USA > Ohio > Richland County > A centennial biographical history of Richland county, Ohio > Part 26
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WE Sefton
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of home influences or through a natural tendency toward the wrong have strayed into paths of crime. In the reformatory opportunity is offered to them to follow better methods of living, and upon the superintendent much depends. The discipline and order there maintained must teach the members of the school that they are amenable to law and at the same time they must not be deprived of the hope that when they have served their term opportunity for a different life will not be closed against them. Mr. Sefton is a man of broad humanitarian principles and deep sympathy, and his work in the institution is proving of great practical benefit. Among his friends he is a genial, social gentleman of cordial disposition and has a very large circle of acquaintances, who esteem him highly for his genuine worth.
WILLIAM STRIMPLE.
Perhaps a large per cent of the business failures is due in greater degree to the lack of persistency of purpose than to any other one cause. A continual change in business renders effort futile and labor unavailing, but perseverance in a given line, if guided by a fair measure of business judgment and practical common sense, will always result in prosperity. It is this which has brought to Mr. Strimple a good income, making him one of the substantial farmers of Richland county. He was born in Mifflin township, this county, on the: Ioth of September, 1840, being one of the eight children of Aaron and Keziah (Stout) Strimple. The father, a native of New Jersey, was reared in that state, and as the grandfather of our subject died during the early boyhood of Aaron Strimple, the operation of the home farm devolved upon him when he was quite young. He bravely took up the task that fell upon his young shoulders and carefully prosecuted his business interests. In his native state he was united in marriage to Miss Keziah Stout and to them two children were born ere their removal to Ohio.
On migrating to the Buckeye state they located in New Haven township, Huron county, where for some time the father cultivated a farm belonging to his brother. He afterward removed to Mifflin township, Richland county, where he rented land for some years and about 1850 he purchased the land upon which our subject now resides. During the first year of his ownership. he raised six hundred bushels of wheat, which enabled him to pay off nearly the entire indebtedness upon the place. He was an energetic and progressive agriculturist and became one of the substantial citizens of the community. A few years prior to his death he left the old homestead, taking up his residence 16
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upon a farm of eighty-three acres in Huron county, which he had purchased some years before. Throughout the greater part of his business life he was an actice member of the Methodist church, having joined that organization in 1859. He long served as one of its trustees and took an active part in its work and upbuilding. His political support was given to the Democracy and several years he served as a trustee of his township. His death occurred in April, 1891. Of his eight children six are yet living, as follows: John, of Huron county ; Judith, the wife of George W. Vanscoy, of Butler township, Richland county; Sarah, the widow of Daniel Sizer, of Greenwich, Ohio; George, of Huron county; Elizabeth A., the widow of E. N. Burgess, of Huron county; and William.
Upon the home farm William Strimple spent the days of his boyhood. acquiring in the district schools of the neighborhood his elementary education, which was supplemented by study in Baldwin University, at Berea, Ohio. At the age of nineteen he began teaching, but ill health forced him to abandon that profession after seven weeks' experience in the schoolroom. At the time of the Civil war he was found among the "boys in blue" who went forth to battle for the Union, enlisting on the 2d of October, 1862, as a member of Company C, Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for ten months. He participated in the battles of Raymond, Fort Gibson, Jack- son and Vicksburg, and was mustered out of service in July. 1863.
Mr. Strimple then returned to his home and in the spring of 1865 was united in marriage to Miss Harriet E. Gorham, a native of Perryville, Ash- land county, and a daughter of Hezekiah Gorham, who in early life was a sea captain but later abandoned the sea and worked at the mason's trade. Mr. and Mrs. Strimple began their domestic life on the old home farm which he cultivated for a time on shares, but in 1874 he purchased the property of his father and he has since made it his place of abode. Thoroughly understanding farming methods, he has a well developed place, and the rotation of crops keeps his field in a productive condition. Good harvests annually augment his income and his farming interests have made him one of the well-to-do residents of Butler township.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Strimple was blessed with seven children, but only four are now living: Ernest H., who is a graduate of Baldwin University, at Berea, Ohio, and now a teacher in the Olivesburg schools; Lenna E., who is a graduate of Savannah Academy, and now the wife of Rev. F. S. Fancher, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church: Samuel H., a farmer of Huron county ; and Leilla F., who is with her parents. Mr.
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Strimple votes the Republican ticket and is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has served as a trustee through various periods for the past thirty years. He has a wide acquaintance in his native county and his fidelity to duty in all life's relations has gained him the regard of his fellow men to a high degree.
THE TRAUGER FAMILY.
When the Trauger family was founded in America this was indeed a "new world." The colonies were ruled by King George III, and George Washington, who was to lead his nation from bondage into liberty, was still a youth; the French and Indian war had not yet occurred and the most far-sighted could not have foretold the struggle of the Revolution; the Alle- ghany mountains were in the far west and beyond that the country was an unexplored wilderness. The earliest family record extant locates Christian Trauger, the ancestor of the branch of the family to which our subject belongs, at his home in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, where many of the same name still reside. The German spelling of the name was Drocker, but in the change to English the present form was assumed, about 1800. It was probably in the year 1744 that Christian Trauger, accompanied by his fam- ily, his brother Henry and a sister, left the fatherland to seek a new home in America. They located in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where they remained until 1767, when the brothers purchased adjoining farms in Nockamixon township, Bucks county, that state. One of these farms is still owned by a descendant of the family. In later years some of the Trauger family located in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and others in Troy township, Ashland county, Ohio.
Christian Trauger was born in Beckenbaugh, Germany, in 1726, and died in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1811. His wife, Anna Barbara Trauger, was born in 1729, and died in 1821. They were the parents of four sons and three daughters. That Christian Trauger participated in the Revolutionary war seems to be a certainty, and thus his descendants are rendered eligible to membership in the Revolutionary societies of the present time. His son, John Frederick Trauger, was born in 1765, and died in 1824. He married Magdalena Harpel, who was born in 1763, and died in 1848. They were the parents of three sons and four daughters, two of whom-Samuel H. and his sister-became residents of Richland county, Ohio. The latter, Mrs. Elizabeth Fenner, came with her husband, Felix Fenner, and their family to Plymouth township, Richland county, in 1833,
ยท
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locating on a quarter-section of timber land three miles west of the town of Plymouth.
Samuel Harpel Trauger was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, Octo- ber 2, 1795, and was married, in 1825, to Susannah Maust, a daughter of George Maust, of Tinicum township, with whom he lived for fifty-four years. In 1835 Mr. Trauger came to Ohio and purchased a quarter-section of timber land two and a half miles southwest of Plymouth. The entire region was an unbroken forest and the work of progress and civilization seemed scarcely begun. In April, 1836, he removed his family and household goods by wagon from Pennsylvania, fording rivers and crossing mountains, making the journey over roads which were in very poor condition, the route by which they traveled covering about six hundred miles. But at length they located on a farm in Richland county, and there Samuel H. Trauger resided for forty-three years. He at once began the erection of a log cabin and through the succeeding twenty years he continued to clear and cultivate his land. His farm was awarded the first premium at three different county contests as the best farm in Richland county. Mr. Trauger was a charter member of the Plymouth Lutheran church, gave liberally toward the erec- tion of the first house of worship, and also contributed largely to the sup- port of the church. At the age of twenty-one, while still living in Penn- sylvania, he was chosen captain of a militia company, which commission he held until his removal to Ohio. In politics he was a Democrat, cast his first presidential vote for James Madison and his last presidential ballot for Samuel J. Tilden. On the 3d of January, 1875, Mr. and Mrs. Trauger had a family reunion, celebrating their golden wedding, at which all of their descendants were present except Mrs. Ralston and her family, who had but recently removed to Illinois. Mrs. Trauger died in May, 1879, at the age of eighty years, and Mr. Trauger passed away in November of the same year, at the age of eighty-four. They were the parents of five sons and four daugh- ters, namely : Jonas; Tobias M .; Henry; Frank P .; Samuel; Saloma, the wife of Alexander Ralston; Sevilla, the wife of William Newton Conover ; and two daughters who died in early life.
Jonas Trauger, the eldest son of Samuel H. Trauger, was born May 8, 1826, and in 1836 accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio. He justly deserves mention among the honored pioneers, for he came to this state when the greater portion of Richland county was still covered with a heavy growth of natural forest. He assisted in clearing and cultivating the homestead until his marriage. Miss Sarah Wyandt became his wife. She was born January 8, 1831, the eldest daughter of Joseph Wyandt, one of
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the pioneers of Plymouth township, Richland county. They began their domestic life on a farm adjoining the old homestead, which had recently been purchased by his father, and there they remained for seven years. On the expiration of that period Jonas Trauger purchased of William Enderby an adjoining farm, upon which they erected a dwelling, taking up their abode in their new home. There they resided together for thirty-three years. During Mr. Trauger's younger days he spent many seasons in threshing grain and clover seed and enjoyed the reputation of being the most successful thresher in the vicinity of Plymouth. He transferred his threshing busi- ness to his son, Samuel W., who still continues the same, while he is living retired. His first wife died October 26, 1893. In the year 1895 he mar- ried Sarah E. Trauger, and removed to the village of Plymouth, since which time he has been connected with no active business interests. He still owns his farm of two hundred acres, however, and it is under a high state of cultivation, yielding him a good income. For several years he held the posi- tion of township trustee, discharging his duties with promptness and fidelity. Of the Lutheran church he is a member and is now serving as one of its elders.
Tobias M. Trauger was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, October II, 1827. At the age of seven years he went to live with his uncle, Henry Kruger, with whom he remained until his father's removal to Ohio, when he again joined the family, in 1836. During his minority he aided in the clearing and cultivation of the fields and after arriving at man's estate hie operated his father's farm on the shares until 1860, when he purchased a farm adjoining the old homestead, then owned by his father. It consisted of ninety-six acres, to which he afterward added a tract of twenty acres. Tobias M. Trauger held the office of school director for about twenty years and the cause of education found in him a warm friend who earnestly pro- moted the interests of the schools. In the year 1875 he was the township treasurer. In 1860 he became a member of the Lutheran church, in which he held the office of deacon for thirty-one years or until 1894, since which time he has been an elder in the church. On the 20th of May, 1858. lie married Mary Ann King, of Winesburg, Holmes county, Ohio, the eldest daughter of Elias King, a native of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, who went with his father's family to Wilmot, Stark county, Ohio, in 1822. There he married Leah Wyandt, the eldest daughter of James Wyandt. They began their domestic life in Dalton, Wayne county, Ohio, and afterward resided near Winesburg in Holmes county. Mrs. Trauger was born in Wayne county and resided with her father's family in Holmes county until
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her marriage, when she became a resident of Richland county. The Trauger family lived upon a farm two miles southwest of Plymouth for forty-two years. In early life she joined the Methodist church, but afterward united with the Plymouth Lutheran church. Her death occurred June 23, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Trauger were the parents of one son and two daughters.
The son, Elmer King Trauger, was born October 12, 1861. He early became familiar with all the labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist, and in the district schools of the neighborhood he pursued his preliminary education, which was supplemented by a course in Plymouth high school, in which he was graduated in 1882. He then entered Wittenberg College, in Springfield, Ohio, and on the completion of a classical course was grad- uated in 1886. During his senior year he acted as the editor of the college journal. Subsequently he began teaching school in Clark county and became the superintendent of the public schools in Leipsic, Putnam county, Ohio, in 1888. He also taught in the Plymouth public schools in 1893. From 1894 until 1897 he pursued the study of law in the office of F. D. Gun- saullers, an attorney at Plymouth, and was admitted to the bar in March, 1897. He has since engaged in practice in Plymouth and has attained an enviable position in the ranks of the profession. He has already gained a creditable clientage and is now serving as justice of the peace. He takes a very active part in church work, holds membership in the Lutheran church, and is the president of the Plymouth Township Sunday-school Union. He is the secretary of the Lutheran church of Plymouth and the treasurer of the Plymouth Bible Association. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Phi Gamma Delta Association, a college fraternity. He received from his alma mater the degree of Bachelor of Arts in the year 1886, and the degree of Master of Arts in the year 1890. In politics he is a stalwart Democrat and is secretary of the Democratic Club of his township.
Clara Trauger was born August 1, 1869, and died May 9, 1897. She was a graduate of the Plymouth high school, of the class of 1886. She engaged in teaching in 1891 and later was elected a teacher of the primary department of the public schools at Chicago Junction, Ohio, filling that posi- tion until 1891, when she became the wife of Mr. Monteith, who is now the cashier of the National Bank of Crestline, Ohio. They established their home in Shelby, Ohio, and after six months' illness Mrs. Monteith passed away, in 1897.
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Rilla, the younger daughter of the Trauger family, is residing with her parents and is a graduate of the high school of Plymouth, of the class of 1891.
JEHU L. GARBER.
Jehu L. Garber, an industrious and enterprising farmer and stock raiser of Jefferson township, was born on the 29th of October, 1835, in the town- ship where he yet makes his home. He comes of a family of Swiss lineage, and his grandfather, John Garber, was probably a native of the land of the Alps and became the founder of the family in the new world. He was killed at the battle of York in Upper Canada, in 1812. Samuel Garber, the father of our subject, was a native of Morrison's Cove, Pennsylvania, and was reared there as a farmer and shoemaker. When about twenty-five years of age he came to Ohio, making the journey on foot, and located in Jefferson township, Richland county, where he devoted his energies to shoemaking for a time. Later he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits and died upon the farm where our subject now lives, when about eighty-nine years of age. He was successful in his business affairs and at one time owned an extensive tract of land, valued at twenty thousand dollars. He was truly the architect of his own fortune and built wisely and well, for when he came to this county he had only twenty-five cents and with that meager capital began life in Ohio. His prosperity was the legitimate outcome of his own earnest and well directed efforts. In politics he was a Democrat and served as town- ship trustee for several terms, yet seldom aspired to office. His religious faith was that of the Universalist church. His wife bore the maiden name of Catharine Leedy and was a daughter of John Leedy. She died when about seventy-one years of age. In their family were eleven children: John L., a farmer of Jefferson township; Levi L., who died at the age of twenty- one : David L., who passed away at the age of fifty-five ; Louis L., a resident of Bellville; Jehu L .; Elizabeth, the wife of Aaron Leedy; Jackson L., whose home is in Missouri; Washington, a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio: Benton L., who died at the age of forty years; Mary, the wife of O. B. Rummel, of Bellville; Theodore L., a farmer of Jefferson township; and Minnie, who died in childhood.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the monotony of farm life for Jehu Garber. He remained at his parental home until he had at- tained his majority, and in the meantime engaged in teaching in the district school through three winter terms. On reaching man's estate he worked
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at the carpenter's trade and engaged in cultivating the home farm on the shares for his father and brother. His time was thus occupied several years, after which he purchased one hundred and eighty acres of land adjoining the old home and there continued to reside until 1898, when he purchased his present farm of ninety-two acres, renting the old place of two hundred and fifty-five acres to his son. His life has been an active and useful one, and as a result of his capable business management and indefatigable industry he has gained prosperity. He owns altogether three hundred and forty- seven acres of land and derives therefrom a good income. He was chiefly instrumental in organizing the Patrons' Relief Association and Fire Insurance Company, which was formed in 1876, and of which he was secretary for sixteen years. The company now have between three and four millions in- surance. He was also instrumental in organizing the first farmers' institute held in the county, in the year 1881, and has been the president of one of these organizations nearly every year since.
On the 19th of June, 1856, occurred the marriage of Mr. Garber and Miss Susan Wallace, a native of Knox county, Ohio, and a daughter of George and Mary Wallace. Their marriage was blessed with nine children : Ellen, the wife of John Watson; Irene, who was married but is now deceased ; Clara A., the widow of Stephen A. Oyster; Ida M., at home; Horatio S., James W. and Wallace, who follow farming; Myrtle, at home; Mamie, who died at the age of twelve years; and one who died in infancy.
Mr. Garber held the office of county commissioner from January, 1890, to September, 1896, there being no opposition to his election at the first term. He filled the office of township trustee for several years and was a member of the township school board for ten years. In politics he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Grange and to Cask's Lodge, No. 382, K. of P., of Bell- ville, and he and his family are members of the Universalist church. His en- tire life has been passed in Richland county and his many acquaintances know him to be a man of sterling worth, reliable in business and trustworthy in all life's relations.
THOMAS HAMMON.
Thomas Hammon was one of the representative men of Worthington township and in his death the community lost one of its valued citizens. He was a man whom to know was to respect and honor, for his career was ever an upright one and in all life's relations he was faithful to right and duty.
Thoune Hommen Rachel Hammon
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A native of Virginia, he was born in Rockingham county, May 5, 1822, and with his parents came to Richland county, Ohio, in the fall of 1826. He was a son of George and Catherine (Hammon) Hammon, the former born. in New Jersey in 1780, the latter in Pennsylvania in 1785. Mrs. Hammon lived in the Keystone state at the time of the Indian troubles there and later removed to Virginia, where she was married and made her home for a num- ber of years. As before stated, Mr. and Mrs. Hammon came to Richland county in the autumn of 1826, and a year later the father purchased the farm that is now occupied by Mrs. Thomas Hammon and her family. It was school land and was sold at auction. Upon the place was a log cabin and a small field had been cleared, but the greater part of the land was still in its primitive condition, awaiting the awakening touch of the agriculturist to make it a desirable tract. Throughout the greater part of his remaining days George Hammon resided there and in his business he accumulated a handsome competence. He served in the war of 1812 and was ever loyal to all his duties of citizenship. A leading Jacksonian Democrat in politics, he served as a trustee for several terms. Both he and his wife held membership in the Lutheran church and enjoyed the high regard of a large circle of friends. His father. John Hammon, was a native of New Jersey, but his mother was born in Germany. Mrs. Hammon, the mother of our subject, died in Rich- land county, October 9, 1855, at the age of sixty-eight years. In her family were fourteen children, twelve of whom reached mature years.
At the old homestead Thomas Hammon spent the days of his boyhood and youth, remaining with his parents for twelve years after his marriage. when he removed to Jefferson township and bought a farm which he worked for three years. He then returned and purchased the old home place from his father, continuing its cultivation and improvement throughout his remain- ing days. His business was diligently prosecuted. He did not neglect in the slightest degree his work: and his close application to business, combined with his excellent farming methods, enabled him to win very desirable pros- perity. He made a specialty of the raising of shorthorn cattle, and as his financial resources increased he added to his property until his landed pos- sessions aggregated over five hundred acres. He was probably the wealthiest man in Worthington township and his life record demonstrated the possibili- ties that lie before men of energy and determination.
On the 8th of June, 1848. Thomas Hammon was united in marriage to Mrs. Rachel Simmerman, nec Taggart, who was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, December 1, 1823, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Mc- Dowell) Taggart, both of whom were natives of Westmoreland county, in
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which they were reared. In the fall of 1831 they came to Richland county, Ohio, and the father purchased a farm in Jefferson township, of which twelve acres had been cleared. There he resided for several years, and upon that farm his wife died, when forty-nine years of age. He afterward removed to Clark county, Illinois, and purchased a farm, upon which his death occurred, when he had attained the age of seventy. His success came to him in return for his own labor and he justly won the title of a self-made man. His wife was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hammon were born five children, namely: Catherine, the wife of Henry Wolford, of Kansas; Mary, the wife of Erastus L. Calhoun, a farmer of Worthington township; Ellen, the wife of Abner Dunmire, of Knox county, Ohio; John and George H. The last two now own the old homestead and are among the active agriculturists of the community.
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