USA > Ohio > Seneca County > A centennial biographical history of Seneca County, Ohio > Part 49
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
558
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
of the most valuable farms of its size in the county. In 1896 he erected one of the most magnificent farm residences in Seneca county, which is supplied with all the modern conveniences known to the city home and is complete in all its appointments.
Two months after locating upon his present homestead Mr. Rosen- berger was united in marriage to Miss Flora I. Michaels, a daughter of George Michaels, now a resident of Illinois. Two children have been born unto this union,-Ralph R. and Ward E. The Republican party receives Mr. Rosenberger's support and co-operation, and his religious preference is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Protestant church. He gives his support to all moral, educational, social or material interests which he believes will benefit the community, and as a man of sterling worth he justly merits the high regard in which he is held.
H. G. BLAINE, M. D.
Dr. H. G. Blaine is one of the well-known residents of Seneca county. He has gained distinction in the line of his chosen calling, in which he has ever been an earnest and discriminating student, and he holds a position of due relative precedence among the medical practitioners of this section of the Buckeye state.
A native of Wheeling, West Virginia, his birth occurred on the 25th of November, 1858, a son of William I. and Nancy V. (Voshal) Blaine. His father's nativity was in the Keystone state, his birth oc- curring in Carlisle, in 1827; and while yet a boy he accompanied his parents on their removal to Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, where he was reared to manhood and learned the printer's trade. On his father's side he was descended from good old English ancestry, while his maternal ancestors were of Welsh descent. By his marriage to Nancy Voshal he became the father of six children, five now living,-George H., who is employed by the Colonial Steel Company in South Monaca, Pennsylvania; Ella, the wife of A. J. Whitney, of Bettsville, Ohio;
559
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
Lillie, the wife of George Sherman, of Attica, this state; Laura, the wife of Bentley McLean, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; and H. G., the subject of this sketch.
Owing to misfortunes which befel his parents, H. G. Blaine was left to the cold mercies of the world at the age of three years. His parents had early removed to the south and the ravages of war had thus devas- tated the home of his childhood. Cast upon the charities of distant relatives, he was brought to this state and finally found shelter in the home of William F. Leonard, a farmer of Seneca county, who reared him to years of maturity and gave him the advantages of the common schools. Later he attended the normal school of Republic and Fos- toria. He has depended entirely upon his own efforts since the early age of sixteen years, when he began teaching in the schools of the neighbor- hood, following that occupation during the winter season, while in the summer months he was employed at farm labor, thus continuing until his twentieth year. Two years previous to this time, however, when eighteen years of age, he determined to adopt the medical profession as a life work, and accordingly soon afterward entered the office of Dr. James M. Parker, of Attica, Ohio. In the fall of 1880 he matriculated in the Columbus Medical College, at Columbus, Ohio, where he attended his first course of lectures. In the spring of 1882 he was graduated at the Indiana Eclectic Medical College, of Indianapolis, Indiana, also re- ceiving a second diploma from the Toledo Medical College in 1886. A month after his graduation he opened an office for the practice of his profession in the village of Reedtown, a small hamlet in Seneca county, but after one year's residence there, in February, 1883, he formed a part- nership with Dr. Alfred Force, at Attica, Dr. Blaine's present location, this partnership relation continuing until July, 1884, when it was dis- solved by mutual consent.
With his great love for the work in which he was engaged and his indomitable energy, Dr. Blaine did not feel that his practice then called forth his entire efforts, and he therefore set to work to establish a medi- cal journal, in which he would be able to set forth his own ideas relating to medical science and at the same time open an avenue through which
560
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
he might become more familiar with the opinions of the profession at large. Accordingly, on the Ist of October, 1884, he issued the first number of the Medical Compend, a practical monthly epitome of medi- cine and surgery and the allied sciences, and this he published in Attica until April, 1889, when his private office, the office of the Medical Com- pend and the printing office, together with their contents, were destroyed by fire. In the following June Dr. Jonathan Priest, of Toledo, Ohio, became associated with our subject in the publication of the Medical Compend, and the office of the journal was moved to that city, of which Dr. Blaine became a resident in 1892. Upon the death of Dr. Priest Dr. H. S. Havighorst was made a partner, and the name of the journal was changed to the Toledo Medical Compend, thus continuing until 1894, when the journal was sold, and in 1896 our subject returned to Attica. In 1885 he was appointed to the chair of diseases of women and children in the Toledo Medical College, and he was afterward chosen to fill the chair of diseases of the nervous system in the same institution, which position he held until May, 1892, when he resigned from the faculty. He is the author of the work entitled "The Physician : His Re- lation to the Law." The principal object of this book is to give in a condensed form the relation of the physician to the special laws which control him and of which he, as a rule; has a very vague and imperfect idea, together with a more extended knowledge of the legal rules which govern the collection of his fees. The ethical code of the three schools of medicine are also given without comment, and other chapters contain the statutory enactments in the various states regulating the practice of medicine.
In 1877 Dr. Blaine was united in marriage to Lucy E. Shanks, a daughter of James Shanks, of Chicago Junction, Ohio, and they had four sons: Ernest G. and Earl H., twins, the latter now deceased ; Harry S., a mail clerk of Toledo, Ohio; and William G., a student in the high school of Toledo. On the 18th of June, 1898, the Doctor was united in marriage to Miss Maude Endslow, a native of Crawford county, Ohio, and a daughter of Thomas B. Endslow, the well-known miller of New Washington, Ohio. The only child of this marriage is
561
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
now deceased. The Democracy receives Dr. Blaine's hearty support and co-operation, and he is now a member of the Democratic county execu- tive committee; was elected mayor of Attica, Ohio, in April, 1902, while for the past three years he has also been the health officer. In 1899 he and his son, E. G., crected the Attica Telephone Exchange and the toll lines to Bellevue, Monroeville, Chicago Junction and Scipio, but in June, 1901, he sold his interest in that corporation. In the interests of his profession he is connected with the Northwestern Ohio Medical Associa- tion and the Ohio Medical Society, and in his social relations he is a member of Attica Lodge, No. 302, K. of P., of which he is a past chancellor ; is deputy state counselor of Attica Council, No. 317, J. O. U. A. M., and is examining physician and consul of Attica Camp, No. 9216, Modern Woodmen of America.
ANDREW WERLEY.
No better illustration of the characteristic energy and enterprise of the typical German-American citizen can be found than that afforded by the career of this well-known citizen of Seneca county. He was born in Braunlingen, Baden, Germany, November 22, 1825, and is a son of Francis J. and Agatha (Rapenegger) Werley, also natives of Baden, Germany, where they died in 1848. The father was a clock-maker, and followed that occupation as a means of livelihood up to the time of his death. Of the nine children born unto this worthy couple only three are now living, namely: Jane, the wife of Casper Richter, of Colum- bus, Ohio; Andrew, the subject of this review ; and Teresa, the wife of Jacob Schiffer, of New Riegel, Ohio.
Andrew Werley was reared and educated in the land of his nativity, and in 1846, when a young man, he left the home of his childhood and youth for the United States. Traveling through France from Strasburg to Havre de Grace, he there embarked on the French steamer "Globe," and arrived in the harbor of New York on the Ist of June, 1846, after
562
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
an ocean voyage of forty-four days. After his arrival in this country he made his way by canal to Delaware county, Ohio, arriving in New- ark on the 29th of June of the same year, and on the following Fourth of July joined his brother John in Delaware. He there made his home for the following two years, during which time he was engaged in sell- ing clocks through that and adjoining counties. From 1848 until 1856 he worked in the Ohio Tool Company's plant in Columbus, and in that year he located in New Riegel. His brother John was then engaged in the mercantile business in that village, and for two years our subject remained in his employ, going thence to Thompson township, where he erected and conducted a store at Frank's Corner for four years. He then returned to New Riegel and at a sheriff's sale purchased the store formerly owned by his brother John, the latter having sold the same about two years prior to that time. From that time until 1878 Mr. Werley was there engaged in a general mercantile business, but on the expiration of that period he sold his stock of goods to his son-in-law, Charles H. Klein, and in 1880 built an elevator and engaged in the grain business. After devoting his attention to that occupation for eight years he sold his interests and retired from the active duties of a business life.
While residing in Columbus, Ohio, on the 27th of August, 1851, Mr. Werley was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Smith, a native also of Baden, Germany, and a daughter of Philip and Anna Smith. The family came to Seneca county, Ohio, in 1835 purchasing land in Seneca township, and there they spent the remainder of their lives. Of the twelve children born unto our subject and wife only nine are now living, namely : Stephen A., a resident of Fort Smith, Arkansas : Rosa, the wife of C. H. Klein, of Auglaize county, Ohio; Minnie M., who makes her home in Chicago, Illinois; Clotilda and Sophia T., at home; Victor M., of Carey, Ohio; Loretta E., the widow of Albert E. Friend, of Cleveland, Ohio; Isabelle M., the wife of George Fowler, of Du- buque, Iowa; and Seraphin C., a bookkeeper, of Marysville, California. The children all received excellent educational advantages, and they
.
563
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
speak and write both the German and English languages. Mrs. Werley died November 1, 1889, aged sixty-three years.
Mr. Werley gives his political support to the Democracy, and for nineteen years he held the office of township treasurer. When the New Riegel post-office was established he became its first postmaster, and when the town was incorporated he became its first mayor, in which he is the present incumbent, this being his sixth term in that important. position. For a period of twenty-four years he has served as a school. director, and for many years he has served as a delegate to the county, state, judicial and senatorial conventions of his party. The family are members of St. Boniface's Catholic church.
CHARLES E. FEASEL.
In the history of the agricultural interests of Seneca county Charles E. Feasel well deserves prominent mention, being one of the leading and enterprising farmers of Liberty township. He was born in Jackson township on the 24th of June, 1863, and is a son of John and Rebecca (Stahl) Feasel, who were the parents of seven children, as follows: Clara, deceased; Charles E .; William, who resides in Liberty township: Ida E., who died in childhood ; John L., a resident of Jackson township; Esther E., the wife of George Aumaugher, of Jackson township; and Irvin, who resides in Jackson township. Throughout his active business career the father of this family was connected with agricultural pursuits, becoming a well-known and enterprising farmer. He died in 1886, at the age of fifty-eight years, and his wife, surviving him eleven years, passed away in 1897, also at the age of fifty-eight years.
Charles E. Feasel is indebted to the public-school system of his native county for the educational privileges which he enjoyed. He worked on the home farm through the months of summer, attending school during the winter season, and with the labors of field and meadow he early became familiar. At length he left the home place in order to engage in business on his own account and chose as his vocation the
564
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
work to which he had been reared. He is to-day the owner of a tract of rich and arable land of one hundred and thirty-five acres and carries on both general farming and stock-raising. His fields give promise of golden harvests and in his pastures and feed lands can be seen good grades of cattle, hogs and sheep, which find a ready sale on the market and add materially to his annual income. He has good improvements upon his place and a glance will indicate to the passer-by that the owner is a progressive agriculturist.
In the year 1885 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Feasel and Miss Mary Millhine, of Jackson township, and a daughter of John and Sarah Millhine. Seven children have been born of their union, namely : Irvin E., Harvey H., Cora E., Alberta B., May Ethel, Belvah M. and Gladys A. The parents hold membership in the United Brethren church, taking a very active part in its work and contributing materially to its support.
Mr. Feasel has been honored with several offices in the church; has been superintendent of the Sunday-school, class-leader, trustee, and is now secretary of the board of trustees. He has also filled civic posi- tions, having for three years capably served as the township treasurer. He has likewise been a member of the school board and the cause of education has found in him a warm friend, who does all in his power for its advancement. His political faith is that of the Republican party, and, as every true American citizen should do, he keeps well informed on the issues of the day and does what he can to secure the adoption of the principles in which he believes. In manner he is frank and genial, and his many good qualities are recognized by friends who have known and respected him from boyhood.
J. FRANK TITUS, M. D.
Seneca county, Ohio, has its full quota of skilled physicians and surgeons, and among the number may be noted the subject of this re- view, Dr. J. Frank Titus. He was born in Jackson township, this
565
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
county, on the 20th of January, 1870, a son of Giles J. and Sarah E. (White) Titus. The father also claimed the Buckeye state as the place of his nativity, his birth having occurred in Cleveland in 1838, and there he grew to mature years and learned the trade of plasterer. When a young man he removed to Iowa, and there remained until the break- ing out of the Civil war, when he went to Quincy, Illinois, there offer- ing his services to the Union cause by becoming a member of the Eighty- fourth Illinois Infantry. He remained a brave and valiant soldier until the terrible struggle was past, and during his services he was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga. After his honorable discharge he came to Seneca county, Ohio, establishing a turning factory in the village of Kansas, where he was engaged in the manufacture of wooden bowls. About 1878, however, he removed his plant to Woodville, Sandusky county, and from 1883 until 1890 was engaged in the same business at Green Spring, Ohio. In the latter year he became a resident of Fos- toria, where he has since been living a retired life, enjoying the fruits of former toil. He gives a stanch and unwavering support to the Re- publican party, and religiously is a member of the United Brethren church. While a resident of Iowa he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah E. White, and they became the parents of eight children, four now living: Roger, a commercial traveler of Cleveland, Ohio; Lillian, the wife of George W. Mallott, of Rocky Ford, Colorado; and Ger- trude, the wife of E. J. Earnest, of Jackson, Michigan; and J. Frank, the subject of this review.
J. Frank Titus began the active battle of life for himself when but a boy of seventeen years, as an employe in a general store at Cummings, Wood county, Ohio, there remaining for four years. On the expiration of that period he entered the medical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in which institution he was graduated in the homeopathic department in the spring of 1896. In the fall of that year he came to Attica and opened an office for the practice of his chosen profession. Although one of the more recent representatives of the profession, he has already gained distinction in the line of his chosen calling, has ever been an earnest and discriminating student, and all who.
566
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
know him have the highest admiration for his many excellent character- istics.
The marriage of Dr. Titus was celebrated June 5, 1900, when Miss Bertha L. Rhineberg became his wife. She is a native of Green Spring, Seneca county, and a daughter of T. B. Rhineberg, now a resident of Reed township. The Doctor is a member of Attica Lodge, I. O. O. F., in which he is now serving as vice grand, and is a member of Attica Lodge, No. 302, K. of P., in which he has held all the offices and at the present time is master at arms. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity.
JACOB S. ARMSTRONG.
Among the native sons of Scipio township who still reside within its borders is Jacob S. Armstrong, whose birth here occurred July 28, 1834, his parents being George and Mary A. (Swickard) Armstrong. The father was a native of Jefferson county, Ohio, and in 1834 arrived in Seneca county, at which time he took up his abode upon the farm in Scipio township, where our subject was born. His first home was a little log cabin, in which he lived in true pioneer style, bravely meeting all the hardships and trials which fall to the lot of the pioneer. Only a few acres of the land had been cleared, but with characteristic energy he be- gan the further development of the farm, which he continued until ill health caused him to return to Jefferson county. There he remained through the succeeding decade and then returned to Scipio township, again locating upon the old homestead. It was his place of residence until 1856, when he went to Reed township, where for twenty-eight years he carried on agricultural pursuits, his life's labors being ended in death in 1884. He was then seventy-three years of age, his birth having occurred in 1811. His wife passed away March 9, 1883. In his business undertakings Mr. Armstrong met with excellent success. He acquired nine hundred acres of land in Reed and Scipio townships and well did he earn the proud American title of a self-made man. His prosperity was
567
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
the outcome of earnest and diligent effort, guided by sound judgment. His fellow townsmen recognized his worth and ability and frequently called him to serve in township offices, and the Methodist Episcopal church found in him a valued and worthy member. In the family were four children, namely : Jacob S., of this review; Samantha, the wife of Alpheus Wall; John G., a resident of Reed township; and Tabitha, the wife of George Wall, who served as a soldier in the One Hundred and Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the civil war.
In taking up the personal history of Jacob S. Armstrong, we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in Seneca county as a representative farmer. His preliminary educa- tion, acquired in the common schools, was supplemented by study in the Republic Academy, and his business training was received upon the home farm, where he early became familiar with the work of the fields. On the 5th of March, 1861, he gained a companion and helpmate for the journey of life in the person of Miss Sarah Ann Tompkins, who was born in Thompson township, Seneca county, and is a daughter of Isaac and Christina ( Scothorn) Tompkins. Her mother was the first white child in Reed township, the maternal grandparents of Mrs. Armstrong having located there in 1824, when she was three years old. Mrs. Tomp- kins is still living with Mrs. Armstrong, and has reached the advanced age of eighty-one years. Her husband came to Seneca county from New York about 1833 and here met and married Miss Scothorn. The mar- riage of our subject and his wife has been blessed with one child, Lillian, the wife of Daniel Benfer. They reside with her parents and have four children,-Wade A., Glee S., Claude E. and Darl J. The family home is a fine brick residence which was erected by Mr. Armstrong and is one of the largest houses in Seneca county. It is tastefully furnished and is surrounded by a beautiful and well kept lawn. Many excellent im- provements have been made upon the farm, which comprises two hun- dred and eighty acres of rich land. In addition to the cultivation of the cereals best adapted to the climate, Mr. Armstrong is engaged in stock- raising, and both branches of his business are remunerative.
In politics his views are in harmony with socialistic ideas, as ex-
568
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
pressed in Populistic platforms. His wife is a member of the Baptist church and he belongs to the Masonc fraternity, with which he has been identified for more than thirty years. He is also a member of the Grange and is widely known in his native county, where his life has been so honorably passed that his record is well worthy of emulation. There have been no exciting chapters in his history, but his record is that of a man who has ever been true to the duties of citizenship, of friendship and of the home.
DAVID W. BROWN.
From his boyhood the subject of this sketch has been a resident of Seneca county ; and that he is a representative of one of its pioneer fam- ilies is evident when we revert to the fact that he has now attained to the age of nearly four-score years. His life has been one of signal useful- ness and honor, and his memory links the early pioneer epoch, with its primitive surroundings and equipments, inseparably with this latter era of prosperity and opulent achievement and conditions which have marked the advent of the glorious twentieth century. As a representative farmer of the county and one of its pioneer citizens, it is incumbent that we enter this review of the life history of Mr. Brown.
David W. Brown is a native of the state of Maryland, having been born in Frederick county, on the 9th of December, 1826, the son of George and Julia Ann (Scott) Brown, who became the parents of seven children, namely: Catherine, who married William W. Null and died in 1866; David W., of this sketch; Christian, who died in 1879, from disability contracted in the war; Sarah, the wife of Aaron C. Reese, of Linden, Ohio; Thomas, who died in childhood; Leetha, the wife of Jacob Ash, of Kansas, Ohio; and Wesley B., who enlisted in the Civil war when only sixteen years old and is now a resident of Williams county. Thomas Brown, the grandfather of our subject, was of English ancestry, a farmer in Frederick county, Maryland, married Susan Harmon, of . German descent, and died in 1828, at the age of fifty-five years. His
David W Brown
Susanna Brown
مجم
1
George Brown
569
CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY.
wife died in 1831, at the age of fifty-six years. Their children were John, who died at the age of twenty-one years; Thomas, who was a soldier in the war of 1812, fought in the engagements at Bladensburg and Baltimore, and in 1836 settled in Miami county, Ohio; William, who died while a young man, at Greencastle, Pennsylvania; and Chris- tian, who came to Seneca county, Ohio, with his brother George in 1833, married Susan Shaull, a daughter of John B. Shaull, who located. on the present homestead of David W. Brown about 1822 or 1823 ;. Christian died in 1842.
George Brown, the father of our subject, came with his family from Maryland with a team and wagon, taking up his abode in Tiffin, then a. mere hamlet in the midst of a wild forest, where settlers had inaugurated the work of reclamation not many years previously. Here he followed his trade, that of cooper, for a short time, and in 1835 removed to Eden township, where he leased land and engaged in farming. In 1839 he removed to Liberty township, where he purchased a tract of eighty acres, which served as the nucleus of his well-improved estate of one hundred and sixty acres, since he had purchased additional land and had im- proved the property prior to his death, at the venerable age of eighty- four years, the last twenty-seven years of his life having been passed at the home of his son, the subject of this review. He was a man of ster- ling character and held the unqualified esteem of the people of the com- munity. He served as a justice of the peace for a number of years and was also the incumbent of other local offices. His religious faith was. that of the Lutheran church, of which his wife was likewise a member .. She passed away at the age of forty-two years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.