A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2, Part 16

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago : A.W. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1248

USA > Ohio > Allen County > A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2 > Part 16
USA > Ohio > Van Wert County > A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2 > Part 16

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ANIEL FORTNEY, a prominent citizen of Van Wert city, a pioneer of Van Wert county, and a success- ful farmer, was born in Union coun- ty, Pa., September 1, 1817. He is a son of Samuel Fortney, who was born in New Jersey, in 1798, and who, when he was ten years old. moved with his father's family to Beaver township, Union county, Pa., where lived about twelve years. His education was lim- ited to the ordinary branches of a cominon- school training, including nothing of the higher branches; but notwitlistanding this he was naturally bright and intelligent, and quick to pick up the essential points of any occupation or trade with which he came in contact. However, he appeared to have a stronger pre- dilection for the carpenter trade than for any other, and acquired this trade at an early age. His natural mechanical ability enabled him to readily master it, and in it he was very suc- cessful. In Union county, Pa., he was mir- ried to Miss Catherine Mowery, a native of the state, and with his family he removed in 1821 to Wayne county, Ohio. Here he bought a farm upon which he lived the rest of his life. following farming as well as his regular trade. which he found of great use to him in the then new country. Politically he was a den- ocrat, though official honors had no attraction

DANIEL FORTNEY.

MRS. CHRISTINA FORTNEY.

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for him. Both he and his wife were members of the German Presbyterian church, and they both lived true to their religious convictions of right and duty. They were a noble pioneer couple, industrious, economical and courage- ous, seeming to court rather than to shun pio- neer hardships and dangers. They reared their children according to the Bible precept, in the way that they should go, so that when they became old they would not depart there- from. Of these children there were eleven, named as follows: Daniel, Adam, Margaret, Mary, Samuel, Elizabeth, Catherine, Sarah, George, Leah and Delilah. Daniel is the only one yet living. The mother of these children died in Adams county, Ind., in 1854, and the father died in Wooster, Ohio, in 1866.

Daniel Fortney, the subject of this sketch, is now in his seventy-ninth year. He was reared on his father's farm, and hence farni life came to him naturally in after years. How- ever, like his father, he was very handy with all kinds of tools, and could do anything well that came to his hand to do. When his father removed his family to Ohio Daniel was four years old, and he remained at home assisting on the farm for the next nineteen years. He then, in 1840, began life for himself, marrying, on June 25, of that year, Miss Christina Snow- barger. After his marriage he remained in Wayne county four years, and then removed to Van Wert county, reaching here in 1844. On the journey from Wayne to Van Wert he removed all his household and other goods in a wagon, which was drawn by one team of horses, and the actual worth of which was not more than $300. Arriving in Van Wert county, he purchased eighty acres of timbered land in Liberty township, and settled down upon it with the view of making it his home for life, for without a fixed abode owned by himself a man is without a home. This timbered land he immediately began to clear, and after many

years of clearing, draining, improving and building upon, he made it one of the best farms in Van Wert county. His ambition, however, was not satisfied with the possession of eighty acres of land, and hence at three different times he purchased forty acres inore, each forty, like the first eighty covered with timber. There three forty-acre tracts, added to his original eighty, made the farm consist of 200 acres of excellent land, for which Van Wert and the surrounding counties are noted. This 200-acre farm Mr. Fortney still owns. Neither was he satisfied with the ownership of farm lands, and hence he purchased and now owns three separate and valuable properties in the city of Van Wert, and one similar property in Ohio City, about six miles south of Van Wert. All of this property, which is at the present time very valuable, Mr. Fortney has acquired by his own efforts, industry and careful man- agement. Some years since Mr. Fortney thinking he had done his share of labor re- tired from the farm to one of his pieces of property in Van Wert, where he now resides in comparative ease and comfort, free from all cares and anxieties, for with his own hands he has won a competency for his later years. Polit- ically he is a democrat and is a man of liberality in his views and opinions. He is also chari- tably disposed, always ready to help the poor and needy, where the poor and needy are worthy of assistance, which in a certain sense is not always the case. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, prompt in its support and faithful in the discharge of their religious duties. Mr. and Mrs. Fortney are the parents of five chil- dren, as follows: Mary Jane, born September 20, 1843. married John Burton, and died in 1864; Melissa, married Coleman King and lives in Mercer county; Lucinda, died April 1, 1857: Lacy A., married Milton B. Evers, May 9. 1886, and is living in Van Wert county, and

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Emma married Newton Putnam, and is living on the homestead farm in Van Wert county.

Christina Snowbarger, wife of Mr. Fortney, was born May 15, 1824. Her father, David Snowbarger, was born in Pennsylvania, and at an early age learned the trade of weaver, at which he worked during his entire life. In early manhood he removed to Wayne county, and there lived until his death, which occurred in 1844. He was a democrat and a meinber of the Dunkard church. He married Rachel Horn of Pennsylvania, who was a member of the same church as himself, and died in 1861, in Steuben county, Ind. They were the par- ents of eight children, as follows: Samuel, Jacob, David, Elias, Christian, Elizabeth, Mary and Susan. Four of these children are dead, viz: Samuel, Jacob, Elizabeth and Mary.

Christina Snowbarger was born in Pennsyl- vania, and resided with her parents until her marriage to Mr. Fortney, since which time she has resided in Van Wert county. She is a most excellent lady, kind hearted and sympa- thetic, and of a most lovable disposition. She is unfortunately afflicted with rheumatism, which keeps her in retirement, but she bears her sufferings with patience and resignation, and it is possible that her naturally sweet and patient disposition shines all the more brightly because of her affliction, on the principle that the fragrance of the crushed rose is more powerful and penetrating than when the flower is still flourishing on its parent stem. Mr. Fortney's entire family is highly respected by all the citizens of Van Wert, and by all their large circle of acquaintances and friends.

J OHN HEFFELFINGER, a highly re- spectable resident of Jackson township, Van Wert county, Ohio, and an ex- soldier of the late Civil war, is of Penn- sylvania-Dutch descent and stands at the head

of a most respectable family in the township mentioned.

Philip Heffelfinger, grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch, was a farmer of Pennsyl- vania and of his children are remembered the names of the following: Jacob, Benjamin, Michael and Martin; of these, Martin, the father of our subject, was born on a farm near Pittsburg, Pa., and was taught the trade of a carpenter. He was married to Mary Boner, and soon afterward came to Ohio and located in the town of Iberia, in Morrow county, where he passed his remaining years. His children were twelve in number, and were named in order of birth as follows: Leitia, Margaret. Sarah, Matilda, Martin, Samuel, James, John, Hibberd, Elizabeth, Annie and Candace-all of whom were born at Iberia, except Leitia. who was born in Pennsylvania. He died at the age of seventy years. a member of the Methodist church, in which he was a class leader, and of which his devoted wife was also a leading member. In politics he was a dem- ocrat, but had five sons in the Civil war- Samuel, Martin, James, John and Hibberd- all in Ohio infantry regiments excepting Martin, who served in an Indiana regiment. These brothers all served fully three years, and James went all through the war-making a splendid record for one family.

John Heffelfinger, the especial subject of this biography, was born in the town of Iberia. Morrow county, Ohio, March 11, 1841. He was educated in a pioneer school, learned farm- ing, and when about twenty-one years of age. enlisted, at Iberia, in company I, Eighty- seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, to serve three months, and was enrolled at Camp Delaware. Ohio, October 3, 1862. He took part in the battle at Harper's Ferry, was taken prisoner, held ten days and paroled. On his return home he entered, at Iberia, company K, One Hundred and Seventy-fourth Ohio volunteer

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infantry, September 10, 1864, to serve .one year, and was honorably discharged June 28, 1865, at Charlotte, N. C., having served until the close of the war. His severest experience was at Nashville, Murfreesboro, and in a hand- to-hand fight near Tullahoma, Tenn., and at Kingston, N. C., and of course took part in all the battles and skirmishes in which his regi- ment was engaged. At Murfreesboro, in the winter of 1864, he was badly frozen while on duty, was taken in an ambulance to the bos- pital, was confined two weeks, and came out a confirmed rheumatic, having been laid up thirteen months at a time since his return home, and still being a sufferer from this disorder.

The marriage of Mr. Heffelfinger took place in Morrow county, August 31, 1867, to Miss Margaret A. Derr, who was born in Morrow county August 9, 1850, a daughter of George and Rebecca (Stein) Derr, natives of Pennsyl- vania and the parents of seven children, viz: Sarah, Susannah, John, William, Clinton, Mary and Margaret A. George Derr was of Scotch descent, early came to Morrow county, Ohio, for a number of years kept a hotel, and died at about seventy-two years of age. He gave all his sons to the salvation of the Union -John, William, and Clinton-of whom William served in the Ohio infantry, and Clinton in the Missouri infantry.

After his marriage, Mr. Heffelfinger resided in Morrow county until 1868, when he came to Van Wert county and settled on forty acres of land in the woods of Jackson township; of this he cleared twenty acres, and then traded for his present property, which he has cleared entirely from the woods, and has also cleared much land for other persons, including thirty acres for P. Snyder. He has now a most comfortable home and is recognized to be one of the most practical agriculturists of the township.

To Mr. and Mrs. Heffelfinger have been born six children, viz: George, Cora, Elizabeth, William, Ward and Christian-the first three of whom were born in Morrow county, and the last three in Van Wert county. In politics Mr. Heffelfinger is a republican, and frater- nally is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic-and no family stands in higher re- pute than his.

ILLIAM HERTEL, dealer in boots and shoes on West Main street, near North Jefferson street, Van Wert, Ohio, was born in Opholter- bach, Hesse-Darmstadt. Germany, July 12, 1832, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Helman) Hertel. The father was a brewer and died in the old country in 1836, followed by his widow in 1846. They had a family of eight chil- dren, born in the following order: Benjamin and George, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of George M. Wise; Emily, deceased; Adam, a farmer of Van Wert county; William, our sub- ject; Philip, of Van Wert county, and Marga- rita. The parents were members of the Ger- man Lutheran church, and in worldly matters the father was quite successful, dying worth about $25.000.

William Hertel, whose name is at the head of this biography, acquired a fair education as a lad in his native town, and at fourteen years of age was apprenticed to a shoemaker. Hay- ing learned the trade, he worked as a journey- man in the old country until 1852, when, in October, he sailed for America, and after a voyage, lasting five weeks, was landed in New York; thence he went to Pittsburg, Pa .. and three days later to Canton, Ohio: there he tarried three weeks, and then walked the long 200 miles to Van Wert, arriving with not a cent in his pocket, but twenty-five cents in debt. Here he worked the first year for a

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Mr. Coffin, next for James Clark three or four months, and thence went to Delphos, Ohio, and worked for Mr. Sheeter a year, when he returned to Van Wert and started a shop about four miles out in the country, which he occupied for two years. At this period, Feb- ruary 28, 1857, he married, in Wells county, Ind., Matilda Allen, who was born in Mercer county, Ohio, August 8, 1837, and to this union have been born twelve children, of whom eight survive, namely: Lizzie, wife of William Pfingstay; Jennie, married to Philip Pfingstay; William, Jr., a dealer in poultry and eggs at Van Wert, and George, Adam, Frank, Charles and John, living with their parents, who are members of the Lutheran Evangelical church.

Upon his marriage Mr. Hertel bought a farm of 160 acres, in Liberty township, Van Wert county, on which he resided seven years, when he sold his property and returned to the city of Van Wert, and in 1866 resumed the boot and shoe trade in the same building that he still occupies. His stock is now val- ued at $5,000 and he is engaged, also, in mak- ing and general repairing. He owns, in addi- tion to his store and stock, a farm of 160 acres in Hoaglin township, Van Wert county, and several lots in the city. He has been indus- trious in all his undertakings, upright in all his dealings, and judicious in the investments of his earnings, and thus stands high in the es- teem of his fellow-citizens. In politics he is a democrat.

PILLIAM HENRY HIESTAND, an experienced and expert blacksmith of Van Wert, Ohio, and a success- fui mechanic, was born in Darke county, Ohio, August 12, 1853. His father, Daniel Hiestand, a native of Lancaster county, Pa., married, in that state, Charlotte Menden-

hall, née Brown, a native of Maryland, widow of Noah Mendenhall. Daniel Hiestand was a farmer, and about 1847 came over the mount- ains to Ohio, and was engaged in milling in Clarke connty until 1848, when he removed to Darke county, where he followed farming until his death, in 1857. His widow survived until July 27, 1889, when she, too, passed away, leaving five children, viz : Mrs. Charlotte Ann Lintemuth, of Big Rapids, Mich .; Horace D., of Van Wert, Ohio; Henrietta, wife of G. W. Brown, of Darke county; Martha R., wife of Oscar McCabe, also of Darke county; and William H., whose name opens this paragraph. The Hiestand family were Dunkards in their religion, while the Browns were members of the Disciples church. In politics Daniel Hiestand was a whig. He was a very indus- trious man, much attached to his home, and was greatly respected wherever known.

William H .- Hiestand was but four years of age when his father was laid in his grave, and until eight years old lived with his mother; then lived with his sister, Mrs. Lintemuth, until twelve years old; then made his home for a year with his brother, Horace D., of Arcanum, Ohio, and was then employed at the same place by H. A. Kepner for two years; he bound himself with his brother, Horace D., as an apprentice for three years at blacksmithing, and when he had finished his time worked for two years for his brother as journeyman until the spring of 1874, when he, with Horace D., united in partnership and carried on black- smithing for five years, when Horace D. was elected sheriff of the county. Our subject then became sole proprietor of the business. which he still operates, owning a lot 22 x 66 feet on North Jefferson street, and also owning a neat residence on Maple avenue.

Mr. Hiestand is an accomplished musician, having begun the study of music in 1866. At Arcanum he became a leader in IS71, and

WILLIS M. HUNTER, M. D.

- - ---

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soon after coming to Van Wert organized Hiestand's band, with nine pieces, and this number he has increased to twenty pieces; he also organized the Willshire band, and in 1877 the Middlepoint band, and in addition, in- structed a choral band in Van Wert; besides these, he organized and instructed the band at Delphos and a number of others. Since 1884 he has also been a member of the Fort Wayne city band. It is thus quite evident that Mr. Hiestand is thoroughly proficient in his art. The marriage of Mr. Hiestand took place in Van Wert, Ohio, October 28, 1882, to Miss Mary Jane McIntosh, who was born near Co- lumbus, Ohio, October 8, 1857, a daughter of Robert and Margaret C. (Murch) McIntosh, the fruit of the union being two children, viz : Norma and Jean C. Mr. and Mrs. Heistand are members of the Presbyterian church, in which he is a trustee, and the family is highly respected among all classes of Van Wert citizens.

ILLIS M. HUNTER, M. D., a prominent and rising young physi- cian of Middlepoint, Washington township, Van Wert county, Ohio, was born in York township, in the same county, March 29, 1867. His grandfather. Dr. John Hunter, came from France, became one of the most eminent of the physicans of West Virginia, was a slave owner, and lived to be quite an aged man.

William H. Hunter, the only child born to Dr. John Hunter and the father of our sub- ject, was born in West Virginia March 1, 1844, and two weeks later lost his mother; he was then placed by his father, the doctor, with the family of Hesekiah Clemons, the compensa- tion being and worth $2.700, for the rearing of the motherless child. In 1845, Mr. Clemons removed to Greene county, Ohio, taking with

him his young charge, then but a year old, and the latter here received a common school education. At the age - of about seventeen, William H. Hunter enlisted from Greene county in company I, Thirty-first Ohio volun- teer infantry, for three years or during the war, served out his time and received an honorable discharge. Among the many hard-fought battles in which he participated were Mission- ary ridge, Stone River, Lookout Mountain, and although he was active in the performance of his duty in each and every march, campaign, battle and skirmish in which his regiment was engaged, he was neither sick nor wounded, nor taken prisoner.

He came from Greene county to Van Wert county, Ohio, and, May 22, 1866, the marriage of Mr. Hunter took place, in Van Wert county, to Miss Eliza J. Demint, who was born in Greene county, Ohio, February 20, 1850, a daughter of James and Mary (Hillyard) Demint. James Demint was a soldier in the Seventy- fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, was transferred to company B, Seventh reserves, August 12, 1863, and died at Nashville, Tenn., in hos- pital, September 6, 1864, while in the service, leaving the following children: Jesse, John. Cynthiana, Eliza J., and Susanna. To this marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hunter have been born three children, viz: Willis M., Frank J., and Ida E. Both parents are devoted members of the Methodist church. In politics Mr. Hunter is a republican, and is a member of Zeller-Ham- ilton post G. A. R., No. 260, at Middlepoint. and is also a charter member of the Willshire lodge of I. O. O. F.

After the war had closed, in +S65, he set- tled on forty acres of wooded land in York township, Van Wert county, Ohio. This tract he cleared up and sold, and then moved to Washington county and purchased eighty acres; this tract he also cleared up and sold, and then, in 1890, moved to Willshire town-

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

ship, where he has now a fine farm of 180 acres, under excellent cultivation and improved in every essential. He is a gentleman of high social position, and is prominent as a citizen, and in this capacity is as faithful to his duty as he was as a soldier during the dark days of the Rebellion.

Dr. Willis M. Hunter was educated pre- paratively at the Western Ohio Normal school, at Middlepoint, began the study of medicine with Dr. L. E. Ladd in IS88, and next at- tended the Baltimore Medical college, of Balti- more, Md., from which he graduated in 1892. He immediately began the practice of his chosen profession at Wren, Van Wert county, where he was very well received, and remained six months; then sought a broader field, and for two years and a palf was in active practice at Worstville, Paulding county; he there met with phenomenal success, was elected coroner of Paulding county in 1894, on the republican ticket, with a plurality of 746 votes, and finally located in Middlepoint, where he has a large scope for the exercise of his skill, and where his professional abilities are now fully recog- nized. Dr. Hunter is here associated with his former preceptor, Dr. L. E. Ladd, and their success is most flattering. In politics Dr. Hunter is a republican, and socially he has drawn about him a host of friends.

S AMUEL B. HERTZ, a popular hard- ware dealer of Van Wert, Ohio, was born in Union county, Pa., August 3, IS32. His parents, John and Mary (Keim) Hertz, were born in the same county in 1798 and ISoo respectively, and were there married in 1822, settled on a farm and there passed away their lives. They had born to them a large family of children, of whom seven grew to maturity and were named as follows : N. W., a physician now deceased; Joseph, a

farmer of Van Wert county, Ohio; Samuel B., the subject of this sketch; Ann, wife of J. H. Heinly of Kansas; Mary, now Mrs. Moses Spacht, of Pennsylvania; Lydia, deceased wife of David Spangler, of Van Wert, and John L., a merchant of St. Paul, Minn.

Samuel B. Hertz was reared on the home farm in Pennsylvania, and was educated in the pioneer schools of his native county, acquiring a very fair stock of knowledge, by which he was enabled to teach school in his own and neighboring counties for nine years during the winter, the summers, as usual in such cases, being passed on the farm. In 1863 he came to Van Wert and united with his brother, Dr. U. W., in the hardware trade, which they carried on together for three years, when our subject bought out the entire stock, and has, since that time, conducted the business on his sole account, carrying a large and well selected assortment of glass, oils, paints, sash, doors, blinds, general hardware, both shelf and heavy, and all the modern labor-saving agri- culture implements. For several years, also, Mr. Hertz has been connected with his brother- in-law, J. R. Heinly, in the lumber trade.

Mr. Hertz was united in marriage at Mil- ton, Pa., October 4, 1855, with Miss Ellen Rank, who was born in Union county, Pa., January IS, 1837. Her grandparents settled on a farm in Union county in 1794, and this farm is still in the family, and in 1894 Mr. and Mrs. Hertz were there present at the celebra- tion of the centennial of the Rank family in the county. In 1883, Mr. and Mrs. Hertz adopted, as their own, Edna Rank. then four years of age whom they have reared to almost womanhood. Mr. and Mrs. Hertz are mein- bers of the Lutheran church and in politics Mr. Hertz is a republican. Fraternally he is a member of the I. O. O. F., in which order Mrs. Hertz has taken the Rebekah degree. Mr. Hertz owns his business block on the

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southeast corner of Main and Jefferson streets, and has done business on the same site ever since he came to the city. He also owns two business places on West Main street and his neat residence on North Jefferson street. His integrity as a business man has never been brought into question, and socially he and fami- ly stand among the best circles of Van Wert.

a HARLES E. HEUSCHKEL, a promi- nent business man of Van Wert, Ohio, is a native of Saxony, Germany. John Frederick Heuschkel, father of the subject of this sketch, was also born in far- famed Saxony, Germany, in 1801. Being the son of a farmer, he was reared on a farm, and followed the noble calling of an agriculturist during his entire life. He was a man of the highest moral character and in matters re- ligious was a member of the Old German Lutheran church, always living in accordance with its precepts. In 1824 Mr. Heuschkel was .married to Miss Hannah Neundorf, by whom he had six children: Christiana, Fritz, Charles E., Gottlieb, Amandus and Wilhelmina, all of whom are living with the exception of Chris- tiana, who died in 1854. Fritz, the second born, still lives in Germany; Charles E., is a resident of Van Wert, Ohio; Gottlieb lives in Indiana, and Amandus is married and lives in Fort Wayne, Ind. Wilhelmina, like Fritz, still remains in her native land.

Charles E. Heuschkel, the subject of this sketch, followed the trade of miller in his na- tive country for seven years. In 1854, having heard much of the opportunities of making a fortune in the United States, he came to this country, landing in New York, in which city he remained two years, emigrating thence to Cleveland, Ohio. From this time until the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion Mr. Heuschkel followed boating on Lake Erie, and

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A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2, Part 16

Author: Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Chicago : A.W. Bowen Number of Pages: 1248

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago : A.W. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1248