USA > Ohio > Richland County > A centennial biographical history of Richland county, Ohio > Part 61
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Soon after the death of his father Jeremiah W. Shatzer found a home with John Rank, a farmer of Springfield township, with whom he lived for three years, and when fifteen years of age he apprenticed himself at the carpenter's trade for a term of three years, receiving forty-eight dollars an- nually in compensation for his services. On completing his apprenticeship he worked as a journeyman carpenter for Patrick Barnes, under whom he had learned the trade, and was thus employed until after the inauguration of the Civil war. He and three of his brothers entered the service of their country. In December, 1861, he donned the blue and went to the south as a member
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of Company H, Sixty-fourth Ohio Infantry, which formed a part of Sher- man's brigade. After nine months he was discharged, on account of lung trouble. His brothers, Henry and John, enlisted for three months in the Fifteenth Ohio Infantry in the spring of 1861, and after the expiration of that period Henry enlisted in the Sixty-fourth Regiment, Sherman's brigade, for three years, and was shot through the left lung at Stone River, but survived that injury. Later, however, he was seriously wounded in the leg by a shell, and the accident has occasioned him serious trouble since that time. John Shatzer, after receiving his discharge, went to Indiana on a visit and the same autumn enlisted in an Indiana regiment, with which he served until the close of hostilities. Christopher Shatzer, the other brother, after serving with the three months' men, re-enlisted for six months, and when that period had expired he veteranized, becoming a member of Sherman's brigade. with which he served until the close of the war. The record of the family for patriotism and bravery is one of which its members have every reason to be proud.
After receiving his discharge Mr. Shatzer, our subject, returned home and for two years worked for his old employer, but in 1864 began business on his own account, and during the following thirty years gave his entire attention to contracting and building. On many sides are seen evidences of his handiwork, a large number of the substantial structures of the county stand- ing as monuments to his skill and enterprise. Since 1895 he has lived quietly upon his farm, where he is now enjoying the fruits of his many years of labor.
In 1860 occurred the marriage of Jeremiah W. Shatzer and Miss Mary A. Laser, a native of Cass county and a daughter of John Laser, one of the early settlers of Richland county. In 1862 our subject purchased forty acres of his present farm and removed his young wife to the new home and rented the land. In 1882 he purchased fifty-two and a half acres just across the road from the old place and built a residence thereon. This has since been his abode and here he has enjoyed many of the comforts and luxuries of life. Mr. and Mrs. Shatzer became the parents of fifteen children, nine of whom have reached years of maturity and are still living: Mary Catherine, the wife of Oscar Stout, a farmer of Franklin township; Della, the wife of Dennis Malott, a business man of eastern Virginia; Etta, the wife of Martin Hodge, of Cass township; John, who follows farming in Weller township; Amos, a house-builder of Shelby, Ohio; Lucy, the wife of Bert Jilger, of Cass township; Jennie, the wife of William Cline, of Hancock county; and Scott and Maud, both .at home.
For one term Mr. Shatzer served as township trustee and for several
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years he was a member of the school board, called to these positions by his fellow townsmen, who recognized his ability. In politics he is a Republican and socially he is connected with Stiegel Post, No. 208, G. A. R. He belongs to the Reformed church and has served as one of its deacons.
Through an active business career he was prominently identified with the industrial interests of his adopted county and now he is enjoying a well earned rest. He has justly won the proud American title of a self-made man and his life stands in exemplification of the possibilities that lie before young men in this land where energy and ambition are not hampered.
ALFRED BARNEY PULVER.
Alfred Barney Pulver was born November 14, 1853; near Newville, Richland county, Ohio. He is the son of Isaac and Hannah (Armstrong) Pulver. His youth was passed principally in Washington township, where he worked upon the farms in the summer and attended district schools in the winter. A number of his teachers afterward became prominent in life. Among the number are Judge McBride, of Waterloo, Indiana, and ex-Governor John P. Altgeld and wife, of Chicago.
Upon attaining his majority Mr. Pulver went to the far west, where he became a cowboy, herding cattle for a year, after which he worked in a lumber camp. Returning to Ohio, he was married, on February 7, 1878, to Miss Sarah Catharine Marks, of Monroe township. They are the par- ents of eight children, six girls and two boys, as follows: David Franklin, Mary Rosetta, Anna Elmetta, Odessa Ellen, Fanny Cecelia, Clayton Te- cumseh, Bernice Marguerite and Olive Ruth.
For ten years previous to his election as sheriff Mr. Pulver was the su- perintendent of the farms of the late Hon. John Sherman, and was one of the most trusted employes of that distinguished statesman.
In 1899 Mr. Pulver received the Republican nomination for the office of sheriff, to which position he was elected by a majority of about seven hundred, being the only Republican elected, the county going Democratic by from one to twelve thousand. Mr. Pulver is the first Republican sheriff of Richland county since Nelson Ozier, thirty-six years before.
Barney, as his friends familiarly call him, has filled his office with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. During the Dowieite troubles in Mansfield, in the summer and fall of 1900, Sheriff Pulver was placed in critical and trying positions, in each of which he acquitted himself with prudence and judgment. There were no precedents by which he could be governed. The city was passing through a state of fanatical religious excite-
a. B. Pulver
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ment that was extraordinary in its phases and conditions. There were times when the officers of the law had to act quickly, without time for considera- tion orconsultation. During that troublesome period Sheriff Pulver acted with the highest conception of his duty as a conservator of the public peace.
Mr. Pulver is five feet, eight inches in height and weighs two hundred and ten pounds, but is so symmetrical in build that he seems well pro- portioned. In physique he is a perfect specimen of manhood. He is an athlete, and in his younger days was a prize winner at shooting matches, where he won numerous turkeys.
Isaac Pulver, the father of Sheriff Pulver, was born in Ontario county, New York, in 1801, and came to Ohio in October, 1826. He was twice married. His first wife was Balinda Brown, who died July 19, 1834. There was one child by this marriage. In 1840 Isaac Pulver married Hannah Armstrong, and they became the parents of eleven children,-eight sons and three daughters. The parents are deceased.
BYRON J. ABY. !
Among the active, prominent and enterprising citizens of Mifflin town- ship is Byron J. Aby, who was born on the 29th of March, 1856, on the farm: on section 22 where he still resides. His father, Isaac Aby, was born in: Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1821, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth Aby, also natives of Lancaster county, while their parents were emigrants from Germany, who came to this country at an early day and spent the remainder of their lives in the Keystone state. In 1825 Jacob Aby came to Richland county, Ohio, and located upon the farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Mifflin township, where the family have since made their home. He had three children,-Ann, Ephraim and Isaac,-all now deceased.
Isaac Aby grew to manhood upon the home farm, and as a young man was engaged in the distillery business, in partnership with Henry Kisling. In 1850 he became one of the California gold-seekers. Taking passage on the steamer, John L. Stephens, he rounded the Horn, and for two years was engaged in mining in California, being reasonably successful in his search for the yellow metal. In 1852 he returned home, but in the spring of the following year again started for the gold fields, this time by the isthmus route. Finding the mining district overrun with prospectors he did not remain long. returning home in the fall of the same year.
With his savings he purchased eighty acres of the home farm lying south of the road, and on the 10th of January, 1854, married Miss Sarah J. Clugston. They began their domestic life upon his newly acquired farm,
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and in connection with the cultivation of his own land he farmed his father's place on the shares, the latter having reached that age when he wished to retire from active labor. This he continued until the death of his parents, when he purchased the remaining eighty acres of the heirs, and successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout life. Although he began his business career empty-handed, prosperity crowned his well directed efforts and he became one of the well-to-do and substantial citizens of his com- munity, owning three hundred and nine acres of valuable land. He was a stanch Democrat in politics, but never an office-seeker, and was highly respected and esteemed by all who knew him. He died March 3. 1899, leaving two children : Byron J., our subject ; and May E., the wife of Wesley Koogle, who resides on a portion of the Aby farm.
Mrs. Sarah J. Aby, the mother of our subject, was born on the 27th of August, 1831, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, of which her parents, John and Jane (Martin) Clugston, were also natives. Mr. Clugston's father and mother were from Scotland and Ireland, respectively, while his wife's par- ents were both from the Emerald isle. In 1847 John Clugston, with his family, moved to Ohio and settled in the village of Mifflin, better known among the old settlers at Petersburg. By trade he was a wagonmaker, at which he worked, and in conjunction conducted a hotel for many years. (This hotel is still standing.) In 1867 he removed to La Grange, Indiana, where he resided up to the time of his death, dying there at the advanced age of eighty-three years, while his wife died at the same place, when sixty-five years of age. In their family were eight children, seven of whom are still living, namely: Franklin, George A., Johnson, Sarah J., Martha, Mar- garet and Amanda.
The early education of Byron J. Aby was acquired in the district schools near his boyhood home and during his boyhood and youth he assisted his father in carrying on the farm. On the 27th of February, 1879, he was united in marriage with Miss Anna E. Keffer, a native of Mansfield and daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Kisling) Keffer. Her father, who was a well-known merchant of Mansfield, is now deceased. By this union were born four children: Floyd E., Gladys M., Vera M. and Myrtle F., all at home.
After his marriage Mr. Aby took charge of a portion of the home farm, which he cultivated for his father until 1898, when the latter deeded his present farm to him. In politics he is a Democrat, and for seven years he most acceptably served as township treasurer. Both he and his wife are prominent and influential members of the United Brethren church and have
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taken an active part in its work, he having served as a trustee and the treas- urer for many years, and also as the Sabbath-school superintendent. Fra- ternally he is one of the charter members of Ruffner Grange, No. 1433. P. of H., and for the first three years of its existence he served as the master of the same. He is also a member of Mifflin Tent, No. 306, K. O. T. M.
GEORGE H. MOWRY.
George H. Mowry, who quietly resides on his farm in Monroe township, was born on the 11th of October, 1842, in the township which is still his home, his parents being Jacob and Catherine (Crone) Mowry. He represents one of the old pioneer families of the state and is of Holland lineage. His great-grandfather was born in the land of dikes and became the founder of the family in the new world. Jacob Mowry, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and in the '40s came to Ohio in a covered wagon. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Monroe township, the property which now belongs to the family of Adam Mowry, and there he gave his attention to agricultural pursuits until called to his final rest. He voted with the Democracy and was a member of the Lutheran church. Wherever he was known he was esteemed for his genuine worth.
Jacob Mowry, the father of our subject, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and in 1820 accompanied his parents on their removal to this state. Upon the home farm he continued until his marriage to Miss Cath- erine Crone, who was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, about 1818, a daugh- ter of John and Catherine (Pentz) Crone. Her father was a blacksmith of Baltimore, Maryland, for many years, and removed thence to Hagerstown, where he lived until his emigration to Ohio. On coming to this state he set -: tled on a farm of eighty acres, two and a half miles southeast of Lucas. There he spent the remainder of his days and conducted a shop in connection with his farming operations for many years. He served as an officer in the war of 1812, and was one of the reserves at Fort Henry, near Baltimore. when that fort was fired upon by the British. He attained the advanced age of about eighty-six years. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Mowry spent about two years on a farm near Lucas and then removed to the Jesse Swan farm in Monroe township, where they remained for twelve years. In 1857 they took up their abode on the Culler farm in Mifflin township, Ash- land county, where Mr. Mowry remained until 1872. He then located on
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his farm of seventy-five acres in Vermilion township, Ashland county, having acquired that property some years previously. It is still his place of residence and is one of the most highly improved tracts of land in this section of the state. He has held various township offices, being elected on the Demo- cratic ticket. He is a member of the Lutheran church and a man of the highest respectability. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Mowry have been born nine chil- dren, of whom seven are living, namely: George H .; Samuel, who is a carpenter and contractor of Mansfield, Ohio, and has built many of the churches and most prominent buildings there ; Maria, the wife of John Wilson, a farmer of Ashland county, Ohio; John M., an agriculturist of Mifflin town- ship, Richland county; Ursula, the wife of William Kelley, a hardware mer- chant of Hayesville, Ohio; James N., who follows farming in Ashland county ; and Ellen, at home.
In taking up the personal history of George H. Mowry we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in Richland county. His boyhood days were spent in the acquirement of his education in the common schools, to the pleasures of youth and to the duties that fall to the lot of farmers' sons. At the age of twenty-two he secured employment in a sawmill and for three years followed that business in Richland, Holmes and Wayne counties. In 1867 he went to Michigan, spend- ing the summer in the pineries, where he was employed in the operation of a sawmill and also aided in building a mill. In the autumn of the same year he reurned to Richland county and was married. He then located on his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres and in pursuit of for- tune has followed farming. In 1876, however, he met with an accident which crippled him somewhat, and for sixteen years he engaged in business as an agent of the Phoenix & Hartford Fire Insurance Company in Richland and Ashland counties. He has since lived quietly upon his farm, his land being rented, and the income from the place supplies him with all the neces- saries and many of the comforts of life. For a number of years he has been writing for various publications and at present is a contributor to the Loudon- ville Democrat and to the Mansfield Shield and Banner.
In the autumn of 1877, Mr. Mowry was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Culler, a native of Ashland county, Ohio, and a daughter of Michael Culler. He and his wife have many warm friends in this community and enjoy the hospitality of the best homes in their section of the county. In politics Mr. Mowry is a Democrat and in religious belief is a Lutheran. He holds membership relations with Mifflin Lodge, No. 306, Knights of the Maccabees, and is one of the most highly esteemed residents of Richland
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county, for his course has ever been straightforward and honorable, com- mending him to the confidence, good will and regard of those with whom he has been associated.
JOSEPH FISHER.
This gentleman, who has spent his entire life in Richland county, and is to-day a leading citizen of Weller township, was born on the 19th of May, 1836, in Franklin township, a son of John and Effie ( Eversole) Fisher. The father was a native of Jefferson county, this state, born about 1799, and was a son of John Fisher, a prominent farmer of that county and a veteran of the war of 1812, who was of German descent. The mother of our sub- ject was born in New Jersey in 1803, and was a daughter of Martin Ever- sole, also a native of that state and a pioneer of Jefferson county, Ohio, where his death occurred and where our subject's paternal grandfather also died.
In the county of his nativity the father was reared and married, and shortly afterward came to Richland county, locating at Spring Mills, where he spent about a year. He then rented a farm of eighty acres from John Palmer, for five years, and at the end of that period purchased forty acres of land in Franklin township, upon which he made his home for three years. On selling that place he bought eighty acres near the Alfred Urick farm in the same township, to which he later added a twenty-acre tract, making a good farm of one hundred acres. He was a Democrat in pol- itics and a man highly esteemed by all who knew him. His death occurred on the 31st of January, 1853, and his wife departed this life in 1859. Unto them were born twelve children, but only four are now living, namely : Joseph, our subject; Samuel, a farmer of Weller township, this county ; William, a farmer of Hillsdale county, Michigan; and Mary L., the wife of Jacob Miller, of Williams county, Ohio.
Joseph Fisher was only seventeen years of age at the time of his father's death, but he and his brothers successfully carried on the home farm, and also engaged in the threshing business for four years. At the end of that time he purchased his brothers' interests in the outfit, and for thirty-three years owned and operated one or more threshing machines, meeting with good success in that undertaking. In the spring of 1865 he purchased sixty acres of land in Franklin township, upon which he made his home for fifteen years, and then sold, buying his present farm of eighty- one and a half acres on section 26, Weller township, which he has placed
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under a high state of cultivation and improved with good and substantial buildings. In 1895 he purchased another farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Blooming Grove township, which he rents.
In February, 1864, Mr. Fisher was united in marriage with Miss Susanna Boals, a daughter of David Boals, one of the early pioneers of Mifflin township, and to them have been born four children, as follows: Effie J., now the wife of John McElroy, of Toledo, Ohio; Susie E., the wife of Foster Urick, a farmer of Franklin township, this county; and Mary and Calvin M., both at home. The son is now carrying on the work of the farm.
The Democratic party finds in Mr. Fisher a stanch supporter of its principles, and he has been called upon to fill the offices of infirmary director from 1888 to 1894, and township trustee of Franklin township for three years, refusing longer to accept the position, as he cares nothing for official honors. By untiring industry and sound judgment he has won a merited success in all his undertaking's, and is in all respects worthy the high regard in which he is held by his fellow men.
JOHN A. TUCKER.
Among the successful men of Mifflin township none are more deserving of representation in this volume than John A. Tucker, whose home is on section 33, and who is to-day one of the leading farmers and stock dealers of that locality. Keen discrimination, unflagging industry and resolute purpose are numbered among his salient characteristics, and thus he has won the prosperity which is the merited reward of honest effort.
A native of Richland county, Mr. Tucker was born in Monroe township, November 17, 1865, and is a son of David Franklin and Mary (Welty) Tucker. His boyhood and youth were passed upon the home farm, and his early education was acquired in the common schools of the neighorhood. Later he attended the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, tak- ing a teacher's and commercial course, and graduating in 1886. During the winter months for the following four years he taught in the district schools of Monroe township.
On the 6th of April, 1887, Mr. Tucker wedded Miss Minnie E. Wise, a native of Clark county, Ohio, and a daughter of Lewis and Malinda (Hat- field) Wise, prominent agriculturists of that county. By this union were born four children, as follows : Lewis F., David Christian, Alfred Clark and James Harvey.
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After his marriage Mr. Tucker located upon his present farm, which was then the property of his father and which he cultivated as a renter for ten years. He then purchased the place, consisting of one hundred and thirty- seven acres, and has converted it into one of the best farms of Mifflin town- ship. Since 1893 he has been interested in buying and shipping poultry and stock to eastern markets, and in the intervening years has probably made more trips to New York city than any other man in Richland county. He has met with marked success in all his undertakings, and has become widely and favorably known. Fraternally he affiliates with the Patrons of Husbandry, and religiously is a member of the Congregational church. In politics Mr. Tucker is a Democrat, and since 1895 he has efficiently served as a justice of the peace. As mediator he has gained for himself an enviable reputation, endeavoring to settle all difficulties without recourse to law.
EDWARD B. SWITZER.
Well known in business circles, Edward B. Switzer, of Bellville, is exten- sively engaged in dealing in horses. He was born in Newville, Richland county, September 5, 1849, and belongs to a family that has been identified with the development of this section of the state from an early day. His great- grandfather, Jacob Switzer, was a native of Pennsylvania, and at an early period in the development of the Buckeye state took up his abode in Richland county, where he carried on farming. He was of German lineage. His death occurred in Hancock county, Ohio, when he was about ninety years of age. His son, Martin Switzer, the grandfather of our subject, was probably born in Pennsylvania and in early life came with his parents to Richland county. He was a shoemaker by trade and when a young man went to Illinois, but subsequently returned to Ohio, where he died at the age of eighty years.
Jacob Switzer, the father of our subject, was numbered among the native sons of Richland county. Throughout his active business career he carried on farming and also dealt in cattle and horses. He married Ella Kerrey, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and came to Richland county with her parents. His death occurred at the age of fifty-seven, but his widow still survives, at the age of seventy-two. He held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and in his political affiliations was a Republican. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Switzer were born twelve children, namely: Lodina Jane; Edward B .; Madison ; Louis K., a stock-dealer in Butler, who died at the age of forty-five years; Ella, the
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wife of Robert Kline, of Cleveland, Ohio; James M., who is associated with his brother Edward in business; Flora, the wife of James Pierce, who conducts a dry-goods store in Butler; Delevan, who also buys and sells stock and makes his home in Butler; Burdell, the wife of David Kars, of Chi- cago; and the two who died in early life.
Edward B. Switzer spent his boyhood days in the usual manner of farmer lads of that period, enjoying the sports of childhood and assisting in the labors of the home farm. He also became interested in the stock business, and at the age of twenty-eight years he abandoned the cultiva- tion of land and began dealing in horses and cattle, buying and shipping in partnership with his father until the latter's death. Edward Switzer then removed to Bellville, where he has since made his home. He is one of the most extensive horse-dealers in the state. He travels throughout the northern portion of Ohio, buying and shipping horses, of which he is an excellent judge. This enables him to make judicious purchases and to realize a good profit on his investments. He also owned two farms in the town- ship, all highly improved,-one tract of land of one hundred and fifty acres and another tract of forty-three acres. In addition he has a beautiful home in Bellville and sixteen acres of land within the corporation limits.
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