USA > Ohio > Seneca County > A centennial biographical history of Seneca County, Ohio > Part 19
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PROFESSOR REUBEN GOOD, A. M., Sc. D.
Among the citizens of Seneca county there is none to whom is ac- corded a greater meed of honor and affection than to the venerable gentleman whose name appears above, for his life has been consecrated to exalted aims and he has been one of the most potent factors in the religious and educational advancement of this section of the state, having been one of the founders of Heidelberg College. at Tiffin, one of the prominent educational institutions of Ohio, with whose work he was actively identified for the long term of two score years. He is a rep- resentative of a family of distinction and sterling worth, long identi- fied with the annals of American history, and his personal career has been one of signal usefulness, contributing new laurels to the honored name which he bears. Many will there be who will read with pleasure and profit this brief review of his life history.
Reuben Good was born at Rehrersburg, Berks county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 8th of July, 1818, the son of Philip A. and Elizabeth
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(Haak) Good, both of whom passed their entire lives in Pennsylvania, being of sterling German ancestry. Philip A. Good became one of the influential citizens of his native state, being a man of strong in- tellectuality and having been a successful teacher for a number of years. He served as a member of the state legislature and was also incumbent of various county offices of trust and responsibility, such as prothonotary of the orphans' court, county surveyor and clerk of the common pleas court. He was an active and devoted member of the Reformed church, as was also his wife, a woman of gracious presence and distinctive refine- ment. He died on the 4th of October, 1832, aged about forty-eight years. His father, Jacob Good, was born in one of the German-speaking can- tons of Switzerland, whence he emigrated to America about 1763, being a young man at that time, and he located in Pennsylvania, where he be- came a teacher and also followed other vocations and where he passed the residue of his life. He had received a good education in his native land and his mentality was of that high order which has been char- acteristic of the family in succeeding generations. Upon coming to America he changed the orthography of his name to the present form, the original patronymic having been Guth. In Pennsylvania he prepared himself for the ministry of the German Reformed church, but his ca- reer as a clergyman was cut short by his death, at the age of about forty- five years.
The mother of our subject was born near Reading, Berks county, Pennsylvania, and in that locality she passed the greater portion of her life, being summoned into eternal rest on the 20th of March, 1840, at the age of about sixty-three years. By her marriage to Philip A. Good she became the mother of eleven children, of whom we enter record as follows : Johanna died at the age of eighty-five years ; Will- iam A., a teacher and a clergyman of the Reformed church, was the first superintendent of schools in Berks county, Pennsyl- vania, where he practically introduced the public-school system, and there died at the age of sixty-five years, having received the degree of Master of Arts from Marshall College at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania ; Margaret died in 1896, aged eighty-four years : John P. died in infancy :
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Elizabeth passed away in 1840, aged twenty-five; Reuben is the imme- diate subject of this sketch; Jonathan J. was a soldier in the Union army in the Rebellion and was instantly killed by a shot in the forehead, at the battle of Chickamauga, in 1863, at the age of forty-three years; Jeremiah, A. M., D. D., was graduated in Marshall College and was practically the father of Heidelberg College, and is now deceased ;. Sarah is the wife of Rev. William K. Zieber, D. D., of Hanover, Penn- sylvania ; James, who likewise was a graduate of Marshall College, died at the age of twenty-four ; and Anna M., who became the wife of Dennis Holtz, of Seneca county, Ohio, died in 1890, at the age of sixty years.
The boyhood days of Reuben Good were passed in the parental home, in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he received excellent instruc- tion under private tutors and in Dr. Dawson's classical school. When he had attained the age of fourteen years he secured a clerkship in a local mercantile establishment and followed this vocation until he was nineteen, when he resumed his interrupted educational work, being then matriculated in Marshall College (now known as Franklin & Marshall College), at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1842, with the degree of A. B. He then entered the theological seminary of that institution, continuing his studies for three years and finishing the course. He was ordained in Ohio, in 1845, to the ministry by the proper judicators of the Reformed church. Locating at Greenville, Darke county, le engaged in missionary work on a circuit including that vicin- ity and the field about Dayton, while he supported himself during these early years of devoted labor by teaching. In September, 1850, Rev. Mr. Good was elected by the Ohio synod as rector or head master of the projected school at Tiffin, which preparatory school was expected to expand into Heidelberg College. Early in November, immediately upon Rector Good's arrival in Tiffin, he, in company with Major Louis Balt- zell, a prominent man of the city, personally canvassed Tiffin for the first students, whose number; on the day of opening, was but seven, rapidly increasing to eighty-five. and by the end of the scholastic year the total enrollment showed one hundred and fifty different names. Mrs. A. M. Lee, an experienced teacher, devoted all her time, as did Rector
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Reuben Good, to the school, and as did Professor J. H. Good in the chair of mathematics and in the way of an extensive correspondence with preachers and liberal laymen throughout the Ohio synod, and elsewhere in Pennsylvania and Maryland, in behalf of the school with its flattering beginning as to students and its needs as to money for endowment, build- ings, etc. The latter gentleman was strong enough to do the work of a half dozen men and he "did it most excellently well," so as to be justly named the "Father of Heidelberg College." Like this gifted brother, Rector Reuben Good's work increased, he being chosen to oc- cupy the professorial chair of natural sciences, in which capacity he rendered effective and devoted service until his retirement, in 1890, by reason of advanced age, but he is still connected with the institution as an emeritus professor, retaining a deep interest in the affairs of the college, to whose upbuilding he gave the best years of his life and to whose alumni he is endeared by ties of unequivocal respect and affection. He now enjoys that otium cum dignitate which is the just reward for his many years of able service as one of the world's workers, having a pleasant home, surrounded by twenty acres of land, within the city limits of Tiffin and being still vigorous in mind and body for one of his advanced age. He is well known to the people of this section of the state in educational and religious circles, while to him is granted the veneration due to one who has ordered his life upon a lofty plane and labored for the good of his fellow men. In politics Mr. Good has given his allegiance to the Republican party from the time of its organi- zation, and during the Rebellion he was a zealous supporter of the cause of the Union.
On the 29th of September, 1847, was solemnized the marriage of Professor Good to Miss Mary J. Winters, who was born in the city of Dayton, Ohio, and who remains his devoted and cherished companion as the shadows of their lives begin to tenderly lengthen, she being now seventy-five years of age. She has been active in church work and has proved a true helpmeet to her husband, being a woman of unassum- ing presence and gentle refinement. Her father, Rev. David Winters, D. D., was an influential clergyman and the regular pastor of the First
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Reformed church in Dayton, Ohio, for a long term of years. At the Dayton Academy Mrs. Good received her education. Professor and Mrs. Good were the parents of eleven children, of whom four died in infancy. Those who lived to mature years are as follows: Rev. Charles W., a clergyman of the Reformed church, has held several important charges and is now at the old home, caring for his parents with true filial solicitude; he was graduated at Heidelberg College, and there- after continued his studies for one year at Yale and one at Oxford, Eng- land; Edward R., likewise a graduate of Heidelberg, was a member of the firm of E. R. Good & Brother, leading publishers in Tiffin, and his death occurred September 28, 1901, at the age of forty-six years ; Mary is also a graduate of Heidelberg; William H., who received the degree of Bachelor of Arts from the same institution, is a publisher and dealer in books and photographic supplies in Tiffin; Anna received the degree of Bachelor of Science in Heidelberg and is now the wife of Pro- fessor M. E. Kleckner, who holds the chair of biology and geology in that institution ; Lily, likewise a graduate of the college, with the same degree as her sister, is the wife of Rev. Harvey S. Nicholson, pastor of the Re- formed church at Colon, Michigan; and Irving is a compositor in his brother's printing establishment.
THOMAS J. KINTZ.
One of the prominent citizens of Tiffin, Ohio, is Thomas J. Kintz, who is cashier of the Tiffin Savings Bank, and who is also financially interested in a number of successful enterprises in this locality, in ad- dition to being identified with public affairs.
Mr. Kintz is a native of Ohio, having been born at Canton, Stark county, February 14. 1844. His parents were George and Eliza ( Con- aghan) Kintz, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania. In his young manhood he came to Ohio and located in Stark county, and there for a period of about twelve years, he was engaged in the hotel
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business. He then lived for a short time in Tennessee, going from that state to Indiana, where he went into business, making his home in Terre Haute, where he died at the age of eighty years.
The mother of our subject was a daughter of Dennis Conaghan, who was born in Ireland, but who became a resident of the United States in his youth, his marriage occurring in the state of Pennsylvania, where his children were born. Mrs. Kintz became a resident of Ohio at the time of her marriage, and she died, of typhoid fever, at her home in Canton, at the early age of thirty-five years. She was a woman of many virtues, a devoted mother, and a consistent member of the Catholic church. Thomas J., of this sketch, was a babe of eighteen months when he was thus deprived of his mother's care and affection, and he was then taken to the home of his grandfather Conaghan, in Wyandot county, Ohio. Here he lived until he was three years of age, when his uncle, Joseph Conaghan, who was a prosperous farmer in Seneca township, Seneca county, took the little lad into his household and there he remained until he was twenty-one. He grew up on the farm and assisted his uncle, but he was given excellent educational ad- vantages by this kind relative. After finishing a preparatory course in the common schools of Seneca township, at the age of eighteen he en- tered Heidelberg College, at Tiffin. After one term of study Mr. Kintz engaged in teaching and by this plan was enabled to continue at the college, following this profession for five years.
In 1867 Mr. Kintz was selected for the position of deputy recorder of Seneca county, filling the position with so much efficiency for eight years that he was made recorder, upon the death of the former incum- bent. This vacancy he filled for the unexpired term of one year and two weeks, and at the expiration of that time he was honored with an election to the office and subsequently re-elected, the combined terms covering a period of upwards of seven years. During this service Mr. Kintz had not been unmindful of the interests of the Democratic party, of which he is an active member, and by which he has been frequently honored.
For the ten years succeeding his long service in the recorder's
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office, from 1880 to 1890, Mr. Kintz was engaged in the abstract and real-estate business in this city. When the project of establishing the Tiffin Savings Bank was agitated, Mr. Kintz was one of the financiers who recognized the wisdom of this move and he became one of the organizers of this enterprise. The bank began business on March 3, 1890, Mr. Kintz entering as cashier, which position he has faithfully filled ever since. The financial disturbances of the country in 1893 left no trace on the business of this institution. Its capital stock is fifty thousand dollars, of which Mr. Kintz owns eleven thousand. The deposits range from three hundred and ninety to four hundred thou- sand dollars, and it is considered one of the safest banking institutions in the state of Ohio, the careful, conservative methods of its manage- ment meeting with the approbation of the public and gaining unqualified confidence. Mr. Kintz has other large business interests in this city. He is also interested in a large amount of real estate, one valuable holding being his handsome residence on Perry street.
On February 15, 1872, Mr. Kintz was united in marriage to Miss Adalaide V. Weller, who was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, where she was educated and reared, but who later became a resident of Roches- ter, New York, and still later of Tiffin, Ohio.
Ever since his first entrance into political life Mr. Kintz has been a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, and in 1873 he was elected on its ticket a member of the city council, his personal popularity hav- ing an influence, as his residence was then in a Republican ward. Upon removing from the ward within the next year he resigned his position, but he was recalled by the council in 1898 and again in 1900, and he is still serving the city, being one of its most loyal officials. Fraternally our subject is a member of Seneca Lodge, No. 35, I. O. O. F., of Tiffin, and also of the B. P. O. E. of this city. Both he and his wife are valued members of the Methodist church, and for a time he served as a member of its building committee.
Mr. Kintz is a representative self-made man, and is a liberal, public- spirited citizen, ever living up to the demands of the day and taking an interest in all which will benefit his city.
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NEWTON U. EGBERT.
The subject of this sketch is of the third generation of his family in Seneca county, which fact gives the natural implication that the orig- inal location here was made in those early days when the section now marked by fruitful farms, thriving cities and attractive villages was yet practically unreclaimed from the primeval forests. The transitions. have been marked, and the Egbert family has contributed to the work of development and progress and has ever stood representative of ster- ling integrity of character and of definite energy and enterprise. It is assuredly fitting that mention be here made of the lives and labors of those who have wrought to goodly ends.
Newton Uriah Egbert was born in Pleasant township, Seneca county, Ohio, on the 18th of September, 1844, being the son of Jeremiah W. and Lucy A. (Rule) Egbert. The father was born in Franklin county, Ohio, on the 19th of September, 1817, and his wife was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, being the daughter of Daniel and Jane (Groscost) Rule, honored pioneers of Seneca county. Our subject is one of the nine children born of this union, and seven of the number grew to years of maturity, namely: Norman D., a farmer of Clinton township; Newton U., the immediate subect of this sketch; Dora, the wife of Clay Holtz, of Adams township; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Henry Stinchcomb and who died in Michigan, aged forty-four years; John, a farmer of Clinton township; Lillian, a young lady who resides in the same township, as does also Isaac R. Jeremiah W. Egbert was the son of Uriah and Susanna A. ( Williams) Egbert, who came from Pennsylvania to Franklin county, Ohio, and thence to Sen- eca county in 1823, taking up a tract of government land in Clinton township and there establishing their family in the primitive log house characteristic of the locality and period. This farm continued to be the family home until 1832, when they removed to Pleasant township, where Uriah Egbert entered a claim of two hundred and forty acres of government land, there developing a good farm and there living to a venerable age, as did his wife Susanna. After his marriage the father
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of our subject located on a two-acre tract in Pleasant township, where -
the two elder children were born. Soon afterward he secured eighty acres in Clinton township, and cleared the place of its heavy growth of timber, making good improvements. There he continued to reside until fifteen years prior to his death, when, at the settlement of the estate, he purchased his father's old homestead, where he was engaged - in farming until his demise, on the 18th of December, 1898, his cherished and devoted wife having preceded him into eternal rest in February, 1890. They were well known and uniformly esteemed in the com- munity, both having been zealous and consistent members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. The Egbert church and cemetery are on his farm entered by his father Uriah.
Newton U. Egbert grew up on the parental farm, assisting in its work and receiving such educational advantages as were afforded by the public school of the locality and Baldwin University, which he attended for three years. He remained at the parental home until his marriage, save for the period of his military service in the civil war, and then located on a farm of two hundred and five acres, in Adams township, developing this into one of the valuable places in this county and there continuing to make his home for the long period of twenty-six years. He then located on his present homestead place, which comprises one hundred and thirty-seven acres, and his attention is still given to farming and stock-raising. He is the owner of an estate of one hundred and thirty-seven acres in Adams township, and his farm is one of the most attractive in this locality, having a commodious residence and other excellent improvements.
In 1864 Mr. Egbert enlisted, for a term of one hundred days, as a private in Company H, One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, with which he was sent to assist in the protection of the federal capital, being honorably discharged at the expiration of his term. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and since 1868 has been a member of the Green Springs Lodge, No. 318, I. O. O. F., having passed all the chairs in the same. In politics he is a stanch Re-
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publican, but has never sought nor desired official preferment in this line.
On the 8th of November, 1874, Mr. Egbert was united in marriage to Miss Amanda H. Beard, who was born in Washington county, Mary- land, the daughter of John and Susan (Sager) Beard. She continued his devoted companion and helpmeet until her death, which occurred on the 12th of August, 1897, at the age of fifty-six years, her memory remaining as a benediction to all who knew her and had appreciation of her true and noble character. She left three children: Bessie H., who is her father's housekeeper; Mildred, the wife of John Riggle, of Clinton township; and Schuyler C., who remains at the paternal home.
DANIEL C. RULE.
It can not be other than gratifying, in view of the nomadic spirit which is growing to animate all classes of American citizens, to find a locality in which are to be found citizens of worth and prominence who have passed their entire lives in the localities where they were born, and who command the respect and esteem of those who have been familiar with their entire careers. In the older settled sections of the far east we find instances where property has been held from genera- tion to generation by one family, and where the old homesteads signify something more than mere names, but in the western and middle states this condition has not been so pronounced. In Seneca county, Ohio, however, as the pages of this work clearly prove, are to be found many representatives of families who here initiated the work of reclaiming the virgin wilderness and who here made for themselves homes which their children and grandchildren are glad to retain as homes. One of the scions of pioneer stock in Adams township is Mr. Rule, of whose career we are pleased to enter a brief review.
Daniel C. Rule was born in Adams township, this county, on the Ioth of December, 1838, being the son of Daniel and Jane (Groscost)
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Rule, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania. They became the par- ents of nine children, of whom only two survive,-Jane, the widow cf D. W. Dudrow, of this county; and Daniel C., to whom this sketch is devoted. Those deceased are Lucy A., Elizabeth, Samuel, Albert, Byron, Matilda and Isaac P. The father of our subject came from Pennsyl- vania to Seneca county in the year 1832, locating in Scipio township, where he entered claim to a tract of government land, whose reclama- tion he instituted, and there he remained for a period of five years, at the expiration of which he removed to Adams township, where he pur- chased two hundred and sixty-three acres of wild land. which he de- veloped into a valuable and productive farm and which continued to be his home until his death, which occurred in 1887, at the venerable age of eighty-six years, his wife having passed away in 1879, aged sev- enty-seven.
Daniel C. Rule was born and reared in Adams township, his educa- tional advantages being such as were afforded in the common schools of the place and period, while he supplemented this discipline by a course of study in the academy then maintained in the village of Republic. When eighteen years of age he put his scholastic abilities to practical test, and was a successful teacher for seven terms, teaching during the winter months and assisting in the work of the homestead farm in the summer seasons. He was married in 1862, and thereupon located on his present farm, which he reclaimed and which he has placed under a high state of cultivation, having a finely improved place of one hun- dred and sixty acres and carrying on diversified farming, his efforts hav- ing been attended with success, implying the reward justly due for his assiduous labors and application in the past. He also gives attention to the raising of stock, and for many years was engaged in the buying and shipping of the same. In politics his support is given unreservedly to the Republican party, and in 1876 he was elected assessor of his township, giving an effective and acceptable administration. He was the candidate of his party for representative in the state legislature in 1877.
On the 30th of March, 1862, Mr. Rule was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Church, who was born in Adams township. the daughter
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of Earl and Calena Church. Mr. and Mrs. Rule have three children : Annie, the wife of Martin Brunthaven, of Sandusky county ; Ralph R., a representative young member of the bar of Norwalk, Ohio; and Daniel C., Jr., who was a student at Adelbert and who is a graduate of the Northwestern Ohio Normal School, at Ada, being a civil engineer by profession.
JOHN NEIKIRK.
One of the native sons of Seneca county who rendered to the nation the valiant service of a loyal son of the republic at the time of the war of the Rebellion and who is now one of the honored citizens and suc- cessful farmers of Adams township, is Mr. Neikirk, and it is our privilege to here incorporate a brief review of his life, according him due consideration as a representative of one of the pioneer families of this section of the state.
Mr. Neikirk was born on the farm where he now maintains his home, the date of his nativity being December 23, 1834. His father, Joseph Neikirk, was born in Washington county. Indiana, the son of Michael Neikirk, who came thence to Seneca county with his family in the early pioneer epoch. Joseph Neikirk was married in Seneca county, Barbara Noel becoming his wife, and to them seven children were born : Mary, the widow of Dorsey Hardsock, of Adams township; William, who lost his life while serving in the Civil war; David, who also was a soldier in the Union army and who is now deceased : John. the subject of this review; and Samuel, Elizabeth and Barbara, all of whom are deceased. The father of our subject passed away in 1887, at the venerable age of eighty-two years, and the death of his devoted and cherished wife occurred in 1873, at the age of sixty-four. They located on the farm now owned by our subject shortly after their mar- riage, and here continued to reside until death terminated their mortal careers. The father was a blacksmith by trade, and followed this voca- tion in his earlier years in connection with his farming. and his life was
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