums of one hundred dollars a year. He also made a large donation of property to Oberlin College and his private beneficences were many.
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