A centennial biographical history of Seneca County, Ohio, Part 56

Author:
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 864

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Mr. England was married in Fostoria to Miss Susie Hatfield, a daughter of John Hatfield, who came from Kentucky to Ohio, and was one of the pioneer settlers of Seneca county. Three children grace this union : Grover Hatfield, Lucile and Thelma. Mr. England is an advo- cate of the Democratic party, has been very prominent in its support and has served as a member of the county committee. He is now treas- urer of the central committee of Seneca county and has long put forth every effort in his power to promote his party's success. In 1897 he was elected to the city council and filled the position so capably that on the expiration of his two years' term he was re-elected. He belongs to the Junior Order of American Mechanics and to the Masonic fraternity, and in social circles as well as in politics and business life he has had many. friends who maintain for him warm personal regard in recognition of his many estimable characteristics. He is of a genial nature, and the fact that many of his friends are numbered among those who have known him from his youth to the present time is an indication that his career has ever been honorable and straightforward.

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MADISON FINCH.

Among the well-known citizens of Seneca county, Ohio, is Madison Finch, who owns a large and well cultivated farm in Bloom township and who is justly considered one of the leading farmers and stock-raisers of this locality. His birth occurred on January 11, 1825, in Yates county, New York, and he is a son of Solomon R. and Hester (Dean) Finch, natives of the same locality. In 1840 the parents decided to seek a home in the state of Ohio, where better opportunities were offered for extensive farming than in the more thickly settled portions of the old home state. To the home-keeping people of that locality and time the trip seemed long and dangerous, but it was safely accomplished by water to Sandusky City, two of the sons, Madison and Jesse, being left to drive overland from Livingston county, New York. In the course of time the family was united and comfortably settled on the farm now owned by our subject. Mr. Finch purchased here two hundred and thirty-six acres of land, which served as the family home for many years, and here the mother died, being called to her final rest at the age of fifty-six years. Soon afterward the father removed to Fulton county, Ohio, where he secured another farm, and there he spent the remainder of his life, pass- ing away at the age of sixty-five years. Both he and his wife were charter members of the Rockaway Baptist church, in which he long served as a deacon, and in that position he was succeeded by his son Madison. He was familiarly known as "Uncle Solly." Their surviv- ing children are: Madison, the subject of this biography; Jesse, of Newton, Iowa; David, who resides in Adair county, that state; Mar- garet A., now Mrs. Henderson, and a resident of Osceola, Iowa; Mary J., who married Elisha Wheeler, of Bellefontaine, Ohio; Catherine, the wife of Daniel Dunlap, of Abilene, Kansas; and Juliette, the wife of W. O. Butler, a resident of Waterloo, Indiana. The deceased members of the family are: Randolph, Esther, Caroline and Sarah.

The early years of our subject were passed on the home farms in Yates and Livingston counties, New York. After the settlement was made in Ohio he assisted in the clearing of the land, but there were many

Ann & Hinch

madison Clinch

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helpers in his father's household and at the age of seventeen years he began to assist in his neighbor's fields during the busy summer seasons. His education had not been neglected, however, and his district was glad to receive his services as a teacher during the winter seasons. He taught his first term when seventeen years of age, receiving fifteen dollars per month, while at that time his wages as a farm hand during the summer months amounted to but ten dollars a month. As he grew older and more experienced and as the neighborhood became more thickly settled and the number of his pupils increased he was able to command a larger remuneration as a teacher, being very successful in his work. For fif- teen consecutive years he was thus employed, working in the fields dur- ing the summer months and teaching school during the winters. Dur- ing the Civil war he became a member of the One Hundred and Sixty- fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was stationed at Arlington Heights, to guard the city of Washington. He is now a member of Brown Post, G. A. R., at Bloomville. Since Mr. Finch purchased the old homestead he has continued to reside thereon, with the exception of two years spent in Tiffin, and he is one of the most successful farmers and stock-raisers of Bloom township. He has a well-improved farm of one hundred and sixty-two acres, where he carries on general farming, and he has secured a competence which ranks him among the substantial men of this section.

On the 16th of October, 1861, Mr. Finch was united in marriage to Miss Anna E. Biggs, of Mexico, Ohio. Her father, Joseph Biggs, was born in Maryland, June 30, 1796. About 1828 he took up his abode in Tiffin, Ohio, where he owned and conducted the first hat store in the city. About eight years later he located on a farm near Mexico, Ohio, where his death occurred on the IIth of August, 1864. In 1820 he was united in marriage to Juliett Ann Hoy, who was born in 1799, and her death occurred in 1873. Mrs. Finch is now the only survivor of their family of four children,-one son and three daughters, and she was born in Tiffin on the 19th of August, 1829. Mr. and Mrs. Finch have had no. -children of their own, but they have reared two from childhood .- Etta

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Simpson, a niece of Mrs. Finch, and now the wife of Theobold Riffle, of Tiffin ; and Dee Smith, now of Williams county, Ohio.

In his political preference Mr. Finch is a Republican, and he has shown his deep interest in his township by serving as its trustee, and for many years was a valued and useful member of the school board. For forty years he has been a deacon in the Rockaway Baptist church and one of its leading members, and has also taken a deep interest in the work of the Sunday-school. He is one of the oldest members of the Odd Fellows' order in this locality, having been connected and in good fel- lowship with the fraternity for a period of fifty years, and during all. that time has been a member of Melmore Lodge, No. 164. He is a man universally respected in Bloom township, owing to his high moral char- acter and upright, useful and industrious life. He is a good citizen in every sense of the word, and belongs to that type which has placed the state of Ohio in the front rank of the sisterhood of states.

JOHN W. SHAW.

In the history of Republic John W. Shaw well deserves honorable mention, for with its business affairs he is closely connected and is num- bered among its leading and and progressive citizens. He was born in Cayuga county, New York, May 18, 1844, and is a son of John Shaw, who was a native of Westmoreland, England. The father there learned. the tailor's trade, and at the early age of fifteen came to America, to remain until called to his final home. He began work in New York and there met and married Miss Maria Lane, who was a representative of the Monmouth county, New Jersey, Revolutionary stock. The fan- ily resided upon a farm, on which John W. Shaw spent the greater part of his youth. In the common schools he acquired his earlier education, and when but a lad of fourteen began working as a farm hand, being thus engaged until July, 1862, when he enlisted in Company I, One Hun- dred and Eleventh New York Regiment, which was assigned to the Sec-

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ond Army Corps, under General Hancock, and September 15, 1862, was first engaged at Harper's Ferry, where, with eleven thousand other troops, it was captured by Stonewall Jackson. Young Shaw, however, was paroled soon afterward and sent to Camp Douglas, Chicago. In three months all were exchanged and the regiment was returned to Washington, participating in the defense of the capital until the spring of 1863. Soon after the battle of Chancellorsville it was assigned to General Meade's army and advanced with him into Pennsylvania, taking a conspicuous part in the greatest battle of the war, Gettysburg. Dur- ing Pickett's famous charge, on the 3d of July, Mr. Shaw was wounded by a minie ball, which shattered the bone of the right leg just below the knee. He was sent to the hospital at Fort Schuyler, where, on account of the serious condition of his injuries, he remained more than a year,. rejoining his regiment in front of Petersburg, and remaining with the army until the close of the war, and after participating in the grand re- view he received an honorable discharge, on the 16th of June, 1865. His wound continued a source of annoyance, finally reducing his nerves. to a serious condition. His general health was so shattered, with no likelihood of perfect health ever being otherwise regained, that, in 1873, he yielded to the advice of friends and surgeons and permitted an am- putation above the knee; and while never since perfectly robust, he has. enjoyed comparative immunity from continued distress.

In the fall of 1865 Mr. Shaw came to Republic and clerked in the store of H. G. Ogden. with whom he remained three years. He then established a dry-goods and general mercantile store, which he con- ducted from 1870 until 1883. He met with deserved success in his ven- ture, for his honorable methods, earnest desire to please and his reason- able prices secured a liberal patronage. Since retiring from mercantile life he has devoted his attention almost wholly to the oversight of his farm property, the outdoor life in connection tending to enhance his comfort and pleasure.

On the 5th of July, 1882, Mr. Shaw was united in marriage to Miss. Celia I. Williams, a daughter of John D. Williams, who was born in Fairfield county, Ohio. His father, Lieutenant Reuben Williams, was

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born in Frederick county, Maryland, lived for some years in Fairfield county, Ohio, and about 1824 came to Seneca county. Here in Clinton township, he entered land and developed from the wilderness the farm upon which Mrs. Callie C. Shaw now resides, just outside the city lim- its of Tiffin. He was commissioned justice of the peace in 1826 by Gov- ernor Morrow, being the first to fill that office in Clinton township. He had rendered to his country loyal military service in the war of 1812, in which he held the rank of first lieutenant, serving under command of General Crogan, and was present when Crogan received the surrender of the British at Fort Stevenson. He was then engaged in farming, but at a later date sold his farm and removed to Warsaw, Indiana, where, in connection with his son, General Reuben Williams, he edited the North- ern Indiana Journal, making his home, however, upon a farm. He there spent his remaining days, being a prominent and influential citizen of Indiana, as well as of Ohio. John D. Williams was united in mar- riage to Mrs. Elizabeth (Flaugher) Stoner. She was the daughter of Jacob Flaugher, who came from Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, about 1830, and, being a man of considerable wealth, purchased from Josiah Hedges an extensive tract of land in Tiffin, the same extending on either side of Sandusky street. He erected the large brick house still to be seen at the corner of Sandusky and Miami streets, and here, after a residence of fifty-seven years, he died at an advanced age. He was a blacksmith by trade, and did an extensive business in that line and in the carriage- making business, which he established in connection. He platted the section of the city and erected several of the fine residences which have drawn uniform admiration to that part of the town. He gave each child, of which Elizabeth was the eldest, a competence, and in his day was one of the most public-spirited citizens of Tiffin. Mr. Williams was a farmer and operated a sawmill on Rock Creek until 1869, when he, too, removed to Warsaw, Indiana, where he spent his remaining days, his death occur- ring in 1880, when he had attained the age of sixty-eight years. He died at Tiffin, where he was visiting, and, in accordance with his own request, was buried in Rock Creek cemetery, to lie among so many of his old friends. He was a man among men and one whose fearless, stain-

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less life ever sounded the notes for a better citizenship and more exalted personal living. His widow survived till November 25, 1898, dying in Tiffin, at the age of seventy-four. Hers was a singularly ennobling Christian life, her strength of mind emphasizing a naturally delicate and refined nature. His country proved his loyalty, for at the time of the Civil war he enlisted as a private in the One Hundred and First Ohio Regiment, with which he served for thirteen months, when he was hou- orably discharged on account of disability. Mrs. Shaw comes from patriotic stock, as her great-grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier, being laid to rest in the cemetery at Sugar Creek; her grandfather served faithfully in the war of 1812; and her father in the Civil war. She yields honors to none in loyalty and patriotism and ever inculcates in her children due love and reverence for home and country. She was graduated in the Tiffin schools and was herself a teacher there for eight years.

The home of our subject and wife has been blessed with four chil- dren : Eleanor Palmer, who was born July 12, 1885, is a member of the senior class of the high school ( 1902) : John WV. was born September 30, 1888; Lane Williams was born January 25, 1894; and Florence Cronise Shaw, the eldest of the children, died on the 11th of September, 1900, at the age of seventeen years. When Florence died every person, young or old, in Republic felt the loss as a personal affliction, for her amiability and many excellencies of mind and character had endeared her to all. Foremost in her school work and mature beyond her years, she gave promise that led her friends to await womanhood's years with earn- est anticipation.

"There is no death; what seems so is transition. This life of mortal breath Is but the suburbs of the life elysian, Whose portals we call death."

In his political affiliations Mr. Shaw has always been a Republican, and he is a stanch advocate of the principles of the party, believing that the best interests of the nation will be conserved through that channel. In 1875-6 he served as mayor of Republic, proving a most capable offi-

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cial and giving a practical and progressive administration. In the same decade he was candidate for county recorder, but, as Seneca county has a strong Democratic majority, he was defeated. For three years he also served as justice of the peace. In political thought and action he has always been independent, carrying out his honest views without fear or favor. In business he has achieved success through honorable effort, untiring industry and capable management, and in private life he has gained that warm personal regard which arises from true nobility of character, deference for the opinion of others, kindliness and geniality. In the home Mr. and Mrs. Shaw practice a generous and kindly hos- pitality, finding greatest pleasure in intercourse with congenial friends. Leading quiet lives, their greatest interest is centered in the future of their own family, but they ever maintain a lively interest in all that per- tains to the advancement of the community, morally, intellectually and socially, and try to exemplify through their own lives the religious faith they profess, following carefully the precepts of the golden rule.

JOHN B. FALTER.

Seneca county is characterized by a full share of the honored pio- neer elements who have done so much for the development of the county and the state and the establishment of the institutions of higher civi- lization in this fertile and well-favored section of the old Buckeye com- monwealth. The biographical sketches in this work are to a large ex- tent in recognition of those who are pioneers or members of pioneer fami- lies, and it is signally fitting that there should be perpetuated records which will defy the ravages of time and betoken to the coming genera- tions the earnest lives and devoted labors of those who have been such noble contributors to the state's prosperity and pride. The subject of this sketch is one of the venerable and honored citizens of the county, where he was for many years successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits and

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where he has maintained his home from the days of his early boyhood, -- representing a period of seventy years of consecutive residence in the county. He has now retired from active labors and is enjoying the after- math of his years of earnest endeavor, having his home in the pleasant little village of St. Stephen, but still retaining his landed estate in the county.

Mr. Falter was born in Darmstadt, the beautiful old capital of the grand duchy of Hesse, Germany, on the 26th of December, 1826, and is one of the two surviving children of Philip and Christina ( Koerner ) Falter, his sister Margaret being the widow of Peter Cassanova and now maintaining her home in Paulding county, this state. The three other children of the family are deceased. The parents of our subject were likewise natives of Darmstadt, and the father had been previously mar- ried, the four children born of the first union being all deceased. Philip Falter was a shoemaker by trade and followed this vocation in the father- land until the fall of 1831, when he emigrated with his family to Amer- ica, making the voyage on a sailing vessel and being forty-two days on the ocean. They passed the first winter in Buffalo, New York, and in the spring of 1832 set forth for their new home in the virgin forests of Seneca county, making the trip by the Great Lakes to Huron and thence coming through by wagon to Seneca county. Here Philip Falter entered claim to eighty acres of government land, one-half mile north of the present village of Carrothers,-the farm now owned by J. C. Wurm. He made a little clearing in the heavily timbered tract and there built one of the log cabins of the primitive frontier type, installed his famly in the unpretentious domicile and prepared to literally hew out a farm in the midst of the forest. He vigorously continued his efforts and had made excellent developments prior to his death, which occurred in 1848, his wife surviving until 1862. Both were folk of the most sterling char- acter and were among the most honored pioneers of this section. They were communicants of the Catholic church and their lives were in har- mony with their religious faith and trust. In politics Mr. Falter was a stalwart supporter of the Democratic party.

In the early pioneer epoch the subject of this sketch might have

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been found, as a lad, contributing his share to the arduous work of clear- ing the farm and adapting it to cultivation, while in the little log school- house, with its puncheon floors, slab benches, yawning fireplace and oiled-paper windows, he gained his initial scholastic lore. After the death of his father he assumed charge of the home farm, and prior to his marriage, in 1853, he had acquired a half interest in this property. He there continued to devote his attention to cultivating and improving his farm until 1856, when he disposed of the property and purchased a tract of eighty acres in Reed township, where he made his home for seven years, at the expiration of which he disposed of the property and pur- chased the old Steinmetz homestead of one hundred acres, in Venice township, this having been the property of his wife's father. Later he sold this and purchased the old Marshall homestead, of one hundred and forty-two acres, in Venice township, and there he maintained his home for the long period of thirty years, making the best of improvements. He is a prosperous farmer and fine stock breeder of this locality. He still owns this farm, which is in charge of his son Cornelius.

In politics Mr. Falter has always given his support to the Demo- cratic party, but he has never desired any official preferment. He and his wife are zealous members of the Catholic church.

In 1853 Mr. Falter was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Stein- metz, who has been his companion and helpmeet for nearly a half cen- tury, their golden-wedding anniversary occurring on the 15th of No- vember, 1903. Mrs. Falter was born in Alsace, France (now a German province), being the daughter of Balthasar and Elizabeth (Long) Stein- metz, who emigrated to the United States in the spring of 1833, settling in Stark county, Ohio, whence a few years later they came to Seneca county, where they passed the residue of their lives. Of the twelve chil- dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Falter only five survive, namely: Joseph J., a resident of Allen county, Ohio; W. Edward, a commercial salesman for the Plano Manufacturing Company, of Chicago, Illinois; Cornelius H., who has charge of the old home farm; Martha C., the wife of Mat- thias Wurm, of this township; and Anna E., who remains at the pa -- rental home.

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ARLINGTON DUNN.

A most exemplary citizen and an honored soldier of the Civil war is Arlington Dunn, of Hopewell township, Seneca county, Ohio. Dur- ing his army career he was always found faithful to the duties imposed upon him and won the confidence and high regard of his comrades and superior officers, while in business life and social relations he has ever manifested the same justice, integrity and reliability, and none knew him but to wish him well.

Mr. Dunn is a son of the Buckeye state and of Seneca county, his birth having occurred in Hopewell township on the 6th of February, 1845, a son of William N. and Sophia W. (Clark) Dunn. The father claimed New York as the state of his nativity, his birth having there occurred in Sullivan county. By his marriage to Sophia W. Clark he became the father of seven children, five of whom still survive, namely : Arlington, the subject of this review; Devolson, of Tiffin; Deroy C., a prominent farmer of Hopewell township; Norman, also of this town- ship; and John A., of Tiffin. Arlington Dunn, the eldest son and the subject of this review, grew to years of maturity under the paternal roof, and the educational privileges which he enjoyed in his youth were those afforded by the common schools of his neighborhood.

In 1863, when but seventeen years of age, he responded to the call of his country in her hour of need, and on the 22d of August of that year he became a member of Company D, One Hundred and Twenty- third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving in the Army of West Virginia and also in the Army of the James, and having been for some time in the commissary department, under H. L. McKee.

After General Milroy's defeat at Winchester, Virginia, soldiers of his command not taken prisoners of war assembled at Bedford, Penn- sylvania, where he was detailed in the provost marshal's office, serving in that capacity many months, under eight different provost marshals, most of the time at Martinsburg, West Virginia, and during that time was compelled to retreat northward in care of office supplies twice. In compliance with military law he was obliged to join his command at

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Opequan Creek, Virginia, and at once was detailed to serve at brigade headquarters in the quartermaster department, serving in that capacity most of the time in the Army of the James until St. Howland, of the Thirty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment, Volunteer Infantry, was re- lieved as brigade quartermaster. Mr. Dunn remained at headquarters, serving in the ordnance department until the close of the war.

Receiving his discharge at Camp Chase, Ohio, on the 28th of June, 1865, Mr. Dunn then returned to his home, where he again took up the peaceful duties of civil life. In the following fall he began work in the store of a Mr. Sullivan, in Tiffin, where for the following twelve years he was employed as a bookkeeper, remaining with the widow after the proprietor's death. In 1869 he became the owner of his present home place, walking three miles to and from his work each day for the fol- lowing three years, and it was not until 1873 that he gave his undivided attention to the operation of his farm. He is now the owner of eighty acres of rich and fertile land, all of which is under an excellent state of cultivation and annually yields abundant harvests. In 1885 he erected one of the handsomest residences in the locality, and many other sub- stantial buildings and improvements now adorn his place.

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A centennial biographical history of Seneca County, Ohio, Part 56

Author: Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 864

Author:
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 864