USA > Ohio > Erie County > A standard history of Erie County, Ohio: an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, civic, and social development. A chronicle of the people, with family lineage and memoirs > Part 42
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Ilenry M. Brown was educated in the public schools of Margaretta Township and in the high school at Castalia, Ohio. He soon became self-supporting and since early manhood has been engaged in various industrial avocations, perhaps the most important of which was his dredging the mouth of the race of Sandusky Bay at Venice, which he did several years ago. This was a most valuable improvement and has been highly beneficial to Venice, giving it much better shipping facili- ties. In 1897 Mr. Brown engaged in business at Venice as a dealer in agricultural implements and is still thus occupied. On July 28, 1906. he was appointed to his present position as postmaster, the duties of which he has performed to the satisfaction of all the inhabitants of the township who receive their mail from this office. As a business man he is honest, enterprising and accommodating, and enjoys in a high degree the confidence of his fellow citizens, who know that in trading with him they may be sure of a "square deal." He is a member of the K. O. T. M. at Crystal Rock, Ohio; also of the Vigilantes at Castalia, this county. A republican in politics, he served seven years as a member of the school board, his work in this capacity being highly ereditable. At all times he has shown a keen interest in the improvement of local conditions and his fellow townsmen know that they can always count upon his aid, influence or advice in support of a worthy cause.
Mr. Brown married Ahneda Heimlich, a daughter of Charles Heim- lich of Venice, Erie County, Ohio, and he and his wife are the parents of a son, Arlo R. Brown.
JAMES G. SNOWDEN. A veteran of the Civil war and for more than half a cenutry a resident of Margaretta Township, Mr. Snowden's career is in every way an appropriate subject for biographical mention in the annals of Erie County. He comes of old American stock, and few men have a better and more distinguished ancestral background. Mr. Snowdeu is a grandson of Rev. Samuel Finley and Susan Bayard (Breese) Snowden, and before taking up the individual carcer of this well known resident of Margaretta Township it will be appropriate to introduce some data pertaining to the Breese and Snowden families in earlier generations.
The Breese family was established in America by Sidney Breese, who was born in England, where he was an ardent sympathizer of the Stuart dynasty, and was about to mount his horse to join the army of the young pretender when word arrived that Charles Edward had been defeated by the royal forces. Sidney Breese afterwards served as an officer in the English navy, but his heart was not in the service; and consequently, about 1753, he emigrated to America, and in the following year married Elizabeth Pinkerman of New York State.
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The only child of Sidney and Elizabeth Breese to reach maturity was Col. Samuel Breese, mentioned below. In New York City Sidney Breese engaged in the mercantile business and was eminently successful. Ile died in 1767, and is buried in old Trinity Churchyard. Ilis reputation for eccentricity probably finds its chief foundation in the inseription on his tombstone, which is as follows:
Sidney Breese June 9-1767 Made by himself lla! Sidney, Sidney, lyest thou here ? I here lie Till time has flown To its eternity.
Sidney Breese invested in traets of land in Herkimer County, New York, and also in New Jersey. Ilis son Samuel finally settled on the latter, naming the place Shrewsbury for his father's old home in England. In the summer of 1778 and during 1779, when New Jersey ground was the field of battle, the residents of that colony suffered great financial loss, and one of these patriots was Samuel Breese of Shrews- bury. When the battle of Monmouth was fought-that battle which in anticipation was to be such a glorious vietory and which by the treachery of Lee came near being a dismal failure-the home of Colonel Breese lay between the two armies, and his losses were unusually heavy. He had early been very active in the cause of the colonies and on May 27, 1775, was chosen as a member of the committee of observation, and also a member of a sub-committee to instruct deputies attending the State Congress at Trenton. He was colonel of the Third Regiment of Mon- mouth County Militia. In 1776 he resigned his commission, it is said, because of the backwardness of the people in espousing the cause.
Samuel Breese married for his first wife Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Samuel Finley, D. D., president of the College of New Jersey, as Princeton University was then ealled. One daughter, Elizabeth Ann. was born to this union, the wife dying soon after at the early age of eighteen. This daughter married Jedidiah Morse, the author of the early school geography, and was the mother of Samuel Finley Breese Morse, the inventor of praetieable telegraphy. In the "Belknap Papers" there is an interesting correspondence between Samuel Belknap, Ebenezer Hazard and Samuel Breese concerning the birth of this first grandchild of the latter.
Samuel Breese married for his second wife Elizabeth Anderson, whose parents both died when she was but a baby. She was the grand- daughter of Rev. James Anderson, a Presbyterian elergyman who came from Scotland to Virginia in 1709 and was the first minister in the Presbytery of Newcastle. She was, however, brought up in the family of her great-grandfather, Peter Chevalier, of Philadelphia. It is re- corded of her that she was a woman of great excellence. Col. Samuel Breese died at Shrewsbury in 1800 and his burial place is well marked, having been kept in good repair by his descendants. As will be shown, Col. Samuel Breese was one of the great-grandfathers of James G. Snowden.
Some twenty or thirty years before the ship Weleome brought William Penn to the shores of America, there had sailed up the Delaware another party of Englishmen, who settled among the Swedes at or near what was later known as Old Chester. Among these was one
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John Snowden, who had been thrown in prison for preaching the Quaker faith at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, England. Upon his release, with a brother and sister, he emigrated to the land of religious liberty. Ilere he became a man of much prominence, owning large tracts of land on both sides of the Delaware. Ile was one of the proprietors of West Jersey, and as such signed the concessions in 1677. He was asso- ciate judge of Bucks County in 1704 and in 1712 represented Bucks County in the Provincial Assembly. Ile moved to Philadelphia in 1720 and died there in 1736, at the ripe age of one hundred and four years.
John Snowden, the second, lived in Philadelphia many years before his father moved there. Ile was one of the founders of the . First Presbyterian Church of that city, and was the first regularly ordained elder of the Presbyterian Church in America, being ordained in 1704. He lived on Second Street, below Walnut, his property extending from Second Street to Dock Creek. It remained in the family for three generations, covering a period of 125 years.
Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden, who was born in this house in 1770, has left in his diary an interesting description of this old place that sounds very strange in these days. He wrote of "The beautiful stream that flowed behind his father's garden, with grand old trees on both sides," and recalled with fond memories his boyhood days, when he and his brothers "went fishing in Doek Creek and gathered quantities of fine blackberries that grew beside the stream." The old number of this house was No. 141 South Second Street.
The second wife of John Snowden and the mother of his children was Ruth, the daughter of Benjamin Fitz-Randolph of the family that had been very prominent in New England and New Jersey in the colonial days. Her brother was Nathaniel Fitz-Randolph, a Revolutionary cap- tain of Princeton, who gave the land to the trustees of Princeton College on which Nassau Hall now stands. The Fitz-Randolphs, as the name indieates, were of Norman descent. Their aneestor went to England with William the Conqueror, and was a lineal deseendent of the Dukes of Brittany.
Isaac Snowden, son of John, was quartermaster of the Fourth Bat- talion of the Philadelphia Associators under Col. Thomas MeKeen, in active service from 1775 to 1777. He, with his brother Jedidiah, was a commissioner under the aet of Congress to sign continental currency from 1777 to 1779. There are several of these continental notes in existence bearing his signature-one in Independence Hall, four at the Historieal Society of Pennsylvania's Rooms, one in Ilarvard Library, of which John Fiske gives a facsimile in his "History of the United States."
The Snowdens were numerous in the American army, and as far as ean be learned were all American patriots. Isaac was so ardent a patriot that during the British occupation of Philadelphia he and his family were obliged to flee for safety to the summer home in Princeton.
Isaac Snowden was a man of ability and filled many offiees of trust. Ile was treasurer of the City and County of Philadelphia from 1780 to 1782; was one of the early members of the state in Schuylkill ; charter member of the Second Presbyterian Church; first treasurer of the First. General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States; trustee and treasurer of Prineeton College, during which time he, with Mr. Bayard, advaneed the money for Dr. John Witherspoon's trip to Europe to look after the interests of the United States. Five of Isaac Snowden's sons were graduates of Princeton, three of them becoming distinguished Presbyterian clergymen.
It was Rev. Samuel Finley, the third son of Isaac Snowden, who married Susan Bayard, daughter of Col. Samuel Breese, and from
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this union one of the children was Ebenezer HI. Snowden, father of James G. Snowden of Margaretta Township.
James G. Snowden was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, April 29, 1839, a son of Ebenezer H. and Elizabeth A. (Smith) Snowden, his father a native of New Jersey and his mother of Florida. Mr. Snowden was reared in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and when abont nineteen years of age, in 1858, arrived in Erie County, Ohio. For a time he rented land near Castalia, and then went South and was at Memphis and in that vicinity when the war broke out. Returning to Erie County, he remained here until his enlistment in May, 1864, in Company I of the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. With his regi- ment he was assigned to guard duty at Washington, District of Columbia, on the Virginia side of the Potomac. He was in the service ninety days, and was given his honorable discharge in September, 1864. Prior to the war, in 1861, Mr. Snowden located on the land included in his present farm in Margaretta Township, a short distance south of the Village of Castalia. There he has a fine farm, largely developed by his labor and under his direction, comprising 220 acres, which he has employed for the raising of the staple crops and has been particularly successful as a sheep raiser, keeping fine grades of the Merino sheep.
Mr. Snowden married for his first wife Mrs. Rilda M. Bardshar, a sister of Jay C. Smith of Castalia. By this union there are three children,
Margaret G., widow of William Harmon, late of Tiffin, Ohio, and Mrs. Harmon is now living at home with her father; Samuel H., whose home is in Margaretta Township; and Ethel S., wife of George C. Jackson of Akron, Ohio. Mr. Snowden married for his present wife Mrs. Ann S. Graves. She is a daughter of Salmon and Lucy A. (Bardwell) Graves, both of whom were born at Hatfield, Massachusetts, and became early settlers of Margaretta Township, locating in this part of Erie County about 1834.
Mr. Snowden has had an active and busy career, and has done his part as a citizen. He is a republican in politics, has served as trustee of Margaretta Township and has always been willing to put himself in the van of progressive movements in that locality. He is an adherent of the Presbyterian Church and keeps up his associations with old army comrades in the Grand Army Post at Castalia. His daughter, Mrs. Margaret Harmon, is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
JOHN H. NEUSCHELER. The true glory of a state lies in the character of the men and women who form the mass of its population-its bankers, merchants, farmers and tradesmen, its doctors, lawyers and preachers : in a word, its workers of every kind; these, indeed, form the state, as they are to some extent formed by it, their lives and achievements being the result of opportunity multiplied by energy and intelligence. What is true of a state in the general sense of the term is true also of each of its component parts. Among the various counties of Ohio, that of Erie possesses its full share of earnest, enterprising and reliable citizens in various walks of life, who, whether of native or foreign birth or antecedents, are imbued with true Americanism and are thoroughly representative of the institutions and spirit of this country. Such a one may be found in the subject of this sketeh, John HI. Nenscheler, proprietor of the grain elevator at Venice, Margaretta Township. Mr. Nenscheler is a native American, having been born at Sandusky, Ohio, September 12, 1859. His parents, Gottlieb and Mary A. Nenscheler, were born in Germany, and, after coming to this country, resided in Sandusky, Ohio, for a number of years, but in 1860, when their son John
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was an infant, they settled on a farm in Margaretta Township, where they passed the rest of their lives.
John H. Neuscheler was reared on his parents' farm, in his boyhood attending the township schools. Brought up to an agricultural life, he engaged in it later for himself and now owns a small farm of something over thirteen acres, which, however, he has not personally operated since 1890. In 1889 he engaged in the agricultural implement business at Venice, conducting it until 1902, at which time he sold out to HIenry M. Brown, its present owner. Subsequently for about four years he was a traveling salesman for what is now known as the International Har- vester Company, selling their goods mainly in Ohio territory. In 1909 he engaged in his present business as dealer in hard and soft coal, grain and seeds, hay, flour, mill feed and salt, at the same time building his elevator, which is a good substantial structure. By close attention to business, united with strict integrity, he has built up a good trade and is enjoying a comfortable prosperity, which is the more gratifying as being solely due to his own efforts. As a citizen he is public spirited, taking a lively interest in whatever concerns the good of his township or county. He served creditably for three years as township assessor and is a strong friend of the public schools and the cause of education in general. In politics he is a republican, while his religious affiliations are with the Lutheran Church.
Mr. Neuscheler is a family man, his wife in maidenhood having been Catherine E. Moore, of Venice, this county, a daughter of Henry Moore, now deceased. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Neuscheler is brightened by the presence of five children-M. Jane, Agnes, Zella, Carrol and Isabel.
SILAS GERMAN. Groton Township has had no more representative and useful citizen during the past half century than Silas German. While not among the earliest pioneers, he has performed a work of improvement which will long be in evidence in one of the beautiful farms of Groton Township. His career includes service as a soldier in the Civil war, and every responsibility and duty has been creditably met and discharged by this venerable citizen.
Now past the age of fourscore, Silas German was born in Steuben County, New York, May 28, 1834, a son of Andrew T. and Hannah (Foree) German. His father was born in Dutchess County, New York, and his mother was also a native of New York State. Andrew T. German was a son of Henry German, also a native of Dutchess County, New York, while Henry's father is said to have come from Germany and settled in Dutchess County about the year 1770, several years before the outbreak of the Revolutionary war. Andrew T. German spent most of his life in Steuben County, New York, and died there when his son Silas was ten years of age.
Steuben County was the home of Silas German during the first twenty years of his life. He gained his early education in the schools at Tyrone in that county, lived at home and helped his mother in the management of the home farm, and then starting out on his independent career soon arrived in Erie County, where for several years he lived in the vicinity of Castalia. He later moved into Groton Township, and in 1884 settled on the farm which has been under his management and ir his possession for more than thirty years. This is a farm which at once attracts attention from passers by, comprising an acreage of 116, with evidences of good management on every hand. Mr. German some years ago built one of the modern country homes on his farm, and has shown a great deal of thrift and enterprise in all his undertakings.
In 1858 he married Louisa L. Smith, who was born in Groton Town-
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ship, and who became the mother of three children: James, now de- ceased; Scott, who lives in Groton Township and is now serving as justice of the peace; and Ada L., wife of Robert Waldon of Kenosha, Wisconsin. After the death of his first wife Silas German married Maria Brooks, who was born in Seneca County, Ohio, and died in Decem- ber, 1912. She became the mother of six children. The three now deceased were named Grant, Erva and Mary. Those living are: JJay, of Groton Township; Nettie, wife of A. J. Clemmons of Birmingham, Ohio; and Bert, of Groton Township.
While making a success of his own business affairs Mr. German has not been inattentive to the calls of public duty. In the early days he served a year, in 1859, as assessor of Groton Township. He has always been an active and an ardent supporter of the public schools of the township, and often served on the school board or in any capacity neces- sary for the advancement of education. Ile has usually been an inde- pendent in politics, voting for the man best fitted for the office rather than for the party candidate. His service as a soldier in the Civil war was in the One Hundred and Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and for abont four months he was stationed in the vicinity of Washington on guard duty, chiefly at Arlington Heights, and spent much of his time on the old estate of Robert E. Lee. Ile also went to Cincinnati in 1862 as one of the Squirrel Hunters. After this service he received his honorable discharge, and has since kept up his associations with old army comrades by membership in the Grand Army Post at Castalia.
LEE S. WEED. A representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Erie County, Mr. Weed has lived here all his life and has witnessed the wonderful transformations in every department of human endeavor during the last century. He has been one of the prominent agriculturists and influential citizens of Perkins Township for many years, giving earnest support to those ageneies that make for the general good of the community.
Born in Sandusky, June 1, 1849, Lee S. Weed is a son of William and Sarah (Sanford) Weed, both of whom were born in Connecticut and belonged to colonial families of New England. In the late '30s William Weed came with his family to Erie County, and for a number of years lived at Sandusky, which was then a small village. He was there during the memorable cholera epidemic, a full account of which will be found on the pages of history in this publication, and his own service during that scourge was in manufacturing coffins for the dead. besides minister- ing as fully as he could to those afflicted with disease and suffering. He removed with his family to a farm in Perkins Township about 1854. and did a great deal to improve his land in the course of years. A man of strong character, of great industry and sterling integrity in all the relations of life, he commanded popular esteem and kept an influential place in local affairs. He was a republican, and he and his wife were both active in church work. He died about a quarter of a century ago and his wife passed away a few years later. There were nine children born to them, three of whom are still living and are as follows: Georgi- ana, widow of Lafayette Baird, and residing at Corona, California; Hiram J., a resident of Chickasaw County, Iowa, and Lee S .. of Perkins.
Lee S. Weed was reared to maturity in the township that has been his place of residence during all his life, and since reaching manhood has gained a substantial place as a successful agrienlturist and repre- sentative citizen. In addition to his advantages in the common schools of Perkins Township he completed a course in the Buckeye Business College at Sandusky. Mr. Weed in polities is a republican, but he has
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never been ambitious for public office. He gave some effective serviee while a member of the board of trustees of Perkins Township.
He married Mrs. Mary A. (Milner) Denman, widow of John Denman, and daughter of Thomas Milner, who was a native of England and for many years prior to his death a substantial eitizen of Perkins Township. Mrs. Weed died in 1910. There are no children.
BENJAMIN F. REIGHLEY. Berlin Township lost one of its most sub- stantial eitizens in the death of Benjamin F. Reighley at his home near Berlin Heights on September 29, 1909. While the community felt that his taking away was premature, he had already accomplished a. great deal, and left his widow and family well provided both in this world's goods and in the public esteem which his character and activities had won.
Sixty years of age when he died, Benjamin F. Reighley was born at Doylestown in Wayne County, Ohio, March 31, 1849. Ilis father, John G. Reighley, was born in Pennsylvania Mareh 23, 1812, and early in life acquired the trade of cabinet maker and earpenter. His father, George Reighley, made a record as a soldier in the War of 1812, and spent his last years in Ohio, passing away in Erie County. The family is of Ger- man aneestry. John George Reighley was brought to Erie County when young, and was married in Medina County to Rachel Greenhoe, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of Michael and Adelia Greenhoe, who were probably born in Germany about 1800 and came to the United States with their parents. Though the members of this family subsequently beeame prosperous, they were poor when they emigrated and had to spend some months after their arrival in this country in working out as inden- tured servants to pay for the passage aeross the ocean. Michael Green- hoe and his wife died when quite well advaneed in years in Medina County, Ohio. John G. Reighley for a number of years followed his trade at Doylestown and lived there until his death at the age of forty- four. He left a widow and five children. Two children, George W. and Anna, had died in infaney, and the five that survived him were: Mary, Sarah, Peter, Amanda and Benjamin F. Of these Peter and Amanda are still living in Erie County, and the daughter Mary is also living. The widow of Jolin G. Reighley married for her second husband John Young, and by this union there was one son, Charles, who died after his mar- riage. Mr. Young had eleven children by his first wife. John Young died in Lorain County and his second wife in Erie County. They were members of the Lutheran Church.
Benjamin F. Reighley was reared and edneated in Erie County, his parents having settled there when he was a child. Growing up he adopted the eareer of farmer, and made that the basis for a considerable prosperity. In 1900 he bought 126 aeres in Berlin Township along the State Road not far from Berlin Heights. Took possession of this place in the following year, and it was the scene of his successful endeavors until his death. Mr. Reighley was a man of fine eharacter, quite active in demoeratie eireles, and left to his descendants an untarnished reputa- tion.
On December 23, 1869, in Erie County he married Miss Aliee M. Minkler. She was born on the old Harlow Case farm not far from where she now lives on March 8. 1850. Her education was quite thorough. and at one time she had the advantages of instruction from Job Fish, in his time one of the best known teachers in Erie County. Prior to her marriage she was herself a teacher, and sinee the death of her hus- band has been a eapable director of his estate, and now shares with her son Orlando P. in the management of the farm and its ownership. The
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B & Reighley
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home comprises a large and well furnished twelve-room house, and sur- rounding it is a group of farm buildings, one barn standing on a founda- tion 38x44 feet, the horse barn being 24x24, the sheep barn 20x50 feet, and all are substantial structures and indicate the excellent management which prevails over the entire place. One feature of the farm is an orehard of 500 peach trees, while the fields grow large erops of wheat, eorn, oats and potatoes, and a large number of high grade stock are the direet sonree of the income.
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