USA > Ohio > Fulton County > A standard history of Fulton County, Ohio, an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county, Vol. II > Part 46
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
Mrs. Aldrich has survived her husband by so many years that she is the one best known in the community of today. Her son Amos Eugene married Mary Siebold, who is of German parentage, her ancestry leaving the Fatherland in the exodus of the '40s as a protest against despotism. He died in Wauseon, leaving his wife and the following children: Ione, Julia Margaret (Madge), John Paul, Joseph Eugene and Donald. The second son, Hon. Fred H. Aldrich, has lived in Michigan since beginning the practice of law, being circuit judge for many years. He married Corine Isbell, daughter of Henry and Jane Lemmon Isbell. Mr. Isbell was born in Connecticut, and was descended from Robert, one of the early settlers in Salem. The Lemmons originally lived near Baltimore. The Aldrich children are: Fred, Compton, May and Corine. Rev. Benjamin Frank Aldrich, D. D., Ph. D., married Bertha Yerkes after he left Fulton county. At the time of his death he was pastor of old First Congregational Church in Chicago. He had made of this church an unusual center of influence. His wife survives him, and their children are Benjamin, Margaret, Baldwin and Julian. Five grandsons of Mrs. Aldrich, above enumerated, were in the World war, and all returned in safety.
In a poem entitled "Freedom," Mrs. Aldrich answers the question why she was never a church member, and there is no creed or dogma in her conception of Christianity. While she gave one son to me- chanical pursuits, one to law and one to the ministry, she has found all church work molds itself to her idea of life. She holds her own judgment unbiased and recognizes good in all things. All over Ful- ton county Mrs. Aldrich is regarded as an oracle-a bulwark in the community.
REV. BENJAMIN F. ALDRICH. As noted elsewhere in the sketch of the Aldrich family of Fulton county, Rev. Benjamin F Aldrich at the time of his death was pastor of the First Congregational Church of Chicago. In an official publication of that church devoted to the history of the church and its successive pastorates, his suc-
330
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
cessor in the ministry published a tribute to the character of Dr. Aldrich and particularly his influence and work in the ministry in Chicago, a brief sketch that may appropriately be entered as a part of the records in this liistory of Fulton county.
The late Benjamin F. Aldrich, D. D., was born at Wauscon, Ohio, January 29, 1863, and passed to liis eternal rest on Sunday evening, November 5, 1916.
If Dr. Moses Smith (one of the carlier ministers of the First Congregational Church of Chicago) liad many of the qualities of St. Peter, and if Doctor Noble (also a predecessor of Doctor Aldrich) reminded one of the apostle Paul, Doctor Aldrich's character and dis- position were finely suggestive of the beloved disciple, John, or rather, perhaps, some would say both of John and of his Divine Master. The foundations of his sturdy and gentle character were laid amid the hardships and simplicitics of the old farm life of Ohio, where his mother prayerfully moulded him towards the holy ministry. Though he studied law and was admitted to the bar, the essential quality of his life was that of a pastor and he gladly resigned the emoluments of the lucrative profession of law in order that the whole tendency of his life might be heavenward and that making the complete oblation he might render a whole-hearted, undivided ser- vice to men in the Spirit of Christ.
Having diligently served in other churches at Ironton, Sault Ste. Marie, Lansing, Pontiac, Ypsilanti, Aurora and Wellington avenue, he brought the fruit of his large natural endowment, varied experience and whole-hearted consecration to the service of "New First" in the heart of the great west side. He had a genius for friendship, and the time had come when consecrated and unselfish friendship was a gift most needed in this parish. In some ways he stood in strong contrast to the two men of whom we have been speaking . While Doctor Smith's preaching had a dogmatic and prophetic flavor, and Doctor Noble's preaching was highly intellectual and strongly individualistic, the heart of Doctor Aldrich achied for this needy wayward and suffering community. So in its utter simplicity and great practical helpfulness his preaching was a veritable breaking of the Bread of Life to hungry hearcrs.
He had a large and sure vision of the place this church should occupy in the midst of a great unchurched community, and with an ardor greater than his strength he threw himself into the splendid task of adjusting this historic and influential congregation to the needs of a modern and sinful city. Like Timothy he "naturally carcd" for men's state. He well knew the needs of the hungry soul and the perils and pitfalls of the great city. So in regard to the summer services on the lawn, and in the development of the Union Theological College, which was born in the vestry of this church in the brain of Professor Jernberg and in the heart of Doctor Aldrich also in regard to the potentialities of Carpenter Chapel and Hooker Hall, in the development of our Sunday School work and summer camps, in the whole social life of the church and especially in the intense and practical pastoral work, he caught the vision, followed the gleam, lived on a high plane and at a high tension until he had pre- maturely worn himself out with unselfish abandonment in the service of Christ, of this church and this community, but not before he had proven himself an efficient, wise, foresighted and great-liearted leader, and had widened and deepened the scope of the ministry of New First Church.
331
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
Slowly he had become an epitome and practical interpreter of that democracy men hear so much about and understand so little because its keynote is service-unselfish service even until death. He laid down the pathways of service in this community which New First will probably follow for many years to come.
He touched all sorts and conditions of men. While developing loyal and loving contact with rescue and reclamation agencies, he stood between men and the prison walls, stood between the hungry and want, and was looked up to by hundreds for guidance in their hour of trouble and was beloved by hundreds more who seldom entered the church but were the better for this church and his ministry in it.
His house was known to all the vagrant train :
He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain.
He loved unselfishly, sympathized with and suffered vicari- ously with and for those lives he touched and touching lifted toward the crystal purity of his own trustful, hopeful soul.
As he gave so unstintedly so he grew into mastery and in the subtle power of his appeal to men. Honors sought him, but he sought them not.
For other aims his heart had learned to prize, More skilled to raise the wretched than to rise.
He looked out at this multitude scattered abroad and going astray because they had no Shepherd, so he made the pastorate the crown of all his work. He could not rest while these multitudes were away on the wild mountains of sin. He longed to see them safe in the fold of the Good Shepherd. So he went out after them, carried them on his strong shoulders, literally bore their burdens, shared their sorrows and poured out his life's strength for them until one Sunday two short years ago, about the time of the evening sacrifice, God said: "It is enough, come up higher." Then "God's finger touched him and he slept."
But the scene in this church when thousands passed his bier with eyes blinded by tears was eloquent of the people's love for the beloved pastor and will never fade from the memories of those who were privileged to be present. The tablet unveiled now by his son Baldwin bears the legend Psa. 78:22: "So he was their Shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skill- fulness of his hands."
CARLOS ALEXANDER ROBERTS was born March 28, 1861, in Wood county, Ohio. He is a son of Cutler Fellows and Jeannette (Voss) Roberts, who upon their marriage settled near Wallbridge, where the son grew up and was educated in the common schools. Here he worked at farming many years.
Mr. C. F. Roberts first bought land in Wood county, then he bought farm land in Lucas county that is now within the city limits of Toledo. After disposing of this property he owned another farm in Lucas county. Whenever another man offered him his price the land was for sale, and his next land investment was in Henry county where he lived five years, sold the land and in 1878 he invested in timber land in Swan Creek Township. Twenty years later he sold it and removed to McClure, Ohio. He died there February 12, 1907. and his wife died two years later in Wauseon.
Although he had his home with his parents, C. A. Roberts worked out as a farm hand until he was thirty-four years old, when
332
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
he was married to Fannie Carter, of Amboy Township, Fulton county. She is a daughter of Solomon Carter. She had been mar- ried before to Samucl Baldwin, and she has one son, Frank Bald- win, of Swan Creek Township. Soon after his marriage Mr. Roberts bought 120 acres of land, with about sixty acres cleared, and he now has ninety acres under cultivation. He is engaged in general farm- ing and the livestock business, giving special attention to thorough- bred Holstein dairy cattle.
Mr. Roberts has modern farm improvements, having built and rebuilt all the buildings himself. He is a member of the Christian Union Church and in politics he is a republican. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are: Esther Carter, wife of Jacob Evans; and Nolan F. Roberts.
The business in which Mr. Roberts has been engaged for many years is a truly constructive service. He has developed farms, bring- ing them to a state of profitable production, has built homes, and while he has done this as a regular business, the aggregate results have brought substantial benefits to the several communities in which he has lived. His business and his good citizenship are facts that are thoroughly appreciated in his home community of Swan Creek.
GEORGE H. CRANE, a banker of Fayette, spent his early life in Lenawee county, Michigan, but for many years was in Pennsylvania, with the iron and steel industry.
Mr. Crane was born in Madison Township, Lenawee county, November 25, 1871, son of Calvin H. and Jennie (Merrick) Crane. His paternal grandparents were George L. and Leah R. (Ramsdell) Crane, the former born in 1810. The great-grandparents, George and Charity (Lincoln) Crane, were natives of Massachusetts, and in 1817 became part of the moving tide of population going over the Alleghenies to the middle west, and were among the first home makers in southern Michigan, in Lenawee county. Calvin H. Crane was born in Lenawee county, and while attending school at Union Springs, New York, met Miss Jennie Merrick, who was born in Rose Valley, that state, daughter of George W. and Elsie O. Mer- rick. After his marriage he returned to Michigan and became an engineer with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. He died in 1916, while his wife passed away November 30, 1871, George H. being her only child.
George H. Crane was reared in the homes of his paternal and maternal grandparents in Lenawee county. He attended the Friends school at Adrian, graduating in 1890, and soon afterward went to Cleveland, where for 11/2 years he was superintendent of motive power for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. For seven years he had charge of the office of the C. B. Pennock whole- sale house at Adrian, Michigan, and then joined the Page Fence Company at Monessen, Pennsylvania, serving as chief paymaster two years and then as chief clerk for the entire plant. He remained with that industry seven years, and in 1906 resigned and located at Fayette. Here he assisted in organizing the Fayette State Savings Bank, of which he has since been cashier. H. C. Rorick is presi- dent, John C. Rorick, vice president, A. V. Foster, M. B. Badger, Eva M. Crane and George M. Griffin, directors.
Mr. Crane married September 17, 1897, Miss Eva Rorick, who was born in Seneca Township of Lenawee county, daughter of Cas- per and Alice (Horton) Rorick, also natives of the same county. Mr. and Mrs. Crane have two children, Amy C. and George H. The
333
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
daughter is a graduate of Oxford College for Women in Ohio and is now teaching in the high school at Fayette.
Mr. Crane has served Fayette as mayor one term, as member of the School Board five years, and during that time was president three times. He is a democrat and is a Knight Templar Mason.
SIMON MARION WAGONER. While John Wagoner, who planted the family tree in the United States, was born in Alsace-Lorraine, Simon Marion Wagoner of Swan Creek is in the third generation of the family in Ohio. His parents, John and Catharine (Kessler) Wagoner, are natives of Seneca county. The grandfather, John Wagoner, of Perry county, was a son of the immigrant, John Wagoner. John Wagoner, Sr., came to the United States when he was fifteen years of age.
When John Wagoner came to America he was accompanied by an older brother, who wanted to enlist in the army, but on account of the age of the younger brother the young man had difficulty in enlisting, and finally both were made soldiers. The brother was killed at the battle of the Cow Pens, and at Yorktown John Wagoner was within fifteen feet of General Washington when General Corn- wallis surrendered to him.
The maternal grandparents of S. M. Wagoner, John Kessler and his wife, came from Germany and they were early settlers in Sandusky county. The paternal grandfather, John Wagoner, Jr., was a soldier in the War of 1812, and he was at Detroit when Hull surrendered. After his marriage John Wagoner, Jr., purchased an eighty-acre farm from his father in Sandusky county, but in 1852 he sold it to a brother and he then located in Swan Creek Township, Fulton county. He entered forty acres and bought forty across the line in Henry county. It was all wild land and he cleared and im- proved it. He died in 1907, at the age of eighty-six years. His wife had been dead forty years.
Simon M. Wagoner was the oldest child born in the family of John Wagoner, and the others are: Mahla, who is deceased, mar- ried Frank Werich; Mary, wife of Charles Stevens, of Liberty Center, Ohio; Jacob, of Swan Creek; Thomas J., of Swan Creek : Sarah, wife of Michael McGee, of Sandusky county; Emma, wife of James Gabriel, of Ashtabula county; and George, who died in childhood; and John, deceased.
While the Wagoner family's military history began in the Revolutionary war and cropped out again in the second war with England, S. M. Wagoner sustained the reputation of the family in the Civil war, enlisting February 4, 1864, in Company 9, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, S. S., under Capt. W. L. Sterns, and he was mustered in on the eighteenth of March. He was a private to be armed with a Spencer rifle, but bartered the position for a major's commission in the Sixtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, much against the wishes of the company.
Major Wagoner was in many of the hard fought battles of the Civil war, including the battle of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Nye River, North Ann River, Salem Court House, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, where he was stationed at the time of a mine explosion, and he was at Weldon Railroad. At Cold Harbor Major Wagoner was shot in the right arm, and he was sent to an
334
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
army hospital at Washington City. Later he was in the follow- ing battles: Yellow Farm, Ream Station, Poplar Grove, Pegram Farm, Squirrel Level Road, Hatches Run, Notaway River and Fort Steadman. On July. 28, 1865, Major Wagoner received his discharge.
When Mr. Wagoner was again a private citizen he cleared a forty acre tract he had purchased from his father. He built a house and barn and made other necessary improvements there, later buy- ing another forty acre timber tract, which he also converted into farm land, and he was always active in farm work until 1913, when he rented his land, although he lives in retirement at the old home- stead where he began his activities at the close of the Civil war.
In September, 1866, Mr. Wagoner married Catharine Smith. She was born September 6, 1843, in Seneca county. She is a daughter of Abraham and Rebekah (Berkstresser) Smith. They were natives of York state, but they came early to Ohio.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wagoner are: Charles and William, of Toledo; Alpha, wife of Ralph Earhart, of Huntington, Indiana; Estella, wife of Charles Hoyt, of Toledo; and one child, Rebekah, who died in infancy.
Mr. Wagoner has been an active man in community affairs. While he had but meager educational advantages, knowing only the log school houses of the day, he has served Swan Creek Town- ship as justice of the peace, and he has served as an elder in the Christian Union Church. In politics Mr. Wagoner is a democrat. He is a member of Hendricks Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Colton, Ohio. For thirty years he served the post as quartermaster.
There is perhaps no family represented in the citizenship of Fulton county more completely imbued with American patriotism than that of Simon M. Wagoner. He and his descendants are eligible to membership in the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution and he himself has earned the lasting esteem of his nation for the part he played in preserving the Union. Mr. Wagoner was born at Sandusky, Ohio, August 27, 1842, was a young man when he entered the army, and during the half century since the war he served equally well in civil responsibilities by clearing and developing one of the good farms of Fulton county.
JOEL GEARIG, one of the prosperous general farmers of Swan Creek Township, deserves special credit for his success, for he has earned it through his own efforts. He was born in German Town- ship, Fulton county, on September 23, 1863, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (King) Gearig, natives of France and Switzerland, re- spectively. Christian Gearig, the paternal grandfather, and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Fry, came to the United States about 1829, settling in Wayne county, Ohio, and when Swan Creek Township was still a part of Lucas county he came to it and entered 160 acres of land north of Pettisville. The maternal grandfather came to Fulton county at an early day and entered 240 acres of land in German Township, on which Joseph Gearig and his wife settled after their marriage, and where they spent the remainder of their lives. Their children were as follows: Mattie, who is Mrs. Fred Peters, of Michigan; Anna, who is Mrs. Nathan Aeachli- man, of Clinton Township; Daniel, who lives at Elmira, Ohio; Amos, who lives in Hillsdale county, Michigan; Catherine; who is Mrs. Joseph Bonier, of Clinton Township; Joel, whose name heads this review; and Joseph, who lives in Michigan.
335
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
Joel Gearig attended the schools of his home district, and re- mained with his parents until his marriage, which occurred on April 6, 1886, when he was united with Rose Bonier, born in France, a daughter of Andrew and Catherine (Guyman) Bonier. After his marriage Mr. Gearig bought forty acres of land in Ger- man Township, but not long afterward sold it and moved to Schuy- ler county, Missouri, where he bought an eighty-acre farm and con- ducted it for two years. Selling that farm, he bought another one of 134 acres in the same county, and the operating of it occupied him for five years. Receiving a good offer for this land, he sold it and came back to Fulton county and rented the family home- stead in German Township until 1900, when he bought eighty acres in section 3, Swan Creek Township, of which thirty acres were cleared and the remainder in timber. The buildings were old and small, and he has rebuilt and enlarged them, and put others where needed, and made other necessary improvements, having his premises in good condition. At the same time he has kept busy putting his land in condition, having it now all cleared with the exception of about four acres of brush. In all of his farming he has raised a general line of crops, and he is now milking from six to seven cows of the Holstein strain.
Mr. and Mrs. Gearig became the parents of the following chil- dren: Ira, who died when he was twenty-six years and four months old; Edwin, who is at home; Homer, who is a farmer of Swan Creek Township; Oscar, who is a farmer of Fulton Township; and Cath- erine, who is at home. Mr. Gearig is a democrat, but aside from exercising his right of suffrage, he has taken but little part in pub- lic affairs. He is a very practical man, and has devoted himself steadfastly to the earning of a living for his family through the medium of his farming activities. While he has been in sympathy with those measures which had for their object the advancement of the several communities to which his business took him, Mr. Gearig did not feel that he was so placed that he could be active in pro- moting them. His recreation has been found in his home and with his family, and he is not a member of any fraternity. He does maintain a membership, however, in the Christian Union Church, and gives it a generous financial support. It is such men as Mr. Gearig, dependable, upright, industrious, never sparing them- selves, but working along in a straight path of every day duty, who make up the great backbone of real Americanism. They are the men who can be depended upon to rise to the occasion in any emer- gency where solid citizenship is needed, and are the founders and preservers of the agricultural interests of the nation.
WILLIAM V. BARNARD. There is a great satisfaction to be found in the realization, that one's life work has brought forth re- sults which are visible to the world. It sometimes happens that a man has accomplished much, but that circumstances are such that he receives no outward credit for his work, and is made to feel that to his neighbors he is anything but a success. Such a condition is not a happy one, and consequently when results appear on the sur- face the one producing them is to be congratulated. The fine farm property of William V. Barnard of Swan Creek Township proves that he is a good farmer and excellent business man, for he has developed and improved this estate from wild land through his own personal efforts. ,
336
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
William V. Barnard was born in Wayne county, Ohio, April 6, 1839, a son of Jacob and Hannah (Smith) Barnard, natives of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, respectively. They were married in Pennsylvania, and came to Ohio in the early '30s. His wife died about 1843, having borne him five children after they came to Ohio, as follows: John, who is deceased; Mary Jane and Margaret, both of whom are also deceased; William V., whose name heads this review; and Jacob Smith, who is a resident of Wooster, Ohio. After the death of his first wife Jacob Barnard was mar- ried to Catherine Burns, and they had four children, namely: Han- nah, who is Mrs. James Dennis of Ashland, Ohio; Jane, who is de- ceased; Thomas, who is a resident of Medina county, Ohio; and a fourth who is deceased. Following the death of the second Mrs. Bar- nard, Jacob Barnard was married to Margaret Cravin, and both are now deceased.
Until 1860 William V. Barnard lived with his father and then for two years conducted one of his father's farms. For the subse- quent year he worked by the day, and then rented a farm in Seneca county, Ohio, until he bought fifty acres of land on a sand ridge in Hancock county, Ohio, all of which was in a wild state. He par- tially improved this farm, living upon it for six or seven years, and then sold it and bought forty acres of partly improved land in Wood county, Ohio, operating it for ten years, a portion of the time residing at Hoytville, Ohio, where he bought 1/2 acre of land and erected a house on it. This continued to be his home until in 1894. On September 24th of that year he bought forty acres of wild wood- land in Swan Creek Township, and since then has cleared off all the brush and timber, dug out the stumps, and made many valuable improvements, including the erection of suitable buildings, and he now has one of the best farms in the township
In 1860 Mr. Barnard was united in marriage with Mary Bastel, born in Wayne county, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Bertha (Bastel) Bastel. Mr. and Mrs. Barnard had the following chil- dren: Anna Maria, who is Mrs. Elmer Letherman of Colton; Lor- inda Jane, who is keeping house for her father; Ezekiel, who lives in Kansas; and Mrs. William Thomas, who lives at North Balti- more, Ohio. Mrs. Barnard died about 1897.
Mr. Barnard had but few educational advantages in his youth, as he had to go to work as soon as he was able to handle the farm implements, but he has been a keen observer and has kept himself well informed on current matters, and has always had more than his share of good common sense. In politics he is a strong republi- can. For some years he has been a member of the Church of God. A man of strict integrity and upright living, he stands very high among his neighbors, and deserves the prosperity which is his.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.