A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2, Part 31

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 31
USA > Ohio > Van Wert County > A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2 > Part 31

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J OHN McCOY, deceased, was born in Madison county, Ohio, May 31, 1833, a son of Alexander and Eliza (Gillispie) McCoy. Further mention of these parents will be found in the biography of Moses McCoy, of Ridge township, to which the at- tention of the reader is invited.

From Madison county John McCoy, our subject, when six years of age, was brought to Van Wert county by his parents, who located in Ridge township, and with whom our subject remained until twenty-four years of age. John received a very fair education, and at the age :

of eighteen years began teaching school, a pro- fession he followed until twenty-five years old, when he bought eighty acres of land from his father, and began farming on his own account; shortly afterward his wife, of whom mention will be made further on, became heir to 160 acres, which property was soon sold and eighty acres adjacent to Mr. McCoy's farm were pur- chased and added thereto. Mr. McCoy was an intelligent and industrious agriculturist. and at his death, which occurred February 20, 1884, he was the owner of 160 acres, with many valuable improvements and well stocked with fine Durham and other cattle, Mr. McCoy having been the first to bring graded live stock to the township. Mr. McCoy was a republican in politics and was a justice of the peace many years, and for fourteen years township treas- urer: he was a Mason and Patron of Husbandry. and in religion a Presbyterian. He was promi- nent as a local politician, was worthy in all respects, and his death was deeply deplored. not only by his family, but by the whole of the population of Ridge township. Since his de- parture the property has been under the able control of his widow.

John McCoy was joined in matrimony in Columbiana county, Ohio, November 18, 1857, to Miss Eleanor Montgomery, who was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, October 20, 1834, a daughter of John and Sarah Poe) Montgomery, and a sister of James Montgom- ery, of Pleasant township. To the union of John and Eleanor McCoy were born seven children, in the following order; Marion P., who for three terms was county surveyor of Van Wert county, Ohio, and in 1892 went to Okla- homa, where he is now a member of the legislature; John M., deceased: Anna E., wife of Frank Gamble, of Convoy; James A .. a traveling salesman: Sarah E., wife of E. Wert. a druggest of Scott, Ohio; Flora Belle, and Charles G., away from home, attending school.

Lo. W Lorber

487-188

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OF VAN WERT COUNTY.

OUIS W. LORBER, one of the lead- ing business men of Convoy, Van Wert county, Ohio, was born in the city of Raslowitz, Hungary, June 21, 1854, a son of Herman and Esther Lorber. Louis W. Lorber was educated in the schools of Berlin, Germany, and learned the German, Hungarian, Danish and Hebrew languages. The children born to Herman Lorber were nine in uumber and were named, in order of of birth, Bertha, Maurice, Jacob, Isaac, Aaron, Rosa, Gertrude, Louis W. and Mary. Herman, the father, died in 1872, at about fifty-seven years of age, and a member of the Lutheran church.

Louis W. Lorber, in 1871, came to America, landing in New York city in December, whence he came to Ohio and worked as a laborer in Cleveland for three months, and then as a farm hand in Perry and Franklin counties, and in 1876 came to Van Wert county, where, also, he engaged in farm labor. On May 12, 1877, he married Elizabeth L. Miller, daughter of Israel Miller, the result of this union being six children, viz: Matilda M., Pleasant M., Elmer I., Gracie F., Daisy and Esther. In 1884 Mr. Lorber, having saved $1, 300, came to Convoy and bought an interest in a saw-inill of John Wistner, and six months later bought out his partner's remaining interest, and is still pros- perously conducting the mill. August 12, 1891, Mr. Lorber formed a partnership with E. P. McNeal, purchasing a half interest in the latter's tile business; in the spring of 1894 they sold this plant and engaged in the dressed lumber trade, Mr. Lorber still retaining his saw-mill. Mr. and Mrs. Lorber are members of the Methodist church, of which, also, he is a trus- tee; he is also a member of Convoy lodge, No. 641, I. O. O. F, in which he has filled all the offices, and is a member of Hiawatha tribe, No. 116, Improved Order of Red Men. In politics he is a republican, served as a member

on the board of education three years and was re-elected in the spring of 1895; he was a member of the republican central committee of Van Wert county in 1893, when the state gave William Mckinley, Jr., 181, 000 majority for governor, and is still a member of said committee. He is also treasurer of the Col- umbus Building & Loan Investment company of Convoy. Mr. Lorber is an excellent ex- ample of a self-made man, having accumulated his property by thrift, hard labor and honest purpose. His credit is solid and his integrity without a flaw.

OHN MCCRORY, deceased, was born in Richland county, Ohio. December 12, 1828. His parents were William and Jane (Mclaughlin) McCrory, who were of Irish descent, their ancestors having come to America late in the eighteenth century. William McCrory, father of cur subject, was a farmer in Richland county, Ohio, and for twenty-five or more years filled the office of justice of the peace. Of his nine children six reached maturity, viz: David, of Allen county, Ind. ; Jane, William, Susan, James and John, all of whom. however, are now deceased, with the exception of the first named.

John McCrory, when a child, was taken by his parents to Ashland county, Ohio, where he grew to manhood, learned the carpenter's trade, and in December, 1857, married Miss Sarah Springer, who was born in Ashland county November 28, 1827, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Mondy) Springer, who located in that county about the year 18oo. Henry Springer, who was a farmer, subsequently came to Van Wert county and purchased a large tract of land-over 1,200 acres -- and also assisted in erecting some of the earliest buildings put up in the city of Van Wert. Just after his marriage, John McCrory started

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

for California, where he passed five years in mining; the following nine years he was engaged in farming in Ashland county, Ohio; November 15, 1874, he came to Van Wert county and located on a farm of 2123 acres, which had been presented to Mrs. McCrory by her father. John McCrory departed this life February 10, 1882, the father of two children- John S. and William Charles, both farmers of Van Wert county. In 1883 Mrs. McCrory moved with her orphaned children to the Pleasant township farm and resided thereon until July, 1890, when she returned to the city and now has her residence on the corner of Shannon street and Maple avenue. Mr. Mc- Crory was a democrat in his political affilia- tions, fraternally was an Odd Fellow, and in religion a Lutheran; he was universally es- teemed as an upright inan, whose memory bears no blemish or stain; Mrs. McCrory is also a member of the Lutheran church, and is respected and honored by all who know her.

LBERT L. McDONALD, a descend- ant of an ancient pioneer of Virginia, and a prominent citizen of Van Wert. was born January 3, 1841. He is a son of Alexander McDonald, who was born in Virginia in 1795. Alexander McDonald was of Scotch descent, was educated in Virginia, and learned the trades of brick-mason and stone- mason. That he was a well educated man is evident from the fact that after his arrival in Van Wert county he taught not only in the country schools of this county, but also in the public schools of the city of Van Wert, con- tinuing to teach until his death, which occurred in 1850 and was caused by typhoid fever. Politically he was a democrat and in religious faith a Universalist. He was one of the best men that ever came to this county, always hospitable and kind. It is sometimes stated

that the origin of the phrase, "the latch string is always out," was in Virginia, one of the most hospitable of the southern states, and Mr. McDonald brought to the west with him his southern habits and opinions. Alexander Mc- Donald was married at an early age to Miss Sedameras McIlhenny, of Virginia, who be- longed to the same class of Virginians as her husband. They were the parents of the fol- lowing children : William, Lydia, Thomas. Lancaster, Wesley, Wylie, David, Albert, and Isaac, of whom William, Thomas, Lan- caster and Wesley are dead, and the living are all married. The mother of these children died February 28, 1885. Upon coming to Ohio, in 1843. Mr. McDonald first settled in Richland county, but soon afterward he re- moved to Van Wert county, at a time when there were but few settlers and few cabins in this part of the state.

Albert L. McDonald was born in Richland county, Ohio, and having obtained the educa- tion the common schools of that county were capable of imparting, he learned the carpenter trade. Remaining at home until his marriage, which occurred March 9, 1869, to Miss Susan Beveau, he then began life for himself. To the marriage of Mr. McDonald and Miss Beveau there were born the following children : Iona and Albana. Iona was born July 2S. 1872, and was married to Sibley Neil, Novem- ber 30, 1895. Before her marriage she was a school-teacher. Albana was born February 3. 1875, and is living at home. Mr. McDonald is in politics a democrat; and is in every way a liberal man. conceding to others the rights that he claims for himself. He is still living in Van Wert city.

Susan Beveau, wife of the subject of this sketch, was born April 22, 1846. Her father, John Beveau, was born in France, was there reared on a farm, and this occupation he fol- lowed for a living. By his first marriage he

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OF VAN WERT COUNTY.

became the father of the following children : Cain and Henry. The mother of these chil- dren dying, he married the second time; his second wife also dying, he then married Miss Catherine Terie. a native of France. To this third marriage there were born the following children : Mary, Thomas, Christine, Jose- phine, John, Peter, Nicholas, Jacob and Susan. Of these the following are dead : Mary, Thomas, Josephine, John and Nicholas. The others are married and have families of their own. John Beveau upon coming to the United States, located on a farin in Van Wert county, Ohio, upon which he lived and followed farm- ing until he reached old age. He then retired from active business and enjoyed the earnings of his earlier years until his death, which oc- curred in 1871, his wife surviving him until June 18, 1888. Mr. Beveau was in politics a republican and was a member of the Catholic church. He was a good man, kind hearted, and a true friend. Susan, his daughter, was born in Ohio, and lived with her parents in Van Wert county until she was married to Mr. McDonald. In religious belief she prefers the United Brethren church, of which she is a member. Both she and her husband are ex- cellent people and are of high social standing in the city of Van Wert.

J OHN P. BUCHER, a retired farmer and prominent citizen of Hoaglin town- ship, Van Wert county, Ohio, was born in Richland county, Ohio, Decem- ber 20, 1830, was reared on his father's farm, and farming, with the exception of nine years, in which he was engaged in carpenter work, has been his life vocation. His great-grand- father was a German by birth and was early a settler of Pennsylvania, in Dauphin county of which state John Bucher, grandfather of our subject, was born, was married to Elizabeth

Plank, and was drafted to serve in the war of 1812. John and his wife, Elizabeth, early came to Ohio and settled in Richiland county, where he owned 1, 000 acres of land, which he divided later among his children. In politics he was a Jackson democrat, and in religion both he and wife were adherents of the Ger- man Reform church, in the faith of which both passed away in Richland county. Their son, Peter Bucher, was born in Dauphin county, Pa., in 1801, was brought up a farmer and married, in Dauphin county, Elizabeth Light, daughter of John and Nancy (Lendes) Light. After the birth of three children in Dauphin county, Mr. and Mrs. Bucher came to Ohio and wrought out, from land his father had given him, a farm of 200 acres from the wilds of Richland county, and here the remainder of their family was born the children appearing in the following order: Amos W., Harriet, Eliza, John P., Henry C., Joseph P., and Mary E. In politics Mr. Bucher was a democrat, and both he and wife were members of the German Reform church, and in this faith both died -- the wife April 14, 1842, and the husband a number of years after.

John P. Bucher, the subject of this bio- graphy, was educated in the common schools. of Richland county, Ohio, and on December 24, 1857, married Leah Baer, daughter of Abraham and Maria (Nischly) Baer, of Dauphin county, Pa., and this marriage was blessed by the birth of Henry F., October 21, 1859, and Mary E., (Mrs. Walburn of Van Wert), May 7, 1861. After his marriage Mr. Bucher worked for two years at carpentering in Rich- land county and then came to Van Wert county, and the same year, 1859, bought his farm of 160 acres in Hoaglin township, of which he has deeded eiglity acres to his son and is reserving the remaining eighty acres for his daughter. This land is highly cultivated and improved with good house, barn and proper out-buildings.

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Since his settlement here, Mr. Bucher has of Findlay, but now the city has been extended seen Van Wert county transformed from a wilderness, filled with bear, deer and turkey's and game of all kinds, as well as wolves and other beasts of prey, to its present garden-like beauty and prosperous agricultural and indus- trial condition. In politics, Mr. Bucher is a democrat; in his religion he is a German Bap- tist; is a trustee and steward in his church, and is liberal in his financial aid to both church and school. He is well and favorably known in the county and township, and esteemed everywhere for his integrity and intelligence.

J ACOB HENRY FOSTER, editor and proprietor of the Van Wert Bulletin, was born in Findlay, Ohio, March 6, I839. His grandfather. Jacob Foster, was born in Germany and was brought to this country in 1790, when he was seven years of age, his parents settling in Virginia, nearly op- posite Gallipolis, Ohio. He served under Anthony Wayne in his campaign against the Indians in the northwest as a private soldier. and was promoted to a lieutenancy for gallant services in piloting a party of men to Gen. Wayne's headquarters for supplies and ammu- nition. He was one of the earliest settlers in Hancock county, Ohio, bought a farin there and lived upon it until his death in 1850, when he was sixty-seven years old. In politics he was a whig, and took an active part in political affairs. He was three times a candidate for commissioner of Hancock county, but was de- feated cach time by one vote; he was a state road commissioner, and laid out and con- structed the first road, through the woods. from Findlay to Tiffin, via Fostoria. He was noted throughout northwestern Ohio as a great apple raiser, and at his death left the greatest orchard in this part of the state. His farm, containing 160 acres, lay one mile north

sufficiently to take it all into the limits of the city. For his services in the war under Wayne he received a warrant for 160 acres of land. which warrant was sold by some one of his descendants. His wife died in 1860. Mr. Foster married Miss Mary Galbreath, by whom he had thirteen children, as follows: Jacob: Daniel, father of the subject; Sarah, who married James Carlin: John: Andrew Jackson: Thomas; Elizabeth, died a young lady: Rachel, who married F. Greer: Mary, who married J. C. Douglas; Silas; Phoebe, who married William Hixon; James, and one that died in infancy.

Daniel Foster was born February 12, 18:3. was educated in the country schools, was reared on the farm north of Findlay, and be- came a dealer in horses and commercial paper. His residence was at Findlay, and he was the discoverer of natural gas in that place, in 1837, and gas was burned in his house for twenty years, all of this time he having a large flambeau in his dooryard, for illuminating his premises.

In 1837 Daniel Foster married Miss Mary Margaret Ford, by whom he had îve chil- dren, as follows: One that died in infancy. Jacob Henry, James D., Lindo, Elleanor and Zedora. Mary Ford was a daugliter of Henry and Elleanor (Nicholas) Ford, the former of Irish descent, and a soldier under Gen. Andrew Jackson in the Florida war. He was a farmer of Washington county, Md., and died in 1820.

Jacob Henry Foster received his education in the common schools at Findlay. When he was eleven years of age he began to learn the printer's trade in the office of the old Hancock Whig at Findlay, serving a regular apprentice- ship in that office and in that of the Findlay Courier, entering the latter office in the fall of 1852. In 1856, when but sixteen years old. he became foreman in the office of the Han-

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OF VAN WERT COUNTY.

cock Jeffersonian, which position he held until 1860, when he established the Fostoria News. This paper he disposed of in 1863, with the view of entering the army, but was rejected on account of being afflicted with rheumatism. Re-establishing his paper he ran it for a short time, when he sold it to J. V. Jones, and it is now known as the Fostoria Review.

The state central republican committee, desiring to establish a paper at Ottawa, Put- nam county, to support the candidacy of Hon. James M. Ashley for congress, Mr. Foster con- ducted the Ottawa Telegraph in his favor, against Gen. A. V. Rice, who was the deino- cratic candidate, and who was supporting Gen. McClellan for the presidency as against Presi- dent Lincoln. At the end of the campaign, which resulted in the election of Mr. Ashley, the Telegraph was suspended.

Mr. Foster then removed to Van Wert and purchased a half interest in the Bulletin from Judge H. C. Glenn, and in 1865 purchased the other half interest. This paper he ran until 1 884, when he sold out to Summerset & Arnold, who published it until January 1, 1894, when Mr. Foster re-purchased it and has run it ever since. In the interval between 1884 and 1894 Mr. Foster was engaged in selling gas engines and machinery, having his headquarters one

year in Cleveland. The Bulletin is now both a daily and a semi-weekly, the daily having been established in 1883 and the semi-weekly January 1, 1894. It is republican in politics, and is opposed to monopolies of all kinds. He was for nineteen years at the head of the fire department of Van Wert, and for twelve years was president of the Northwestern Ohio Volun- teer Firemen's association. During his presi- dency of this association the world's record was reduced to twenty-nine and a half seconds, which has not yet been lowered.

Mr. Foster was married October 10, 1860, to Miss Martha Aun Caples, a daughter of

Gen. B. L. Caples and Catherine Norton, his wife. Gen. Caples in the early day took great interest in the local militia, and com- manded a division in what is known in the his- tory of Ohio as the " Toledo War"-a con- troversy between Ohio and Michigan in refer- ence to the boundary between the two states. Mr. and Mrs. Foster have had eleven children, as follows: Kate, who died at the age of six; Mary, a teacher in the Van Wert public schools; Mattie; Hattie, who died at the age of two years; Hal, who died at four ;. Linda; Caples, an assistant in the Bulletin office: Nellie; an infant, deceased; Glenn, and Jay H. Mr. Foster is one of the most experienced and suc- cessful newspaper men in northwestern Ohio, is fully abreast of the times in all respects, and desires nothing more than to make the Bul- letin a power for good in the land.

.....................

J AMES McGOWEN, a respected farmer of Washington township, Van Wert county, Ohio, is a native of the state of New York, was born in Ontario county, that state, May 12, 1822, and is of Irish de- scent through his paternal grandfather.

William McGowen, the father of James, our subject, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., was a stone-mason by trade, and when a young man went to Ontario county, N. Y., where he became the third husband of Mrs. Nancy Han- nah. The first husband of this lady was Sam- uel Richardson, who was killed in the war of 1812 at Black Rock, N. Y., the father of three children: Mary, Meams and William; to her second husband, William Hannah, who died one year after marriage, she bore no children, but by Mr. McGowen she became the mother of eight, viz: Caroline. Rachael, James. George, Robert, Harriet and Henrietta . twins and Henry. The father, William McGowen, was a strong well-proportioned man. of 190

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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

pounds, with double thumbs, and died in Ontario county, N. Y., at the age of sixty- six years.

James McGowen, our subject, received a very good cominon-school education and was brought up a carpenter in Canadaigua, On- tario county, N. Y., where he married, Sep- tember 25, 1846, Miss Catherine McCandless, who was born July 19, 1824, a daughter of William and Margaret (Anderson) McCandless, their union resulting in the birth of nine chil- dren, viz: Andrew, Orson, Mary, Charles, Edmund, William, Allen and Albert and Alice, twins. William McCandless, father of Mrs. McGowen, came from Scotland, was a wagon- maker and was the father, by his first wife, of three children --- Catherine, Elizabeth and Will- iam; by his second marriage he became the father of six children-Alexander, Isabel, Mar- garet, Mary, Jane and Louis. Alexander was killed in the Civil war. William, the eldest son, died at his home in Florida. Mr. Mc- Candless was himself a captain in the state militia and died at an advanced age, a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church.

After marriage, Mr. McGowen came to Ohio and bought a small farm in Licking county, which he cleared up, in the meanwhile following his trade of carpenter. In 1850 or 1851 he sold his place and went to Jasper county, Ill., but soon returned to Licking county, Ohio, where he resided until March, 1853, when he came to Van Wert county and traded an old team of horses, a wagon and old harness, for his present farm of forty acres in Washington township-the consideration of the exchange being $200. The land was, of course, all in the wilderness, but Mr. Mc- Gowen succeeded in converting it into a profit- able farm, and a comfortable home, well drained, well tilled and handsomely improved. In the beginning his farin was overrun with deer, wild turkey's, bear and wild hogs that had 1

sprung from the domestic scrofa that had es- caped from the earlier settlers and sought a home under his umbrageous forest trees, but he has lived to see the forests disappear and the game vanish from sight, and arable and productive fields of grain and domestic animals take their place.

Mr. McGowen enlisted, August 27, 1861, at Delphos, Ohio, in company I. Thirty-second volunteer infantry, and was honorably dis- charged at Chattanooga, Tenn., in September, 1864. He fought at McDowell, Va., Green- brier, Cheat Mountain and Alleghany, and was taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry; was paroled and sent to Camp Douglas, I !!. , where he was detained four months, and then exchanged; he rejoined his regiment and took an active part in the engagements at Champion Hills, Baker's Creek. Jackson, Miss., Vicksburg, and was on the Atlanta campaign, in the battle of Kene- saw Mountain. and again in front of Atlanta. He was never seriously injured but was shot in the left wrist by a buckshot, and also had his back injured by being run over at Harper's Ferry by a squadron of Union cavalry and knocked senseless. Mr. McGowen also had three brothers in the war, who served in New York regiments.

Mrs. McGowen is a member of the United Brethren church, and in politics Mr. McGowen is a democrat. He has held the office of su- pervisor, township trustee and school director, is an excellent grammarian and champion speller, and in his early days was able to "spell down" all his competitors in the old-fashioned spelling contests. He is a typical pioneer, of magnificent physique, and he and his sons can together lift 4,000 pounds. All his children have been given good educations, and one- Albert-is now a school-teacher in Van Wert county. Mr. McGowen has a neat and pro- ductive farm of forty acres. and has presented his wife with forty acres adjoining. He is of

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OF VAN WERT COUNTY.

a kindly ,and genial disposition, is honorable in his every act, and few men in Van Wert county enjoy the warm friendship of so large a circle of acquaintance as he.

I SMA H. MALICK, the able ex-county surveyor of Van Wert county. Ohio, and a thoroughly competent civil en- gineer, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, November 26, 1846, a son of Uriah and Chloe (Powell) Malick, and was one year of age when taken by his parents to Hardin county, where they resided two years and then removed to Mercer county, which they made their home until 1854, when they came to Van Wert county and settled on a farm, where Isma H. was reared until December 9, 1861, when he enlisted in company K, Forty-sixth Ohio volunteer infantry, and was assigned to Sherman's brigade and served through all its transmutations until it was changed to the First division. He participated in the engage- ments at Shiloh and Corinth in May, 1862; then the regiment went to Memphis, and there was placed in hospital on account of typhoid fever, where he remained for some time and in fall, 1863, he rejolned his regiment and re- mained with it until the close of the war in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and all through the Atlanta campaign, until his honorable discharge at Louisville, Ky., August 22, 1865, when he returned to his home, and on April 9, 1866, went to Nebraska to found a home on the frontier, and on June 26, 1866, entered 160 acres of land in Fillmore county, on which he made his home until June 29, 1871, when he returned to Van Wert county, Ohio, and engaged in surveying until 1878, when he went to Bloomington, Franklin county, Nebr., where, in partnership with his brother, he conducted a drug business until September, 1881, when he again returned to

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A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2, Part 31

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