USA > Ohio > Hardin County > A twentieth century history of Hardin County, Ohio : a narrative account of its historical progress its people and principal interests, Vol. II > Part 30
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his entire life was filled with deep human sympathy and tolerance, was marked by kindly thoughts and kindly deeds, and was guided and governed by the highest principles of integrity and honor.
In October, 1848, was solemnized the marriage of Colonel Furney to Miss Louisa B. Soule, who was born at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, whence she came with her parents to Ohio when a child. Of the three children of this union one son and one danghter died on the same day, of scarlet fever, the son having been four and the daughter two years of age. The only surviving child, Melvus G., is one of the representative business men and honored and influential citizens of Kenton, which city has ever been his home and in which he is now successfully engaged in the drug business. Colonel and Mrs. Furney walked side by side down the pathway of life for a period of more than sixty-one years, and cele- brated their sixty-first marriage anniversary, October 15, 1909. They were sustained and comforted by mutual love and sympathy, and their married life was of idyllic order. In her bereavement the loved and ven- erable widow finds her chief solace and compensation in the gracious and hallowed memories and associations of the past, and to her is accorded the affectionate regard of the entire community. She was born on the 11th of June, 1823, and is a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Porter) Soule, who passed the closing years of their lives in Kenton, Ohio.
Melvns G. Furney, the only surviving child of the honored subject of this memoir, was born in Kenton, on the 27 of June, 1853, and was here reared to manhood. Ile is a loyal and progressive citizen and is well upholding the prestige of the honored name which he bears. He married Miss Mina De Voe, and they have seven children.
In conclusion is entered the following brief tribute, which appeared in a Kenton paper at the time of the death of Colonel Furney : "Colonel Furney was one of the oldest business men of Kenton. While he lived he was the pioneer business man of the city. All of the people who were of Kenton when he first resided here are now gone from among the living. He was the lone survivor and he. the last link between the remote past and the present, has now also joined the fathers. Colonel Furney was a man of more than ordinary worth to his community. Ile was a citizen of thrift, economy, straight living and honorable purpose. His life was honest, his example worthy of emulation. His long year's of industry and Christian service won for him late years of peace and happiness."
JAMES B. WICKWIRE .- Now in his seventy-eighth year, James B. Wiekwire, the substantial farmer who is the proprietor of a fine country place of one hundred and sixty acres in Blanchard township, is still active in mind and body, and an honor to his well-ordered life and his sturdy ancestry. Ilis farm is not only valuable because of the improve- ments which he has been adding to it for years, but because of the recem tapping of a large deposit of natural gas upon his land. Mr. Wiekwire sunk the well in November, 1909, to a depth of 1.443 feet, and struck gas in sufficient quantities to fully supply his place with heat and light, with a surplus to meet outside demands from his neighbors. As several
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adjacent estates have found oil, the company is still drilling and has every reason to believe that they will strike the more solid deposit.
Mr. Wiekwire has resided on his present homestead since the de- struction of his tannery by fire in 1872; but many years of his earlier life were passed in a pretty constant change of occupations and localities. He is therefore a man of wide practical information and an interesting, as well as an instructive talker. Since settling in Hardin county he has made a few trips south, east and west, including visits to Washing- ton, D. C., to the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, and the World's Fair, Buffalo, and also to Atlanta, Georgia.
James B. Wiekwire is a native of Ontario county, New York, where he was born May 22, 1833, a son of Seba and Nancy (Duesler) Wiekwire. The family had its origin in Connecticut, whither it moved to Ontario connty in the early part of the nineteenth century and, in 1835, to York township, Sandusky county, Ohio. Seba Wickwire, who thus trans- ferred the fortunes of the family to the Buckeye state, also entered a half section of land in Delaware township, Hancock county, for himself, and a like amount for his brother-in-law. His first purchase in Sandusky county consisted of a "forty," with a log cabin upon it, and to this he added, as the years passed, until he was the owner of seven "forties" lying around the original tract. Mr. and Mrs. Seba Wiekwire became the parents of five children, besides James B., namely : George and William (both deceased) ; Seba, Lydia (deceased) and Alfred.
The subject of this sketch, the last-born of the family, lost his mother when he was a young boy, and he also had the misfortune to have his sister taken from him soon after his mother passed away. His brothers were all school teachers in their early manhood and as they married, and established homes of their own, the "baby of the family" was cared for with true fraternal solicitude. About 1849, when he was sixteen years of age, he first attended school away from home, at Scipio (now Republice), Seneca county, Ohio. He then enjoyed a short schooling at Oberlin, but abandoned his studies to start a general store at Green Spring, where his brother William had established himself in business. Prior to that time James B. had served as a driver on the old Miami & Wabash canal. At Green Spring he tired of "steady business" and fitted up a Yankee notion rig, with which he started west, selling his goods on the way. There his brothers George and William located and organized the Angola Bank, operating the institution until their death and passing the management over to their heirs. Mr. Wickwire, of this sketch, taught school and studied medicine for a time, after selling his peddler's outfit, and then commenced his rovings through Iowa to St. Louis, Kansas City, Fort Leavenworth, St. Joe and Omaha. The city last named was then' but a rough lumber camp, surrounded by Indian settlements. The young man staked ont a elaim of one hundred and sixty acres in this wild western country, assisted in laying out into sections what are now twelve Nebraska counties (then Washington and Burt), and helped plat Cuming City in which he invested to the extent of a few lots. Until the fall of 1859 he drifted back and forth between Omaha and St. Joe, teaching school and engaged
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in various lines of business, when he returned to the middle west. mar- ried and went into partnership with his brother George in the operation of a meat market at Angola, Indiana.
The latter venture was continued until April, 1864, when Mr. Wiekwire, with three friends, started for Virginia City, Montana, mak- ing the trip afoot to Waterloo. The party took train to Chicago, where they purchased their provisions, and then started for Grinnell, Iowa (whither they had shipped their wagon), which at that time was the end of the Union Pacific Railroad. At Davenport, Mr. Wickwire and another member of the party bought the oxen for the trip, and drove them to Grinnell. There they found their wagon ; but their provisions and other goods never arrived. The ronte from that point was up the Missouri valley to Omaha, where a stop of two weeks was made, the outfit of the party being completed by the addition of two cows to the livestock, the animals being purchased from the proceeds of Mr. Wick- wire's house at Cuming City. Buying another stock of provisions at Omaha, they finally started for Virginia City. Their destination was not reached without a fatal encounter with the Indians, which occurred July 3, 1864, near the scene of the Custer massacre. They had joined other emigrants bonnd for Virginia City, and in the two hours' battle with the fierce Sioux seven were killed and four wounded. The bustling Montana mining camp was reached August 23. 1864, but Mr. Wiekwire engaged in the pack-train business for about two months. Then, after a severe spell of sickness he crossed the Rockies into Idaho, and worked in the gold diggings at Idaho City and other points until the summer of 1865. In the fall he went to Oregon City, and thence took passage on a sailing vessel for San Francisco, the weather being such that this trip which usually consumed abont nine days occupied twenty-four. A month or so was passed in California, when Mr. Wickwire started for New York City, via Nicaragua. The trip through the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean was commenced at Greytown, and the only really rough weather was experienced off Cape Hatteras. New York harbor was sighted March 4. 1866, and the long voyage was at an end.
Upon reaching Angola, Mr. Wickwire found that his wife and their son, Jay, were at Wauseon, Ohio. With his family he was soon located at Dunkirk, that state, where he had purchased a tannery. Ilis plant was burned in 1872, and as it was uninsured the financial blow was a hard one; but, instead of repining, he at once built a log cabin on his tract of land in Blanchard township. this county, and commenced to establish the homestead which became the abiding place of his in- creasing family and which he has developed into an attractive and valuable country place.
On February 1, 1860, Mr. Wiekwire was united in marriage with Miss M. Kezia Williams of York township. Sandusky county, and to them have been born the following: Jay W., Lillian (deceased). Clara. Roy (deceased), Edith, Cora and Maude. Jay W. Wiekwire married Miss Fannie Miller, December 14, 1907. He owns eighty acres of land near his father's farm. The daughter Clara first married J. J. Orth. who died in 1892 and by whom she had a son, Il. Clay Orth. She is
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now the wife of A. L. Braden, of Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Cora, the sixth child of Mr. and Mrs. James B. Wiekwire, married Howard Cotner, December 12, 1907, and their son, Bradford was born July 14, 1909. Maude, the youngest of the family is now Mrs. John Baersehe, of Dun- kirk, her marriage occurring in March, 1908. It may be added that all the members of the family are more or less prominent in the fraterni- ties. The father, James B., joined the Masonic order in 1855, and his son, Jay W., is a Mason of high rank. The mother and danghters are all identified with the Eastern Star, Cora and Maude being officers in the order.
To complete the genealogy of the Wickwire family the main facts should be added regarding the brothers of James B. George married (first) Loretta Lemon, by whom he had three children, and (second) Rebecca HIanna, who bore him seven-all but one of whom are living. William married Olivia Crockett, and his childless widow is living at Angola, Indiana, eighty-seven years of age. Seba, who is a resident of Clyde, Sandusky county, and eighty-five years of age, has been mar- ried four times- first, to Sophia Crockett ; secondly, to Hannah Crockett, a sister; thirdly, to Mary Gale, by whom he had six children, all but one alive; and fourthly, to Vina Blanchard. Alfred S. was twice married. By his first wife, Kate Ann Huffman, he became the father of one son Fremont ad by his second wife, Elisa Gray, father of seven, all of whom survive. James B. Wickwire has been twice married, his first wife being formerly a Miss Julia Merriman. There were no children by this union.
Alfred S. Wiekwire, a brother of James B. Wiekwire, had the following children: Fremont, born May 18, 1866; Myrtilla, June 18, 1870; Carrie, March 21, 1872; William, June 16, 1874; Ora, December 1. 1877; Roscoe, September 20, 1880; Olivia, January 8, 1883; and Alfred Glen, December 20, 1886. Myrtilla married a Mr. Shade and has the following children : Anna May, born August 5, 1903, and William Roy born September 17, 1904. Carrie is the wife of Mr. Davis and her children are: Gertrude M. born November 21, 1899, Ruth born October 8, 1903, and Russel, born May 20, 1907. Ora Wickwire has the following children: Clara born December 13, 1899, Florence, October 4, 1901, and Opal, April 26, 1909. The children of Roscoe Wickwire art. Bonetta, born December 30, 1906, and Undine, December 2, 1908.
The grand and great-grandchildren of George Wickwire are as follows: Children of Charles and Catharine Wiekwire are, Ethel W., born November 1, 1883, Esther I., March 18, 1885, Ruth R., June 20, 1893, died February 12, 1894, and George C. Wickwire, born February 7, 1895; children of Wilma Wickwire Elston are: Lynn, born April 9, 1893, and Ralph, August 5, 1898; child of Nellie Wiekwire Lease is Nellie Fern Lease, born January 25, 1890; children of Loretta A. C. Wickwire Sanders are Guy W., born in 1874 and Paul W., born in 1887; children of Guy W. Sanders and great-grandchildren of George W. Wiekwire are: Mark C. Sanders, born in 1904, and Hugh G. Sanders, born in 1909; children of Catharine Wickwire Miller are: Clyde W., born September 21, 1877, Waldo W., October 19, 1884, and Wayne T., March 30, 1888.
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM BREECE
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The great-grandchildren of Laura Wickwire Merriman are: Frank- lin J. Merriman, born October 8, 1859; Ella Rowley, born September 20, 1866, married July 3, 1895, and has J. Rowley Merriman, born May 14, 1896, G. Clem Merriman, born April 8, 1899, and June Lois Merriman, born June 11, 1906.
WILLIAM BREECE .- One of the largest land-owners and most exten- sive dealers in stock in Hardin county is William Breece, of Roundhead township. Mr. Breece was born May 12, 1834, in Logan county, Ohio, and is a son of Robert and Lydia (Henry) Breece. Robert Breece spelled his name "Brees," and was a native of Wales. He came to the United States with his parents when a child, and was one of the pioneers of Ohio, living in several different parts of the state at different times. He married Lydia Henry in Logan county, Ohio; her parents were natives of Virginia and settled in Logan county, where the daughter was born. They spent the remainder of their lives in Logan county, but Robert Breece and his wife located in Allen county and later removed to Hardin county among the early settlers. Mr. Breece died in Hardin county at the age of fifty-five years.
Robert Breece walked from Roundhead May 28, 1835, to Bucyrus, and entered eighty acres of land in the woods in Roundhead township, and which is now owned by his son William and held as the old home- stead. But little of the land in Hardin county was cleared at that time, and he set out to improve his farm and erect a house, and here he spent the remainder of his life. Of his nine children but two now survive (1910), William and Amanda, Mrs. Gillman, also of Roundhead township.
William Breece was a small boy when the family settled premanently in Hardin county, and as he grew up he helped to improve the farm, attending school winters. He became an expert farmer, and was a good judge of land values; for the past twenty years he has often acted as a land appraiser, and at one time owned about six hundred acres of land himself, all of which he acquired through his own efforts. Ile has always been very successful as a farmer and is a self-made man. For many years he has been very active in buying and selling cattle and other stoek, and is a business man of sound judgment and intelligence. Hle now owns his father's old homestead. and his possessions of land alto- gether aggregates about five hundred and fifty acres.
Mr. Brecce married Sarah Axtel, and she became the mother of four children, only one of whom survives, Lydia, wife of M. L. Baugh- man, who lives in Kenton. Mr. Baughman and his wife have four sons and one daughter. Mr. Breece is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Roundhead. Politically he has always supported the principles of the Democratic party, although he has taken no very active part in public affairs. He was elected land appraiser in 1909. He is well known throughout the county, where he is highly respected ITis wife died in November, 1909. after a married life of fifty-one years. She was a woman of high character, universally esteemed, and her death was widely mourned.
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E. M. TURNER is one of the land owners and representative farmers of Liberty township, the place of his birth, January 8, 1854. He is a son of Isaac B. and Elizabeth (Wood) Turner, the father born in Muskingum connty, Ohio, June 17, 1817, and the mother was born near Zanesville of this state in 1828. She was a daughter of Samuel Wood and a sister of the Hon. James J. Wood, probate judge of Hardin county for some years, and of David Wood of Ada. Isaac B. Turner and Elizabeth Wood were married in Muskingum county, Ohio, and their seven children were tenderly reared and well educated, all of them receiving the advantages of the University at Ada and with the exception of Howard all taught school. In order of birth they are Jane (de- ceased), John W., Franklin, E. M., S. W .. S. H. and Howard. Franklin Turner married Miss Catherine Reed, and they have children, Clara, Otis, Harry and Cora. S. W. Turner married first Miss H. O. Kridler, by whom he had two sons, Lloyd and Walter, and he married for his second wife Olive Meyers, and they also had two children, Paul and Helen. Howard married Dora Tressel, and their five children are Donna, Alva, Paul, Emmit and Gladys. Jane became the wife of S. Turner, and had a son, Roy.
Early in the '50s Isaac B. Turner came to Hardin county and bought eigthy acres of land in Liberty township, but in 1866 he sold that property and bought a one hundred and thirty acre tract in the same township, now the property of his son. He built a log house there and partly cleared the land, but seeing the necessity of buying more land and taking advantage of a good market he disposed of that property and purchased the present homestead of E. M. Turner. He was a charter member of the Methodist Episcopal church, Ames chapel, and he served that society for many years as a trustee. His influence and advice were often sought and freely given, and he was active in every worthy enterprise for the benefit of his community. He died on the 14th of December, 1902, mourned by a host of friends. He survived his wife a number of years. she having died in 1880.
E. M. Turner, a son of Isaac B. and Elizabeth, is now one of the representative farmers of Liberty township, owning and occupying the old Turner homestead there, a valuable and productive farm of one hundred and thirty acres. He was educated in the public schools of Liberty township, and completed his studies at the Northern Ohio Uni- versity at Ada, afterward teaching school for seven terms. He then turned his attention exclusively to farming. In 1876 he was married to Miss Alice, a daughter of John Tressel, and of the seven children which blessed their union six grew to mature years, namely: Nora, the wife of J. P. Motter; Ward E., who married Miss Ivan Hawk, and their two children are Ray and Alice; Charles C., who married Miss Bertha Rothrock ; Roy, deceased; Floyd; Earl and Ruth. Both Charles C. and Floyd are graduates of the Ohio Northern University at Ada. Mrs. Turner, the mother of these children died on the 19th of August, 1904, and for his second wife Mr. Turner married Mrs. Hattie Henry September 3, 1906. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has served his church as a trustee and as a Sunday school superintendent.
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THOMAS LINCOLN BREEDLOVE .- Among the industrious, sneeessful men of Hardin county is T. L. Breedlove, who has been a resident of of the locality since 1893. Mr. Breedlove was born in Washington county, Illinois, November 17, 1860, and is a son of William and Char- lotte (Stroble) Breedlove, natives of Champaign county Ohio. When he was ten years of age he came with his parents to Ohio, where they located on a farm. He spent his boyhood days working on his father's farm through the summers and attending the public school winters, receiving a fair education. He remained at home until he reached his maturity, and learned the details of farming.
In 1879 Mr. Breedlove married Emma Arnold, of Champaign county, Ohio, and to this union seven children have been born, as fol- lows: Clara, Valire, Lillie, Valore, James, John and Oscar. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Breedlove moved to Anglaise county, Ohio, where he lived on a farm until 1893, when he located in Hardin county, which has been his home since. He settled in Alger, and is now foreman in the onion fields about two and a half miles southeast of Alger, for George F. Stambangh.
Mr. Breedlove is a man of good principles and high character, and is respected wherever he is known. He is honest and upright in his dealings and has many friends. Politically he upholds the principles of the Republican party, and he takes a commendable interest in local affairs.
JOHN C. SHELLER, a prosperons farmer of Marion township, Har- din county, Ohio, was born in Seneca county, Ohio, August 14, 1857, son of John and Catharine (Kemmerly) Sheller, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Fairfield, Ohio. When he was a small boy both his parents died, and he was early thrown upon his own re- sources. He was reared on a farm, and up to the time he was fifteen years of age he attended district school during the winter terms. From the time he was fifteen until he was twenty-three he was a wage worker on farms and began early to buy out the heirs of his father's farm. Then he married and settled down to farming on his own responsibility. Today he is the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and fifty-four acres in section 14, Marion township and is engaged in general farming and stock raising.
Mr. Sheller first married Miss Mary James, who bore him one child that died in infancy, her death following soon afterward. For his second wife he married Miss Maggie Sorg, who was born in Seneca county, Ohio, November 19, 1864. daughter of Peter and Mary (Kuhn) Sorg. Her parents were born and married in Germany and had two children when they came to this country and settled in Ohio. During the Civil war Peter Sorg enlisted in the Union army, and was killed in battle at Stone river. Ilis widow subsquently moved to Fostoria, Ohio, where she died October, 1905. The children by this second marriage are as follows: Nora, born January 15, 1887, wife of Earl Scott ; John Alvin, October 9, 1888; Mary, September 14, 1890; Elsie, May 12, 1895, and Fannie, September 23, 1897. Miss Mary is a teacher of piano music, and has a large class.
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Mr. Sheller and his family are members of Pleasant Valley United Brethren church, and, politically, his support has always been given to the Republican party, though he has never been active in politics.
CHARLES SHUSTER is a prominent and worthy farmer in Liberty township and he descends from one of the early pioneer families of Hardin county. John Shuster, his paternal grandfather, born in Penn- sylvania and subsequently moving to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, married Elizabeth Wingate, and in 1835 entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 8, Liberty township, Hardin county. And in 1839, with his wife and nine children, he drove here to ocenpy his land, all his affects with the exception of some stock which they drove being packed in one wagon in which they rode. Arriving here they were housed by some of their distant neighbors until a log cabin could be erected, which was soon accomplished, and then began life in true pioneer style. As this move was made in November there was no chance of putting in a crop for some time, but wild game was abundant and provided them with their principal means of sustenance until a crop could be put in and harvested. The virgin soil soon gave way to the axe and the plow, and in a few years John Shuster had evolved a rich and productive farm. Twelve children were born to John and Eliza- beth Shuster, namely: Samnel, Sara, Mary, Daniel, Martha, John, Henry, Elizabeth, Joshua, George, Wesley and Elihu. The three last named were born in Hardin county, and four of this family are now living,-Martha, John, llenry and Elihn. John Shuster, the father, died in Hardin county on the 22d of October, 1881, at the age of eighty- three years.
Daniel Shuster, the fourth born child in the above family, was born in Tusearawas county, Ohio, February 22, 1827, and he was twelve years of age when the family came to Hardin county. His early life unti young manhood was spent with his father clearing their new farm, and later he worked out by the month. In addition to this work he also learned the carpenter's trade and worked at it for a number of years, being a useful and much sought after man on account of his skill as a mechanie and his willingness to give value received. At his death he owned one hundred acres of valuable farming land, the greater part of which he had cleared. He was a member of the Lutheran church, and he was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him on account of his sterling qualities and upright character. On the 25th of December, 1852, he was happily married to Christine Kuhn, and the following children were born to them: Clara, the wife of G. V. Guyton; Lucy, deceased, was the wife A. Aldering; Angelia married C. E. Overmeyer ; Ida is the wife of F. P. Rusher ; K. A. married Nora Flynn ; and Charles. Daniel Shuster, the father, died on the 14th of October, 1881, and he is still survived by his widow.
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