USA > Ohio > Richland County > A centennial biographical history of Richland county, Ohio > Part 53
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In political affairs Mr. Brucker has been an active worker. He was a member of the Democratic state executive committee in 1894-5, and was the chairman of the Democratic county central committee at the same time. For the past ten years he has been almost continuously on the county executive committee. In 1899 he was elected the state central committeeman for the fourteenth congressional district, and in 1900 re-elected to the same position and made the chairman of the Democratic state central committee. He has given his support to the Democracy because he believes in its principles, and that its platform contains the best elements of good government.
Socially he is connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Honor and with the Masonic fraternity. His active co-operation is given to all measures and movements planned for the good of the public.
THOMAS RIGDON ROBISON.
The value of high character in official and professional life is being every year impressed upon the voting and business population of the United States, and the declaration of ex-President Cleveland that "public office is
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a public trust" is now quite generally accepted as a truism. Mansfield, Ohio, has in most periods of its history been favored with the services of good and efficient officials, and few of these in recent years have discharged the duties of public office with greater personal credit or more entirely to the satisfaction of the people than Thomas Rigdon Robison, who was for two terms city attorney and who is now a member of the city council.
Thomas Rigdon'Robison was born in Butler township, Richland county, Ohio, in 1866, the only son of George Washington and Mary E. (Stratton) Robison. His father was a native of Juniata county, Pennsylvania, born October 4, 1832, a son of James and Rebecca Robison, who settled in Ash- land county, Ohio, in 1835 and removed to Richland county in 1837. In 1868 they went to Indiana, and their son, George Washington Robison, the father of Thomas Rigdon Robison, died in Richland county in 1898. The families of Robison and Stratton have a Civil-war record of which any fam- ily in America might be justly proud, all of Mr. Robison's uncles, five of his father's brothers and four of his mother's brothers, having served in the Federal army with bravery and credit, some of them with special distinc- tion.
Mr. Robison attended school in Butler township and then entered Bald- win University at Berea, and after a thorough course in law was admitted to the bar, in 1891, and has since practiced his profession successfully in Richland and neighboring counties. Mr. Robison has served two terms, being a period of four years, as city attorney of Mansfield, and at this time is a member of the city council. No administration of the office of city attorney was ever more satisfactory to the people, and he is popularly regarded as a model councilman. He has taken an active part in politics, on the Democratic side, since he was a comparatively young man, and he has not only been a delegate to several important political conventions but has been the chairman of the Richland county Democratic executive com- mittee. He is a popular Knight of Pythias, and has passed all the chairs in his lodge and is now a representative of the order to the grand lodge of the state of Ohio.
He married Miss Emma Gribben, a daughter of Richard Gribben, a pioneer settler in Ashland county who subsequently located in Richland county, and a niece of Hon. John Gribben, who has ably represented Han- cock county in the legislature of the state of Ohio. They have one child, a daughter named Verda S., a bright scholar who has carried off the honors of her classes. Mr. and Mrs. Robison are attendants upon the services of the Lutheran church and liberal supporters of its various interests. Mr.
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Robison's well known public spirit renders him a particularly useful mem- ber of the city council, in which he favors all measures which he believes promise good to the public, and opposes all such as appear to him to have an opposite tendency.
THE KUHN FAMILY.
On section 24, Sandusky township, in one of the pleasant homes of the community, reside the descendants of Christian Kuhn, who was the grandfather of the present inmates of the home,-Charles, John, Amanda and Lillian E. Kuhn. These members of the household reside on the eighty-acre farm where the father and grandfather lived, the latter locating there about 1828. He was a tailor by trade and followed that pursuit in Stuttgart, in the province of Wurtemberg, prior to his emigration to Amer- ica. After coming to the United States he engaged in the same line of business in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, until about 1828, when he and his eldest son came to Ohio. They made the long journey of nearly two hundred miles on foot. The grandfather was a well educated man and while carry- ing on business in Wurtemberg received the patronage of the nobility both in and out of the army. He was married in Germany and all five of his children were born there and accompanied him to America. The passage was made on a sailing vessel and eighty days had elapsed before they anchored in the American harbor.
All of the family resided in Pittsburg for a time, coming thence to Ohio. Finding that his health was failing, Christian Kuhn proposed that they go west, and, as stated, he and his eldest son, Charles, walked the entire distance. They spent the night after their arrival at the Riblet Inn, where they made inquiry concerning land that was for sale. Mr. Riblet, their landlord, replied that he thought they might purchase the eighty- acre farm on section 24, which was mostly a timber tract and which had a log house upon it. The purchase was effected and the property has since remained in possession of the family. Those were primitive days, while the work of improvement and progress seemed scarcely begun. The mail was brought to this portion of the county from Mansfield and distributed by the landlord of the Riblet Inn. Christian Kuhn and his son Charles returned on foot to Pittsburg and brought with them to Ohio the mother and two of the other children of the family, who in the meantime had been employed in the city. It was a new and trying experience for the family to perform the work of the farm and live in the primitive manner of a pio-
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neer settlement. Christian Kuhn worked at his trade of tailoring at night, while in the day time he became familiar with farming methods through the assistance of his hired man. His patience and perseverance enabled him to continue his work and to master agricultural methods. With the aid of his son he cleared the farm and built another cabin, which was con- structed of hewed logs and sided with clapboards. In 1871 that cabin was replaced by a frame residence which is now used as a buggy house. In 1896 the present commodious and palatial residence was erected by the brothers and sisters who now occupy the old homestead.
Christian Kuhn died at the age of sixty-six years, but his wife, surviv- ing him for a number of years, passed away in 1857, at an advanced age. Their eldest son, Charles, who was his father's able assistant in all the work of improving the new place, was married in 1845, at the age of thirty-six years, to Miss Mary E. Frye, of Bucyrus, Ohio, where they met when he was marketing his produce. The acquaintance soon ripened into love and she proved a real helpmate to him,-a noble wife and mother, whose influ- ence over her family was most marked and beneficial. She was a lady of great strength of character and like her husband was a native of Wurtem- berg, her birth having occurred in the town of Ulm. Eight children were born of their union, but their first child, a daughter, died in infancy. The others are as follows: Amelia, who is now the widow of John Marthys, of Springfield, Ohio, and has five children; C. F., who conducts a farm adjoin- ing the old homestead and has three children; Charles, who is living at the old place; Sophia, who is the widow of Henry Redeker, of Crestline, and has one son; John, who manages the farm; and Amanda and Lillian are also on the old homestead. This is a most pleasant and peaceful homestead, where harmony reigns supreme. The father died in 1889, in his eightieth year, and the mother passed away in 1894, in her seventy-sixth year. These brothers and sisters own three farms, one of two hundred and twelve acres, another of one hundred and eleven acres, and a small farm, a mile south, comprising twenty acres. Besides the extensive farming interests, Charles is engaged in shipping hay to eastern and southern markets.
The parents and grandparents were Lutherans in their religious faith, and of the first little chapel, which was located in the corner of their orchard, were charter members. The grandmother's funeral services were held there before the building was completed. About 1897 the little chapel was sold for fifty dollars and was torn down, and the proceeds spent toward the improvement of the Riblet cemetery near by. Miss Lillian Kuhn, who was educated in Crestline, was engaged in teaching there for sixteen years,
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but at length decided to return home and live with her brothers. Filial love and devotion is very strong in the German race and the Kuhn family have shown a high regard for their father, whose wish it was that they would keep the old home; and thus the two brothers and two sisters remain here dispensing an old-time hospitality, and by their upright lives reflecting honor upon an untarnished name for the family. For more than seventy years the name of Kuhn has been deeply inscribed on the pages of the his- tory of Richland county. The grandfather and sons have all borne their part in the work of development and public progress, and at all times have been true to the duties of citizenship. They have aided in the material upbuilding of the county, and no history of this portion of the state would be complete without their record.
MICHAEL HOGAN.
Ireland has furnished to America much that is best in its citizenship,- best in honesty, best in ability, best in patriotism,-and the Irish element of the population of Richland county, Ohio, has done its full share in the work of improvement and development. Among those of Irish blood who have been well known in the county none reached a higher standard of citizen- ship or left a better memory than Michael Hogan, who was born in county Clare, Ireland, November 7, 1792, and died at his home in Monroe township January 17, 1875.
Michael Hogan was educated at the University of Dublin, being grad- uated on the completion of the classical course at the age of twenty years. His outlook in a business way was not encouraging, for the lands of his forefathers had been confiscated by the government because of their devo- tion to the cause of Irish freedom, and he was practically without capital with which to begin life in his native land. He made as good a beginning as he could, however, and in due time was happily married to Miss Ann Oakley, and one child had been born to them when, in 1818, they sought freedom and fortune in America. He found some employment suited to his education and ability in New York city, remaining there for five years. 'In 1823 he came to Ohio, and after residing for some time at Newville, where he was proprietor of a store, he purchased his farm in Monroe township, Richland county, and took up his residence upon it in April, 1827.
Michael and Ann (Oakley) Hogan had the following children : Maria, who became the wife of James N. Applegate, of Chicago, and died Jan- uary 29, 1900; Edmond T., who died in California July 12, 1895, at the age
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of seventy-three years; Eleanora, who married. Isaiah Bergen and died in 1888; Margaret, the wife of Simon McCarthy, a resident of Oklahoma ; Ann and Teresa, who are well known in Monroe township; Cecelia, the wife of James Sheehy ; and Clara, who completes the family. Edmond T. Hogan, the only son, studied under his father's instruction until he had acquired a good classical education and then entered the College of St. Xavier. at Cincinnati, where he was graduated. He afterward pursued the study of law under the direction of the Hon. T. W. Bartley, of Mansfield, and then went to California, where he was afterward admitted to the bar and served as prosecuting attorney for twelve years and common-pleas judge of Plumas county, that state. Mrs. Michael Hogan died July 24, 1864, at the age of sixty-seven years.
Mr. Hogan was a successful farmer and business man, and at his death left two good farms of one hundred and sixty acres each, which are now the property of his daughters. In early life he gained a good knowledge of medicine, and after he came to Ohio practiced successfully and gratu- itously among his neighbors far and near. The laws regulating medical prac- tice were not as strict then as now, and he did a good work, for which many a man and woman rose up and called him blessed. . In politics he was a Democrat, and he is remembered as a particularly well informed man, who was strong in his beliefs and was never at a loss to give a reason for them. His public spirit led him to espouse every cause which in his good judgment promised to benefit his fellow men, and there are those who have reason to remember him as a stanch friend of public education. He was a Roman Catholic, but was liberal in his views on religious questions and in support of religious worship under whatever name it might be offered. His wife was an Episcopalian.
JOHN ILER.
Such a record as is made by the able man of affairs, the faithful and efficient public official and the patriotic volunteer soldier is that of the pop- ular citizen of Jackson township, Richland county, Ohio, whose name is the title of this sketch. A native of this township, he was born February 26, 1842, on the farm now known as the Manuel Wise place, a son of Andrew Iler, who was born in Pennsylvania, married Susan Weiger, and settled early in Ohio. Andrew and Susan (Yeiger) Iler had four children : Elizabeth, who is now the widow of John Wetz and lives in Jackson township; Sarah, who is the wife of Abraham Straub, of Shelby; Annie, who is the wife of
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Charles Newcomb, of Vernon Junction, Ohio; and the immediate subject of this sketch. Mr. Iler died in 1842, and Mrs. Iler some years later married John Welsh. John Iler remained with his mother and stepfather until 1848, when, at the age of six years, he was adopted by John F. Rice; with whose family he had a home until he attained his majority.
At the age of twenty-one Mr. Iler began business life for himself on a rented farm. He was a renter for twelve years all told, but proved that he was not of the stuff of which life-long renters are made. He used his opportunities to the best advantage, saved his money and at the end of the period mentioned was able to purchase his present farm. He now owns seventy-seven acres of improved, productive and valuable land and is widely known as a successful general farmer.
In 1862 Mr. Iler enlisted as a private in Company C, Twentieth Regi- ment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was in active service about a year, participating in the fighting at Mission Ridge and in the siege of Vicksburg. He received honorable discharge from the service, having in all ways won the commendation of his superiors as a brave and faithful soldier. In 1864 he married Mary Sheets, who has proved a good helpmeet to him and who has borne him seven children, named as follows in the order of birth: Charles E., William, Robert, Ida, Elizabeth, Orpha and Annie,-the last mentioned of whom is dead.
In political affiliations Mr. Iler is a Democrat, and he is an active and enthusiastic worker for the advancement of the principles of his party. It will be seen that he is not without a good personal political influence when it is considered that he has been twice elected to the important office of com- missioner of Richland county, serving from 1885 to 1892, during a period of six years, to the entire satisfaction of the voters whose interests he had in charge. He is a member of the Lutheran church and has served as one of its deacons. His public spirit has been many times put to the test and has always been equal to all reasonable demands upon it. Ever practically interested in public education, he has done everything in his power, as school director and otherwise, to elevate the standard of the schools of his township.
CHRISTOPHER C. AREHART.
The career of the soldier is always interesting, and in all local history the soldier must always have an honored place. There are yet living in Monroe township, Richland county, Ohio, several ex-soldiers of the Civil
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war who are regarded with peculiar respect, and none of these is held in higher esteem than the subject of this notice.
Christopher C. Arehart was born near Perrysville, Ashland county, Ohio, April 29, 1843, and was only a little past his eighteenth birthday when, in 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company B, One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for three years or during the war. For a time he was stationed at Covington, Kentucky, and his first engagement was at Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Arkansas, January 1I, 1863. He also saw service at Thompson's Hill, Mississippi, May 1, 1863; at the siege of Vicksburg, May 18 to July 4, 1863: at Big Black River, May 17, 1863; at Jackson, Mississippi, July 9 to 16, 1863 ; was appointed corporal May 1, 1864, and fought at Frankfort City, May 3, 1864. Arriving at Snaggy Point, on the Red river. on the transport City Belle, May 3, 1864, the regiment was captured, with the exception of one hundred. After the engagement last mentioned his company became Company E, One Hundred and Fourteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Captain Henry Eberhart commanding, and Mr. Arehart took part in the fighting at Graham's plantation, May 5 to May 7, 1864; at Prairie Bayou, May 14 to 16, 1864; at De Glaise, May 16, 1864; in the siege of Mobile, March 26 to April 9, 1865; and in the warfare at Fort Blakely, April 2 to 9, 1865. July 24 following he was transferred to Company E, Forty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was discharged from the service at Houston, Texas, October 4, 1865, and returned to Ashland county, Ohio, and was during one term a student at the school at Perrysville. After that he devoted himself for a time to learning the plasterer's trade, at which he worked for the next seven years, when he engaged in farming in Monroe township, Richland county.
Mr. Arehart married Miss Emma Yates January 2, 1870, and in 1878 they moved to their present home farm, consisting of one hundred and twenty-two acres, where he has since devoted himself with success to gen- eral farming. A Democrat politically, he is a member of the Grange and influential in local affairs, having been a member of the township school board, assessor two terms and township trustee four years. He is a com- rade in Swigart Post, No. 116, Grand Army of the Republic, and is one of its past commanders. Mr. and Mrs. Arehart have four children, named as follows in the order of their birth: Lloyd, May, John and Don.
Mr. Arehart is in all things a representative, progressive citizen, suc- cessful in his chosen vocation, intelligently conversant with public affairs and patriotically devoted to the best interests of his township, county, state and country. His interest in public education is especially strong and in his
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official capacity he did all in his power to raise the standard of public edu- cation in Monroe township. He has always been a liberal supporter of all measures tending to the enhancement of the public welfare and his help- fulness to churches has been generous.
PETER DAVIDSON.
For forty-two years Peter Davidson was a resident of Richland county and throughout that period retained the respect and confidence of his fellow men, while in his active and energetic life he won the success for which all men are striving. He was born May 10, 1810, in the parish of Insch, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and is the son of John and Margaret Davidson, the former a farmer by occupation. Our subject attended the parish school of his native' town, where he pursued the studies of reading, writing, spell- ing and arithmetic, but at an early age he put aside his text-books in order to provide for his own support working for the farmers of the neighborhood. He was honest, energetic and cheerful and was universally trusted by his employers. Becoming convinced that he could never better his financial con- dition by remaining in Scotland, at the age of twenty-six years he deter- mined to emigrate to America and landed at New York on the 10th of August, 1836, after a voyage of seven weeks in the sailing vessel. He came direct to Ashland county, Ohio, then a part of Huron county, for the division was not made until about nine years later.
The following year, as a companion and helpmeet on the journey of life, Mr. Davidson chose Miss Margaret Beattie, who also was a native of Scot- land, and they began their domestic life in Ruggles, Ashland county, where, in common with the other early settlers, they endured many hardships. In times of drought Mr. Davidson had to go forty-five miles in order to obtain a grist of flour. By their marriage were born seven children, of whom two died in infancy, while five are yet living. In the spring of 1858 the fam- ily removed to a farm which Mr. Davidson purchased in Butler township, Richland county. There his first wife died October 19, 1866, and in Feb- ruary, 1868, he was again married, his second union being with Miss Elsie Beattie, who died in 1893. Mr. Davidson survived her until the 21st of May, 1900, when he was called to his final rest, at the age of ninety years and eleven days. He had resided in Richland county for forty-two years and throughout that period had carried on agricultural pursuits, aiding in transforming the wild lands into richly cultivated farms. In his business
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dealings he was reliable and at all times was an energetic, diligent and prosperous farmer.
Three years after his arrival in Ohio Mr. Davidson applied for papers of citizenship, and when he had obtained the right of franchise he voted with the Free-soil party, being the twelfth person in the township to sup- port that ticket. He always made it a rule not to vote for party alone but also to advocate what he believed to be the best principles for good gov- ernment regardless of party affiliations. His first presidential vote was cast for James G. Birney, the Abolition candidate, who was defeated. The Free- soil and Whig parties subsequently united and formed the Republican party, to which Mr. Davidson ever afterward gave his allegiance, and he never failed to attend the elections until too feeble to make his way to the polls. He never belonged to any secret societies, but after arriving in America joined the Baptist church and subsequently he joined the Christian church, being a member of the latter for half a century. His life is upright and honorable, and he is accounted one of the leading and valued citizens of his commnuity.
MORTIMER A. DITTENHOEFER.
A gentleman of scholarly attainments and strong mentality, Mortimer A. Dittenhoefer, although a young man, has exercised a strong influence upon the intelligence and culture of Mansfield, Richland county. He is very popular and has a host of warm friends throughout the community where his entire life has been passed. He was born in Mansfield June 19, 1873, and is a son of Adolph P. and Ettie M. Dittenhoefer. He is also a cousin of Hon. A. J. Dittenhoefer, ex-judge of the marine court of New York and a grandson of M. L. Miller, one of Mansfield's enterprising and prominent business men.
Mr. Dittenhoefer, of this review, acquired his early education in the Mansfield public schools, after which he entered the Ohio Business College, being graduated in that institution with credit. Subsequently he went to Louisville, Kentucky, where he engaged in merchandising for two years. Later he entered the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and after twenty-seven months of continuous application-the three-years course-he completed his law studies in that institution and went to Columbus, Ohio, where, with the class of three hundred, he took the examination for admis- sion to the bar of the state. This he successfully passed and was admitted
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to practice law in Ohio. He then returned to Ann Arbor, where he grad- uated the following summer with the degree of Bachelor of Law.
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