USA > Ohio > Richland County > A centennial biographical history of Richland county, Ohio > Part 60
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At the age of sixteen he taught school. In 1860 he began to read law under the preceptorship of Judge A. K. Dunn at Mount Gilead, and was admitted to the bar in 1864. That year he recruited a company for the war and became a lieutenant of Company E, One Hundred and Ninety-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war.
Returning to Mount Gilead, Mr. Albach was elected the mayor of the town-the county seat of Morrow county. Engaging in the practice of the law, he was associated for a short time with Bert Andrews. In 1867 he engaged in the drug business at Cardington, in which trade he continued for three years. For many years after retiring from the drug business he dealt in farm implements, machinery and supplies, and was also engaged in the nursery business. In 1885 he became interested in a cash and package carrier patent, the invention of S. W. Barr, of Mansfield. He organized a com- pany and devoted his entire time to traveling and marketing the machines for a number of years. He made several improvements upon the inven- tion, which were patented in his name and assigned to the company.
During the time he was interested in the Barr carrier he invented also what is now known as the "Shelby stove," for gas and gasoline, and in April, 1900, founded the Shelby Stove Company, of which he is the vice-president. The company makes a line of thirty distinct stoves, and also manufactures the Beecher furnace and the Shelby plow.
Mr. Albach has been successful in his business enterprises. Seeing the evidences of the future growth of Shelby, and its advantageous location and railroad facilities for shipping purposes, he wisely selected that place for the location of his works. He is an upright, enterprising business man, capable of conducting large enterprises. He has traveled and has a knowledge of the world that assists him in meeting the wants of the trade in whatever line of industry he may engage.
LEWIS L. SNYDER.
Lewis L. Snyder, one of the prosperous and enterprising farmers of Monroe township, was born in Richland county, Ohio, March 27, 1857. He was a son of John D. and Barbara Ann ( Rummell) Snyder. In tracing the ancestral history of this family of Snyders we find that John D. Snyder, the father of our subject, was born May 20, 1829, a son of Peter Snyder, a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and the son of another Peter Snyder, who came from Germany to America and settled in Pennsylvania. The mother of John D. Snyder was in her maidenhood Elizabeth Goodman. Her
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death occurred in 1876. The Snyders became pioneer settlers of Richland county, coming here in the early '30s. John D. Snyder, the father of our subject, has through the greater part of his life followed farming, and reared his family on a farm.
Lewis L. Snyder, the subject of this sketch, gained a common-school education, and on the 5th of January, 1881, married Sarah A. Smith, a daughter of Daniel and Charlotte (Harter) Smith. The marriage has been blessed with three children, namely: Mellie L., Grover O. and Gusta L. In politics Mr. Snyder is a Democrat. He is held in high esteen by his neigh- bors and ranks among the most successful farmers of the county.
JOHN GILGER.
Through more than six decades John Gilger has been a resident of Rich- land county and its progress and upbuilding are a matter of deep interest to him. He takes just pride in its advancement and has done what he could to promote its growth. He is numbered among the native residents of this locality, for his birth occurred in Blooming Grove township on the 16th of October, 1836, his parents being Jacob and Phoebe (Dick) Gilger. The parents were both natives of Germany, where they were reared. The father learned the weaver's trade in early life, and in 1832 he crossed the briny deep to the new world, locating a mile east of Rome, in Blooming Grove township, Richland county. There he followed his trade for seven years, during which time he was married.
A year after he had come to the new world his wife crossed the Atlantic, and a year after her arrival they were married. They began keeping house one mile east of Rome, where they remained for about twelve months and then located in the village of Rome, where they spent two years. In 1839 they removed to a place a quarter of a mile east of Richland, now Plank- town, where Mr. Gilger followed the weaver's trade and also acquired a small farm of forty acres, which was conducted by his sons after they had attained a sufficient age to assume its management. About 1860 the father pur- chased the old William Tucker farm, one mile north of Planktown, after which he largely devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits, making his liome on that place until his death. In early life he was a member of the German Reformed church, but later he became identified with the Lutheran church, for the distance between him and the church of his own choice was too great to permit of his attending services there regularly. He died March 30, 1875, at the age of sixty-nine years, eight months and twenty-
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four days, and his wife, who survived him until January 24, 1888, passed to her final rest at the age of seventy-six years. Of their nine children seven are yet living, namely: John, Daniel, David, Catherine, Jacob, Joseph and Mary. One of the sons, George, was a member of the Union army during the Civil war and died on the train while en route to Columbia, South Carolina.
John Gilger spent his youth at home in the midst of surroundings such as were familiar to pioneer settlers but are unknown at the present stage of our advanced civilization. He pursued his studies sitting on a slab bench in an old log schoolhouse. After reaching his twentieth year he went to Kansas and took up a claim near Osawatomie, that state, but being told that that part of the country was not good he sold his claim, after a sojourn there of six months, and returned home. The following winter he followed shoemaking, in a room of his father's home, and in the succeeding spring he built a shop in Shiloh and worked at his trade. He never served an apprenticeship to the business, but possessing considerable mechanical inge- nuity he picked up the trade after his return from the west. For seven years he conducted a prosperous business in Shiloh, at times employing two or three assistants. While there he was appointed to the position of postmaster under President Buchanan. In 1864 he purchased his present home of twenty-nine acres, adjoining a tract of seventeen acres, of which he had previously become the owner, and upon the place he has since resided. In 1883 he engaged in the furniture and undertaking business, which he conducted profitably until 1898, when he disposed of his store and has since given his entire attention to the farm.
On the 27th of December. 1860, Mr. Gilger was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Douglas, a native of Richland county and a daughter of David and Anna (Kirkland) Douglas. Their marriage was blessed with four chil- dren, three of whom survive, namely: Jennie, the wife of T. A. Vaughn, of Shelby, Ohio; Myron M., who is engaged in draying in Shiloh; and Del- bert W., who is a resident of Shiloh. The mother died May 22, 1874, and on the 30th of March, 1876, Mr. Gilger was again married, his second union being with Miss Margery Latimer, a native of Blooming Grove town- ship and a daughter of William and Nancy (Wilson) Latimer. They now have two children : George A., a painter and public-school teacher, and Ella E. Relis, at home.
Through an active business career Mr. Gilger has so conducted his inter- ests as to win a comfortable competence. He served for three terms as township trustee and was postmaster under James Buchanan's administra-
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tion. He was one of the first three voters to give their support to the Pro- hibition ticket in Cass township At that time he was compelled to vote a written ticket. He did this to indicate his opposition to the saloon and to aid in saving the boys of the nation. He attended the Prohibition state convention at Columbus on the 6th and 7th of June, 1894, as a delegate, and was also a delegate to the convention at Findlay, Ohio, April 21 and 22, 1896. After the meeting of the national Prohibition con- vention in 1896 he became convinced that he was not acting wisely in allying himself with the political parties. He believed that it was God's will and since that time he has not voted. At the age of twenty-three he was con- verted and became a member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, with which he was identified for more than thirty-six years, and during most of the time held office in the church. He then left the church, for, after careful study of the Bible he came to believe that as God's children we must not be contentious and that the organized churches of the day are not in har- mony with the will of the Creator as expressed in Holy Writ. In his life he closely follows the teachings of the holy Nazarene, endeavoring daily to exemplify in his life the true spirit of Christianity.
SAMUEL FERGUSON.
Samuel Ferguson, deceased, was for many years one of the honored citizens and successful agriculturists of Washington township, Richland county, Ohio. He was born near Pittsburg, Allegheny county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 7th of August, 1816, a son of Samuel and Wilhelmina (Dye) Ferguson, in whose family were nine children. His father, who was a soldier of the war of 1812, and a traveler to a considerable extent, came to Richland county, Ohio, in 1820, and from the government entered the land upon which our subject's family now reside. He lived to the advanced age of ninety-eight years.
Mr. Ferguson, of this review, was reared on a farm in his native state, and continued to reside there until 1842, when he came to Ohio and took up his residence upon the farm in Washington township, Richland county, which he made his home up to the time of his death. In the original pur- chase there were three hundred and twenty acres, and the family still own two hundred and twenty acres, which is pleasantly located on section 8, four miles from Mansfield. Of this tract one hundred and forty acres have been cleared and placed under a high state of cultivation.
On the 2d of May, 1844, Mr. Ferguson was united in marriage with
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Miss Margaret C. Glasgow, who was born in Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, May 3, 1820, a daughter of James and Betsey A. (Sleator) Glasgow, both natives of Ireland. Her family moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio by team in 1832, and first settled in Knox county, but a year later came to Richland county. In June, 1834, there was a heavy frost, which did much damage to the crops. Mr. Glasgow purchased eighty acres of land where Joseph Hainley now resides, and erected thereon a log cabin. Here he fol- lowed farming for some years, but his last days were spent in Henry county.
Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson began their domestic life in a log cabin on the farm where the family is still living, and there ten children were born to them, namely: James Glasgow, who is mentioned below; Wilhelmina E., the wife of William Lawrence; Samuel, deceased; Jennie, the wife of Ervin Beattie, of Michigan; Lycurgus E., a resident of Hiawatha, Kansas; Ella, the wife of Charles Dean, of Cameron, Missouri; Wilda O. and Rilda A. (twins), the former the wife of John Longshore, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and the latter the wife of John Dean, of Mansfield; Nettie, the wife of Frank Brown, of Kansas; and one who died in infancy. James G., the old- est son, is now successfully carrying on the home farm, and has served as trustee in Washington township for three years. He married Louisa Hiskey, who died October 6, 1900, leaving eight children,-Anna L., Ethel W., John S., Mary O., Nettie M., Alice J., an infant unnamed ; and two who preceded her in death,-Josie and Maggie, only five days apart in their decease.
Throughout his active business life Mr. Ferguson followed farming, and his labors met with well deserved success. He was one of the most ihghly esteemed men of his community, and was called upon to serve as trustee for several years. Politically he was a strong Democrat, and relig- iously was an earnest member of the United Presbyterian church. He died April 6, 1895. He had won by an honorable, upright life an untarnished name, and the record which he left behind him is one well worthy of emu- lation.
GEORGE UHLICH.
After an honorable and useful career the subject of this sketch can well afford to lay aside all business cares and spend his declining years in ease and quiet, surrounded by all the comforts which make life worth the living.
A native of Richland county, he was born on the old homestead in Madison township, northwest of Mansfield, which was purchased by his grandfather, George Uhlich, in 1828, and which comprises one hundred and
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forty-two acres. His grandfather was probably a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and was a soldier of the war of 1812. He died in 1834. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Saltzgaber, was a native of Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, and belonged to one of the pioneer fam- ilies of this county, which was founded here in 1834. Her brother, Samuel Saltzgaber, who celebrated his one hundredth anniversary in Van Wert county, in 1899, conducted a hotel in Shelby, this county, for thirty years. His son, Gallord Saltzgaber, was a representative to congress from Van Wert county.
The father of our subject was born in Pennsylvania in 1819, and was eight years old when brought to Ohio by his parents. He inherited the old homestead, upon which he spent his entire life with the exception of the last few years, when he lived in Mansfield. He died at the age of seventy- two years, honored and respected by all who knew him. He married Cath- erine Fidler, who also belonged to one of the pioneer famliies of this county, and by this union four children were born, namely: George, our subject; Jonathan, who is represented on another page, of this volume; Susan, the deceased wife of Harry Hall, a merchant of Williams county, Ohio; and Nella, the wife of James Fay, of Mansfield.
During his boyhood George Uhlich attended the common schools, and early became familiar with all the duties which fall to the lot of the agri- culturist. Later he worked the old home farm until 1882, when he moved to Mansfield, where he was engaged in the grocery business for fourteen years, and has since lived retired.
In 1865 Mr. Uhlich was united in marriage with Miss Abigail Petrow, a daughter of John Petrow, who came to this county from Forestville in the Shenandoah valley, Virginia, in 1859. By this union were born four children : Joseph, a resident of Mansfield, who married Emma Enlow, of Springfield township, a daughter of Jackson Enlow; George W., who mar- ried Ida Feltner, of Mansfield, where they reside; and Rolla and Lemont, both at home with their parents.
During the Civil war Mr. Uhlich was a member of the Sixty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was in the service from 1861 to 1864, par- ticipating in all the engagements in which his regiment took part. He is now an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and also belongs to St. Luke's Lutheran church. In politics he is an active Dem- ocrat, and was a member of the city council two terms,-from 1891 to 1895. He is now a trustee of the water-works, being first elected in 1897 and re-elected in 1900 for another three years. He was the chairman of
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the board in 1899 and 1900. As a public-spirited, enterprising man, he is recognized as a valued citizen of the community, and justly merits the high regard in which he is uniformly held by all who know him.
JOSEPH SIMPSON.
Prominent among the representative citizens of Richland county who have by honest toil and industry succeeded in acquiring a handsome com- petence and are now able to spend the sunset of life in quiet and retirement, is the gentleman whose name appears above, his home being on section 27, Mifflin township.
Mr. Simpson was born on the farm where he now resides, June 28, 1832, a son of Samuel and Catherine (Hout) Simpson, in whose family were seven children, but only two now survive, the younger being Margaret, the widow. of A. C. Culbertson and a resident of Loudonville, Ohio. The father of our subject was born in Pennsylvania, November 26, 1793, his parents being natives of Ireland and of Scotch-Irish descent. He grew to manhood in the Keystone state, and soon after his marriage, which was celebrated March 19, 1818, started with his bride for the west. Floating down the Ohio river in a small boat, they landed in Jefferson county, Ohio, and from there came overland to Richland county, where Samuel Simpson entered the quarter section of land upon which our subject now resides. In the midst of the forest he built a cabin and at once turned his attention to clearing and im- proving his land. He was an industrious, sturdy pioneer and prospered in his undertakings, acquiring three hundred and forty acres of land in Mifflin township and a half-section in Sandusky township. In his political affiliations Samuel Simpson was first a Whig and later a Republican, and although well advanced in years at the outbreak of the Civil war he was an ardent sup- porter of President Lincoln and his policy. Religiously he was an active member of the Presbyterian church and was a man highly respected and esteemed by all who knew him. He died on the 28th of November, 1867, and in his death the community realized that it had lost one of its most valued and useful citizens. His estimable wife, who was born March 13, 1796, of Vir- ginian parentage, departed this life April 25, 1878.
During his boyhood Joseph Simpson acquired a limited education in the home schools, but the knowledge he obtained of farm work was not so meager, and he soon became a skillful agriculturist. On reaching man's estate he continued to work on the home farm with his father, having stock of his own, and after the latter's death conducted the place for his mother
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until she, too, passed away, when the homestead fell to him, while the lower farm became the property of his brother John. About 1870 he pur- chased the latter place and now owns two hundred and forty acres of very valuable and productive land, which he has placed under a high system of cultivation. For some years past, however, he has not engaged in active farming, but has merely managed his business affairs and the working of his land. The Republican party finds in him a stanch supporter of its principles, and as a public-spirited citizen he takes an active interest in advancing the welfare of his township and county. He is widely and favorably known, and comes of a prominent and highly respected family.
JOHN A. NOBLE.
The Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish stock, which is so important an element in our national population, is a leading factor in the population of Richland county. Among the many citizens of Blooming Grove township who trace their lineage to Pennsylvania none is better known or more highly respected than John A. Noble.
Mr. Noble was born in what is now Butler township, Richland county, Ohio, January 15, 1836, one of the six children of William and Margaret (McWilliams) Noble, only two of whom survive. Mr. Noble's sister, Mar- garet. is the widow of Nathaniel Finch, of Blooming Grove township. Will- iam Noble was a native of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, born in 1803. and moved with his parents to Washington county. Pennsylvania, where he grew up and was married and where two of his children were born. He manufactured sieves in Pennsylvania until 1831. when he came into Ohio, bringing his family, and located on eighty acres of land in what is now Butler township, Richland county. He had but eighty dollars in cash, and, as the price of the farm was one hundred dollars, he was obliged to assume the debt of twenty dollars. Small as such a sum appeared to him in after years, this debt worried him beyond expression until it was finally discharged. His land was mostly covered with timber, but six acres of it had been cleared after the early style of cutting out all small timber and "deadening" all the rest. He built a log cabin on the place and lived there until 1853, when he sold his land there and bought the farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Blooming Grove township, where John A. Noble now lives and where the pioneer lived until 1887 when he died, then in his eighty-fifth year. He was a rugged, active man who did much hard work, a man of sterling character, influential in local affairs and a leader in political and religious work.
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He was a Whig and later a Republican, and in early life was a member of the Presbyterian church; but some years after coming to Ohio, he united with the Disciples church, of which his wife also became a member, who, too, had been a Presbyterian. For several successive terms he filled the office of trustee of Butler township. The mother of John A. Noble was Miss Mar- garet McWilliams, of Scotch-Irish ancestry and a daughter of John and Betsey McWilliams, both of whom died in Washington county, Pennsylvania, where Mrs. Noble was born in 1798. William and Mary Noble, Mr. Noble's grandparents in the paternal line, were natives of Ireland and were married there. Owing to religio-political troubles in their native land, they fled to America and settled in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, whence they sub- sequently removed to Washington county, in the same state, where William Noble died. His widow came to Ohio and made her home with her chil- dreu, living until she was in the ninety-third year of her age. Some idea of her remarkable physical strength will be afforded in the statement that not more than two months before her death she walked from the farm of John A. Noble to the farm of John Noble, a distance of more than a mile.
John A. Noble was reared and educated in his native township, and with the exception of a year and a half spent in the mining region of Montana, in the '6os, has spent his entire life thus far on the Noble homestead in Bloom- ing Grove township. On his return from Montana in 1865 he assumed the management of the home farm, which he bought in 1884, and he has devoted himself with much success to general farming and stock-raising. In 1869 he married Miss Adeline Howard, a native of Huron county, Ohio, and a daughter of William Howard, a Virginian by birth, who was comparatively an early settler in the Buckeye state. Mr. and Mrs. Noble have had eight children, who may be mentioned as follows in the order of their nativity : Hermie, who married Jay De Witt and lives at Cleveland, Ohio, where Sumner and Wade also reside; and Lloyd, Florence, William, John and Ver- nice, members of their father's household.
Mr. Noble is a live, progressive Republican, who believes in the prin- ciples of his party and commends the official acts of President Mckinley and endorses the policy of his administration. He is a public-spirited man, who is willing at all times to do everything in his power to advance the important interests of his township, county and state. He has taken an exceptionally deep interest in educational matters and has devoted himself earnestly and successfully to the maintenance and improvement of the public schools of his community, having given a number of years to the service of his town- ship as a member of the school board. He has proved himself a useful citi-
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zen, of wise judgment and methods, at the same time practical and economi- cal, and his counsel is sought in all matters looking to the enhancement of the public weal. He is liberal in the support of churches and of all other public interests affecting the intellectual and moral development of the people.
JEREMIAH W. SHATZER.
Jeremiah W. Shatzer was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, on the 2d of March, 1839, and the family is of German lineage. John Shatzer, the father of our subject, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, but his ancestors originally came from the fatherland. He was reared in his native county and in early life he apprenticed himself at the millwright's trade, also learning the miller's trade, under the direction of Samuel Frederick. He followed both pursuits in the Keystone state until 1844, when he emigrated with his family to Richland county, Ohio, settling in Ganges. The fol- lowing spring he rented the old Urick mill in Franklin township. a mile south of Shenandoah, on the Black Fork. For four years he operated the mill and on the expiration of that period purchased a small tract of land in Jackson township, removing his family to the new home. He remained only a short time in Ganges, however, for the following fall his father died and the chil- dren found homes with neighbors, while the mother and the youngest child returned to Jackson township, where she lived with her father. Mrs. Shatzer bore the maiden name of Mary A. Pickint, and by her first marriage she became the mother of five children, all of whom are yet living, namely : Jeremiah W .; Henry A., a farmer of Henry county ; John D., who operates a sawmill in Shelby, Ohio; Christopher, who is living in Tiffin, Ohio; and Mrs. Rebecca Phillips, a widow. Ten years after the death of her first hus- band Mrs. Shatzer became the wife of Jonas Blocker, and their union was blessed with one daughter, Johanna, now the wife of Franklin Steiers, of Weller township. The mother's death occurred in 1863.
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