USA > Ohio > Richland County > A centennial biographical history of Richland county, Ohio > Part 18
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For some years following his return to Lucas Captain First devoted his time to the study of law. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, called him to public office, and for seven years he served as the mayor of the town, discharging his duties most capably. His administra- tion was progressive, business-like and practical, and resulted to the good of the town along many lines. He was also a notary public for several
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years. In politics he is a Democrat, with a firm faith in the principles of' his party. Socially he holds membership in P. A. Swigart Post, G. A. R., of Lucas, in which he has served as the commander.
In 1852 Captain First was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Van Scoyoc, and unto them were born nine children, but three-Elizabeth, Lin- coln and Van Scoyoc-are now deceased. Those still living are Alice, the wife of Franklin Gard, of Washington; John C., an electrician; Hattie, the wife of Dr. John F. Culler, of Lucas; Ellsworth E .; Clara, the wife of Harry Gates, of Shelby, Ohio; and James A. The family is one of promi- nence in the community, the members of the household occupying an envia- ble position in social circles. The Captain is a man of genial and kindly disposition, courteous and obliging, and is very popular in Lucas, where he is regarded as one of the leading and influential men of the town.
MARTIN VAN BUREN POST.
Martin Van Buren Post, a prosperous farmer of section 32, Sharon township, Richland county, whose postoffice is Shelby, was born on the spot where he now lives, in the first log house in the vicinity. His father, Dan- iel Post, was a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, in which state he was married to Hannah Slater, with whom he removed to Ohio in 1832 or 1833, driving through with a team and wagon and settling on govern- ment land. He and his wife reared seven children,-four sons and three daughters,-three of whom are still living. These seven children were as follows: David, who was twice married, by his two wives rearing nine chil- dren, and dying in 1892, at the age of seventy-two; Phebe Ann, a maiden lady, aged seventy-nine and living on the old farm; John, who in 1852 went to California and died there a bachelor in 1865; Sarah, who mar- ried George Raymond, and still survives him, and has six children; Asher Taylor, who in 1894 was killed by a railroad train at the age of sixty-four; Jane, who married Henry Shepard and died leaving five sons; and Martin Van Buren, the subject of this sketch. The mother of these children died in 1875, aged seventy-two or seventy-three. The father was for many years a paralytic and died at the age of eighty-seven years, seven months and twenty-one days. He was an unusually strong man, a plain farmer, and both he and his wife were hard-working, industrious, honest people, leaving at their death a handsome property which they had accu- mulated by their own efforts. The farm on which they lived, which con-
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tained one hundred and sixty acres, was cleared by Mr. Post and his sons, with the exception of about thirty-five acres of timber, still standing. They were unusually domestic in their habits, and gave all their children the best education in their power, first in the early log schoolhouse, with its pun- cheon floor, seats and desks, and later in better schools.
Martin Van Buren Post and his brother never left their home, he and his brother Asher carrying on the farm work. Mr. Post still owns the farm, but the sister has a life interest therein.
Mr. Post is a Democrat in politics, but has not only never sought after office but has even refused the office of supervisor tendered him by his Democratic fellow citizens. He carries on general farming, keeping six head of cattle, three horses and some few hogs. The fine maple trees which furnish such excellent and delightful shade in the warm summer days and which are such a pleasant sight to the eye, standing on each side of the road, were planted by him, he having transplanted them in earlier days, carrying them on his shoulders from the places where they originally grew. The residence in which he lives was erected by himself and his brother some thirty years ago, on the spot where stood the house previously built by his father and eldest brother. Mr. Post belongs to an excellent family, and is highly esteemed as an industrious, honest citizen of his town and county.
GEORGE W. RICKETTS.
Tales of heroism on the field of battle have been the theme of song and story throughout the ages, and while memory lasts the American peo- ple will never forget the debt of gratitude which it owes to the soldiers who went to the front to defend the Union and thus preserved entire the greatest republic known in the world's history. Among this number was Mr. Ricketts, whose fidelity on the field of contest was many times dis- played. In private life he is also as true and faithful to his duties of citi- zenship as when he followed the stars and stripes through the south.
Mr. Ricketts was born June 19, 1846, in Mansfield, where he still makes his home. His father, John Ricketts, Sr., was born January 4. 1817, and died in Mansfield in March, 1895. For fifty-five years he resided in this city and was recognized as one of the prominent and influential men of the county. His widow is still living, and, although eighty years of age, is well preserved, retaining her mental and physical faculties unim-
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paired. Their son, George W. Ricketts, pursued his education in the pub- lic schools of Mansfield.
No event of special importance occurred during his early life to vary the usual routine, but after the inauguration of the Civil war all was changed, and the patriotic spirit of the boy was aroused. He determined to aid in the preservation of the Union, and, although only fifteen years of age, he enlisted on the 18th of December, 1861, as a member of Com- pany F, Eighty-second Ohio Infantry. He was commissioned as a cor- poral and went to the front in West Virginia in 1862, becoming a mem- ber of Schenck's brigade, with which he was connected until September of that year. He was at the headquarters of the Eleventh Army Corps until June, 1863, and was with the Second Brigade, Third Division of the Eleventh Corps, until March, 1864, when his regiment became a part of the Third Brigade of the First Division of the Twentieth Corps, with which command it was associated until July, 1865. On the 25th of January, 1862, the regiment moved to Grafton, West Virginia, and on the IIth of April of that year started on the Lost River expedition. On the 8th and - 9th of May occurred the battle of McDowell, and on the two succeeding days the Eighty-second Ohio' participated in the battle of Franklin. With his command Mr. Ricketts participated in that engagement and also in the following: Strasburg, June Ist; Cross Keys, June 8th; Cedar Mountain, August 9th; Rappahannock, August 18th; Waterloo Bridge, August 2Ist; Freeman's Ford, August 22d; Great Run, August 23d and 24th; White Sulphur Springs, August 24th; Manassas, August 26th and 27th; Gaines- ville, August 28th; Groveton, August 29th; Bull Run, August 30th; and after that engagement Mr. Ricketts was assigned to provost duty at the headquarters of the Third Division of the Eleventh Corps, where he re- mained until December. His command then acted as sharpshooters in the Third Division until July, 1863, and with his regiment he participated in the Mud March, January 24, 1863; the battle of Chancellorsville, which continued from the Ist to the 5th of May, and where he was slightly wounded on the 2d; Gettysburg, July Ist to 3d; Hagerstown, July 12th; the movement to Bridgeport, Alabama, from the 25th of September to the Ist of October; the battle of Wauhatchie, Tennessee, October . 27th and 28th; Chattanooga, November 23d; Lookout Mountain, November 23d and 24th; Missionary Ridge, November 25th; Ringgold, Georgia, November 27th; and the march to the relief of Knoxville from the 29th of Novem- ber to the 17th of December.
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Mr. Ricketts' term expired in December, and on the Ist of January, 1864, he re-enlisted and participated in the Atlanta campaign from May until September, taking part in the battles of Bridge Tunnel Hill and Buz- zards' Roost, May 5th-IIth; Resaca, May 13th-15th; Cassville, May 19th- 22d; Dallas and Altoona, May 25th to June 4th; New Hope Church, May 27th-28th; Kenesaw Mountain, June 9th-roth; Galatha, June 16th-27th; Pine Knob, June 19th; Culp's Farm, June 22; Kenesaw, June 27th; Mari- etta, July 3d-4th; Chattahoochie River, July 6th-17th; Peach Tree Creek, July 20th ; Atlanta, July 22d; the siege of Atlanta from the 22d of July to the 25th of August; the occupation of Atlanta from the 2d of Septem- ber to the 15th of November, when the troops under General Sherman started on the celebrated march to the sea; Milledgeville, November 12th : Buffalo Creek, November 25th-26th; Ogeechee River, November 29th : Savannah, December 10th-21st; Robert's Mills, February 1, 1865; Salke- hatchie, February 3d; Brinker's Ridge, February 7th; Orangeburg, Febru- ary 12th-13th; Columbia, February 16th-17th; Chesterfield, March 2d; Bentonville, North Carolina, March 19th-2Ist; and Raleigh, April 26th. Mr. Ricketts was also present at the surrender of General Johnston's army, on the 26th of April. With his regiment he then marched to Washing- ton, D. C., by way of Richmond, Virginia, and participated in the grand review in the capital city, "where wave after wave of bayonet-crested blue" passed by the stand from which the president watched the return of the victorious army. He was mustered out of the service May 26, 1865. and with a most creditable military record returned to his home. He was still but a boy, yet on many a hotly contested battlefield he had displayed cour- age and endurance equal to that of many a time-tried veteran.
Mr. Ricketts remained at his home in Mansfield, Ohio, until 1869, when he went to Cincinnati, becoming connected with the business inter- ests of that city for ten years. During that period he was married on the 24th of December, 1872, to Miss Sarah Featherlin, a resident of Cincinnati. They now have three children : John, Richard and Harry C .. the last named still a student in school. John enlisted in Company L. of the Four- teenth Regiment of the United States regulars and is now in Manila. Richard joined Company M of the Eighth Ohio Volunteers during the Spanish-American war and was with his regiment on the firing line at San- - tiago. He returned with his company when the troops were recalled from Cuba, and is now in Mansfield. In 1879 Mr. Ricketts returned with his family to this city, where he has since resided, and at the present time he
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is holding the position of custodian of the library. He and his family are members of the First Baptist church, and they are people of sterling worth, enjoying the high regard of many friends.
Since its organization Mr. Ricketts has been a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, being now connected with Mclaughlin Post, No. 31, of Mansfield. Courteous, genial and well informed, he is a popular and highly respected citizen of his native city and well deserves a representa- tion in this volume.
HON. HENRY C. KOOKEN.
Henry Clute Kooken, a prominent citizen of Mansfield, Ohio, was born September 3. 1836, in Ashland county, Ohio. He is the eldest of his parents' family of thirteen children, of whom only three 'still survive, namely : himself, William H., Jr., of Alabama, and Louise, the wife of William Fulton, of Lucas, Richland county, Ohio.
The subject of this review was married September 25. 1862, to Miss Mary E. Pearce, a daughter of Louis K. Pearce and his wife, Elizabeth C. Pearce ncc Driskell. Mr. and Mrs. Kooken are the parents of six children, as follows: Landon M., Esther Cedelia, Luella Victoria, Elizabeth Elnora, Mary Pearce and Louis K. Landon M. was born July 25, 1863, and on August 14, 1888, married Miss Lamira A. Purdey, by whom he has two children, namely : Landon M., Jr., born June 16. 1889; and Ruth Elnora, born January 2, 1892. Esther C. was born July 29, 1864, and married Dr. J. D. Purdey October 18, 1887. Dr. And Mrs. Purdey have had two children : Pledge Kooken, born September 30, 1890, and died October 6, 1891; and Marietjee Da Lee, born March 24, 1892. Elizabeth Elnora, born August 22, 1867, married Albert Coul August 14. 1882, and has had three children : Irene Ryford, born December 29, 1883 : Ella Eva, born August 29, 1885, and died March 19, 1892; and Albert Ralph, born May 28, 1888. Louis K. was born August 25, 1878, and still remains single. Luella Victoria and Mary Pearce died young.
William Hills Kooken, the father of our subject, was born October 7, 1810, and died April 1, 1888. Susan Devenbaugh, called by some of the . early ancestors of the family Derfenbacher, was the mother of our subject. She was born in 1808, and was married to Mr. Kooken in 1836, and, as stated at the beginning of this sketch, became the mother of thirteen children. Her parents were Daniel Devenbaugh and Ann Maria Kooken. The original name came from Lord Devenbeaux, of France, whose descendants fled from
Mary E Kooken.
Henry C. Kooken.
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their native country to Germany at the time of the Huguenot persecution. and came thence to America with some of their co-religionists. Daniel Devenbaugh and Maria Kooken were married in Bedford county, Pennsyl- vania, and were the parents of ten children, but the family records were · destroyed by fire about the time of the beginning of the war of the Revolution. Their ten children are now all dead. Then name of the grandfather of the mother of the subject of this sketch was Casper Devenbaugh, a son of Casper Devenbaugh, who came from Germany to America about 1739 or 1740. The latter landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and took the oath of allegiance to the British crown before setting foot on the soil of America, as was learned from the records of the port of entry in the office of the secretary at Harris- burg, Pennsylvania.
The maternal grandmother of the subject, Ann Maria Devenbaugh, was a daughter of John Kooken, who was born in Philadelphia county, Pennsyl- vania. He was a son of Johannes Kooken, who came to America about 1720. On January 29, 1729, by vote of the general assembly of Pennsylvania, he was naturalized under English rule. Being then a citizen of Philadelphia county, he was granted land and certain privileges under the Northern Liberties and William Penn's rights to the state of Pennsylvania. Ann Marie Baker, whom Johannes Kooken married, was a daughter of William Baker and Marie (Penn) Baker. Her mother was a daughter of John Penn, a son of William Penn by his second marriage, to Hannah Callohill. Inasmuch as Johannes Kooken had married the granddaughter of William Penn he had to be natural- ized and be acknowledged by the general assembly of Pennsylvania, thus coming into possession of his land and other property and holding them under the ruling authorities of England and Pennsylvania and to the rights ceded to William Penn, the Free Traders' Society and the Northern Liberties. He and his wife lie buried in the old Friends' burying-ground in the city of Philadelphia. The above information was derived from the books of the old Friends' church in Philadelphia.
William Hills Kooken and his wife were first cousins. The former was a son of John Kooken, who was a son of John Kooken and a grandson of Johannes Kooken and his wife, Mary or Marie Penn. William Penn was of the royal house of Tudor, his grandfather being John Tudor. William Penn was buried at Jordan's, near Beckersfield, Buckinghamshire, England, this graveyard being three miles from the London road, on the lands of a Lady Young. William Hills Kooken's mother was Margaret Hills, a daughter of William Hills and his wife, Susannah Engle. They were married in Win- chester, Virginia, prior to the war of the Revolution. They were both natives
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of England, the former having been born in the parish of Kent. The Hills ancestors were named Jennings, Howe, Innes, Engle and Pennington, accord- ing to the best knowledge and information that has been handed down from the past, also according to the history of the Kooken family. John Kooken, the grandfather of the subject, married a Miss Baker, who was a descendant . of William Baker, who married a granddaughter of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, this information having been subscribed to on July 9, 1900, by Henry Clute Kooken, as handed down to him by his ancestors.
Mary E. Kooken, the wife of the subject of this sketch, is a daughter of Louis Kinney Pearce and his wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth C. Driskell. The former was a son of Stephen Pearce and his wife, Mary Kinney, she being a daughter of Louis Kinney and his wife, Mary Williams. Louis Kinney was a son of Louis Kinney and his wife, Esther Dubois, a daughter of Joost or George Dubois, whose mother was a daughter of Louis XIV, of France. The Dubois family was noted among the Huguenots of France for their independence and intelligence, and fled from France to Holland at the time of the persecution of those of their religious faith.
Resolve Waldron came to America from Amsterdam, Holland, about 1645. He was a son of Baron Johannes Wadron, of Waldron Hall, Amster- dam, and was one of the original patentees of the Harlem land patents under Governors Nichols and Thomas Dongan, under dates of 1666, 1667 and 1668, as shown by the official records in the office of the secretary of state at Albany, New York. Resolve Waldron married Miss Tannekee Von Nagle in New York city, in 1654, and among their children were Ruth, born April 12, 1657, and baptized May 10, following. She married Johannes De La Mater, August 11, 1678, in New York city. Mr. and Mrs. De La Mater had seven children, the next to the youngest, Marietjee, or Marie, being born in New Harlem, New York, July 9, 1696, and baptized July 26, 1696. Ruth De La Mater died in New Harlem, now New York city, in 1707.
Marietjee De La Mater was married to John Pearce, of Flatbush, Long Island, June 3, 1716, and died near Aquanock, New Jersey, October 24, 1734. John Pearce died in New Harlem, June 3, 1744, and was buried in the New Harlem cemetery, now New York city. James Pearce, the eldest son of John Pearce, was born August 8, 1717, and was married to Sarah Van Horn, of Bergen county, New Jersey, January 19, 1742. Stephen Pearce, a son of James Pearce, was born May 19, 1764, and was married to Mary Kinney August 29, 1787, and died in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1810. She died in Richland county, Ohio, in 1843, and lies buried in the Perryville cemetery in Ashland county, same state.
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James Pearce was married on his own farm in Elizabeth, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, in 1807. His wife, Sarah, died in Columbiana county, Ohio, and was buried in what was then known as the Bull Creek cemetery, in 1804. They had ten children. The sixth child, Louis Kinney Pearce, was born June 19, 1797, and was married to Elizabeth Cedelia Driskell September 19, 1833, the marriage ceremony being performed by Solomon Gladden, Esq., a justice of the peace of Richland county, Ohio, as is shown by the records of said county. They had five children, namely : James McVey Pearce, born December 19, 1835, married Katharine Miller, in February, 1898; Mary E. Pearce, born October 9, 1839, married H. C. Kooken September 25, 1862; Sarah Sophia, born September 6, 1843, and married to William S. Banks; John Reed Pearce, born January II, 1846, and was married to Ethalinda J. Johnston; and Louis Kinney, Jr., born May II, 1848, and married to Lydia Jane Leppo.
Louis Kinney Pearce, Sr., died December 30, 1850, and his wife, Eliza- beth Cedelia Pearce, died March 15, 1890. Both lie buried in the Ford ceme- tery in Washington township, Richland county, Ohio.
Mr. Kooken's father was a resident of Ashland county, Ohio, until the son was past thirteen years of age. The family then came to Richland county and settled on a farm four miles east of Mansfield, and here our subject's home was continued until he was past twenty-one years. The father removed to the village of Lucas, where he engaged in the boot and shoe business for several years. Later he removed to the southern part of the county, and there died. Our subject spent most of his boyhood days on a farm. He received a common-school education, and his first business venture was in the boot and shoe trade, first at Lucas and then at Newville. In 1880 he came to Mansfield, which has since been his home. Since then he has been engaged in the work of genealogical and biographical writing and in the insurance business. He and his wife and all their children, save the eldest son, are members of the Christian church.
AMBERSON W. GUTHRIE.
Much as has been written about the pioneer period in the history of Ohio, it is impossible to consider the record of any family represented here in early days without discovering new and interesting material which deserves a permanent place in local chronicles. The family of Guthrie was represented in pioneer days by early settlers whose peculiar experiences
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formed the basis of traditions which have been handed down from father to son.
Amberson W. Guthrie, buyer and shipper of poultry, Shiloh, Cass township, Richland county, Ohio, is a prominent representative of this family at this time. He was born in Blooming Grove township, Richland county, December 27, 1849, a son of Nathaniel S. and Sarah (Turbit) Guthrie, and is one of seven of their eleven children who survive. Oliver is a well-known farmer of Cass township. Ransom is an elevator pro- prietor and a dealer in coal and grain at Plymouth, Ohio. Arkinson is living the life of a retired farmer at Shelby, Ohio. Lucy is the wife of A. Cleland, of Tiffin, Ohio. Emma is the wife of James Davidson, the proprietor of a knitting manufactory at Ashland, Ohio. Frank, of Shiloh, is a prominent farmer of Cass township.
Nathaniel S. Guthrie was born in Harrison county, Ohio, March 3, 1816, and was brought by his parents to Richland county on the 15th of September following, when he was six months and twelve days old. The family settled in the woods and lived in a log cabin which was built after their arrival. They all lived during the winter of 1816-17 on "frosted" corn bread. The next spring Grandfather Guthrie put in two acres of wheat. Before it was ripe Grandmother Guthrie cut a sheaf, burned the awns off, rubbed the wheat out and boiled it as rice. The family ate hear- tily of the dish thus prepared, and in a few hours all were "deathly" sick. Grandfather Guthrie paid dearly for the first barrel of salt that he brought to his new home. He made a five-days journey to Sandusky and return and exchanged twenty-five bushels of wheat, at fifty cents a bushel, and two dollars and fifty cents' worth of maple syrup and coon skins, a total value of fifteen dollars, for one barrel of this now cheap and common com- modity. Their fare now was somewhat improved, consisting of mush and milk, corn pone, potatoes, venison, wild turkey and other wild game which abounded in the forests surrounding their wildwood home. Their furni- ture was as rude and primitive as their log cabin, and it taxed Mr. Guth- rie's ingenuity to construct it of rough poles and slabs hewn from saplings and trees cut in the woods near by. Nathaniel S. Guthrie began his school- ing at the age of nine years. An idea of the privations to which the members of the family were subjected will be afforded when it is stated that during the first two winters the boy went to and from the log school- house barefooted! Instead of books he had a rude wooden paddle, on one side of which the letters of the alphabet had been roughly drawn, on the
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other a few words of one syllable! His school days were over when he was eighteen years old, and he began teaching music by the old "buck- wheat" system of notation.
April 30, 1840, he married Sarah Turbit, and began his married life almost as humbly as he had lived through the days of his boyhood. Dur- ing the ten years succeeding his marriage he was able to save but fifty dollars, but from that time on he pressed forward with the determination to have a home of his own, and gradually improved his fortunes until, in 1878, an attack of heart trouble compelled him to retire from farm life and move to town. He was one of the well-to-do farmers of the county; and, owing to the loving but hardy discipline under which his sons were reared they all became men of the strictest integrity and all are well-to-do. Mr. and Mrs. Guthrie early in life became members of the United Brethren church, and from that time on were among its most active and substan- tial supporters. Mr. Guthrie was a class-leader for twenty-one years and was the superintendent of the first regularly established Sunday-school in his neighborhood. He was a man of the highest character, esteemed by all who knew him for his many admirable virtues, and his wife was a worthy helpmeet to him. Her death occurred August 13, 1889, his January 23, 1896.
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