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 47
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Joseph A. Rubeck lived with his parents until his majority and attended school until seventeen years of age. He farmed four years for himself and then began conducting his present farm with his brother and sister. He farmed in partnership with them until his marriage, when he purchased their interest and has since conducted the farm on his own account. He has one hundred and fifty-two acres of fine land, and besides general farming pays special attention to poultry and stock. He is a member of the Catholic church in Larue, and although interested in public affairs takes no active part in politics. He is a progressive, up-to-date farmer, and produces the maximum of profit from his farm. He is well known in the community and has a large circle of friends.
Mr. Rubeck married Helen Offenburger, a native of Washington county, born March 4, 1886, daughter of Laundler Offenburger, who is now fifty-five years of age. Ile is a plumber by trade and he and his wife, Mary (Glant) Offenburger (aged fifty-one years) live in Marietta, Ohio. Both are natives of Pennsylvania. Besides Mrs. Rubeck Mr. Offenburger and his wife have children as follows: Anna, wife of II. Albrecht, of Mansfield; Rosa, wife of Al Kuhns, of Pittsburg; George, of Columbus; and Ollie, Paul and Florence, all at home. Mr. Offen- burger and his wife belong to the Catholic church and are members of the Altar society of the church. Mr. Rubeck and his wife are parents of two children, namely: Maris Christina, born July 14. 1904. and Denandis, born February 15, 1908.
ALBERT WILLIS COOK, a successful and substantial farmer of Dudley township, Hardin county, is a native of the township, and was born on the old Cook homestead, June 26, 1858. He is a son of Nelson Wesley and Susanna ( (Dilldine) Cook, the former a native of Knox county. Ohio, and a son of Silvanus Cook.
Silvanus Cook was born in Washington county. Pennsylvania, April 14, 1807, and came to Ohio at the age of seven years, locating with his parents in Richland county. He was married, April 23, 1830, to Anna Spracklin, who was born June 14, 1805, a native of England, who came with her parents to the United States, at the age of eighteen years. Silvanus Cook was a stanch Republican and active in public matters; he served in several townships and was active in the interests of his party. He removed to Hardin county in 1843.
After attending the public schools Nelson Wesley Cook helped with
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the work of his father's farm and took up the trade of carpenter, which he followed until his marriage. He rented the old Ward farm for one year after his marriage, then purchased the homestead which became the family home, in 1859. In 1879 he erected a brick house, the first in the vicinity; he made his own brick, after building the kiln himself, and procured the mortar from his farm. He carried on farming until his death, February 3, 1880, at the age of fifty years. His widow now resides in Marion, Ohio, and has reached the age of seventy-three years. Mr. Cook was a Republican, though he took no active part in politics, and he was a member of the United Brethren church. He and his wife were parents of ten children, of whom nine still survive. Albert W. is the oldest son and the other children are: Mary Ann, widow of William Davis; Viola, wife of William Key; John Elmer, a farmer of Iowa; Katy, wife of Charles Wosts; Lydia, wife of William Morris; Harry, a farmer of Marion county ; Maude, wife of Charles Ansley ; and Claude, a salesman, of Marion.
Albert W. Cook attended publie school until he was fifteen years of age and then assisted with the work of the farm, remaining at home until he was of age. After the death of his father he was the mainstay of the family, as he was the oldest son and the youngest child was only a year and a half old. He remained with his mother until his marriage, then rented a farm in Marion county one year, and later purchased the home where he now lives, the old Dilldine home. The Dilldine family owned one of the first log houses in the vicinity, and when Mr. Cook purchased the farm it contained fifty acres, of which only five acres was cleared. He now owns ninety-three acres, and his farm is one of the best im- proved in the northern part of the township.
March 22, 1887, Mr. Cook married Emma Cosner, who was born in Marion county, Ohio, April 11, 1866, daughter of William Cosner, who died in 1903, at the age of seventy-three years. Mr. Cosner re- moved to Ohio from Virginia with his parents, when eighteen years of age, and they settled in Marion county, where he spent the remainder of his life farming. Mr. Cosner married Abigail Johnson, who died in 1904, at the age of sixty-nine years. She was born in Marion county, a daughter of Adam and Susan (Seyler) Johnson, pioneers of Marion
county. William Cosner was a son of Adam Cosner, who located in Marion county among the early pioneers and there carried on farming
all his life. William Cosner reared his children in the Methodist Epis-
copal faith. Besides Mrs. Cook he and his wife had children as follows : Jenny, wife of J. N. Court, of Marion, Ohio; Mary, wife of St. Powell, deceased; Frank, of Michigan, a pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church; Lizzie, deceased wife of William Hinkler; John, a farmer of Dudley township; and Lydia and Joseph, twins, the latter deceased and the former wife of W. H. Cummins. Mrs. Cook is a member of the United Brethren church and an active worker for the Ladies' Aid Society. She and her husband became parents of children as follows : Gail, born February 10, 1888, at home; Alton G., born in November, 1891, a clerk of Marion, Ohio; Hortense May, born May 8, 1893, at home ; one child who died in infancy; Nelson Allen, born October 12, 1897, at
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school ; Lena and Lorin (twins), born October 4. 1899; and Harold, born in 1902.
Mr. Cook is also a member of the United Brethren church and a parsonage trustee. He is a Republican in political principles, and held several township offices, such as supervisor (two terms) and member of the school board (two terms), and is a member of the Sons of Veterans. Ile has acquired his present snecess in life by his own unaided efforts. Ile and his wife began housekeeping with almost nothing. They had a little furniture and a few cooking utensils, and Mr. Cook owned a horse and colt he had received from his parents as wages for a year's work. He carried on general farming with good results and pays special atten- tion to stock raising, breeding and raising a number of horses. Among his horses may be named "Young Sieg," a pacer, that has figured many times in county races. This horse is sired by Sigma Nu, No. 8009, and the dam, Molly Boston, Mr. Cook raised himself. Mr. Cook also owns a dapple gray team of registered horses, a full blood stallion and good driving horses. He has a large herd of sheep. sixteen head of cattle and two registered full blood brood hogs, both of Poland China breed, from "Dew Rock,"
CHARLES R. CRUM, postmaster of Forest, and one of its representa- tive and substantial citizens, was appointed to his present office in February, 1907. Hle has fulfilled his duties in a business-like and able manner, that commends itself to all the patrons of the postoffice. Five rural routes radiate from Forest, through which some six hundred families daily receive mail.
Mr. Crum is a native of Forest, born in 1877, and was reared and educated in this town, where later he became engaged in mercantile business. He is a son of A. H. and Eleanor (Cook) Crum, the former from Richland county, Ohio. The Cook family was from Connecticut, and moved to Ohio in 1832. A. H. Crum was born in Huntington, Indiana, in 1846, and came to Ohio with his parents in 1849; and in 1858 he came to Kenton, Ohio. Ile was reared and educated in the home of his aunt, Mrs. Catherine Crum. While in Kenton, in company with his brother-in-law. D. V. Branch, he kept the Pease House. In 1861 he and Mr. Branch removed to Forest, and for some time kept a hotel in partnership. In 1862 A. II. Crum enlisted as private in Company C. Eighty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry ; he was in the Third Division and became orderly for General Robinson, of Kenton. His division became attached to General Sherman's command and took part in the historie march to the sea. At the battle of Atlanta Mr. Crum was color-bearer, and after color-guards Mahon, Knaus, Stanacher. Baker and Williams were shot down, he was still hanging to the colors of his regiment. Hle was wounded slightly in the right knee at Resaca.
Georgia. In 1865 he received his honorable discharge. At the close of the war Mr. Crum realized the need for more knowledge, and for a time attended school. Subsequently he removed to Findlay. Hancock county, Ohio, and took a clerical position, soon after which he was married. To them were born : L. D., Mrs. Gertrude Spear, Mrs. Maud
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Ford. Charles R. and Dr. John R., of Dunkirk. Mr. Crum spent twenty-seven years in farming and purchased eighty acres of land in its wild state, which he cleared and cultivated. In 1896 he removed to Forest, where he lives retired, surrounded by modern comforts and con- veniences. ITis son L. D. married Carrie A., daughter of Mrs. M. J. Foster, in 1896; Mrs. Crum was born in Marion, Ohio, July 10, 1874. They have three sons, A. Harry, born in 1898; Foster, in 1901; and Louis J. in 1908.
Charles R. Crum and his brother L. D. have for some time been proprietors of a confectionery and bakery business besides conducting a first-class lunch room in Forest. They are industrious and energetic, and have met with good success. During the Spanish-American war Charles R. Crum served as a member of Company I, Twentieth Ohio Volunteers. He belongs to Senate Lodge No. 378, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. Crum is unmarried and lives with his parents. He has the full confidence of his fellow citizens, and takes an active interest in public affairs.
CHARLES DARRELL KELLEY is prominently associated with Hardin county as a journalist, and he represents a family which has been identi- fied with Ohio since before its admission into the union of states and which has been represented in every prominent war of the nation. It was the paternal great-great-grandfather who became a resident of Ohio before its admission as a state to the Union, when the territory, sparsely settled by sturdy pioneers, was holding its own against British invasion and Indian wars. His son Joseph, of Irish lineage and a native of Ohio, was a trader, farmer and rural barrister, as was his father before him. He married Sarah Shaw, a native of Pennsylvania, and among their children was Mathew Kelley, who was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, and at the time of his death was a store keeper at Groveport, Ohio. He married Louisa Weaver, and among their children numbered Isaac Kelley, who became the father of the Kenton editor. Isaac N. Kelley was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, subsequently moved to Franklin county, this state, and after attending school there and at Ada he engaged in farming in Ilardin county. His wife was before marriage Jennie Rarey, a great-granddaughter of Charles Rarey, a farmer, who came to this conn- try from Germany before the opening of the eighteenth century and was one of the first frontiersmen in the vicinity of Columbus, Ohio. Her father settled in Hardin county in 1854.
Charles D. Kelley was born on his parents' farm three miles west of Kenton on the 8th of July, 1882. During three years of his early life he attended school in distriet No. 10 of the Scioto Valley. On the 1st of April, 1891, he accompanied the family on their removal to a farm adjoining South Kenton, and a year or two later they took up a perma- nent residence in Kenton, where the head of the household became the deputy postmaster. All of the members of this family are living excepting the father, whose death occurred when Charles was a lad of fourteen, and it was by dint of hard work, economy and perseverance that the large family afterward held together. Young Charles con-
Charles Attelley
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tinued his attendance at school, working on farm, in factory and store between terms, and was graduated from the Kenton high school with distinction on June 6. 1901. Ile afterward continued his education along special lines, but his specialty seemed the literary field, black and white drawing and mathematics. He was chosen by the Kenton schools to represent his city in an interurban oratorical contest at Upper San- dusky on May 10, 1901. and in his oration entitled "The Swing of the Pendulum" he demonstrated forensic superiority and won the chief prize that was awarded to the male division in the contest, which em- braced all the important cities of northwestern Ohio.
In 1901. in Kenton. Mr. Kelley engaged in the newspaper business as a regular vocation, he having previously at various times held small positions, such as carrying papers. learning to set type, etc. L'pon leaving school he accepted a regular position as reporter on the Daily Democrat and two years later became the city editor, but on the 1st of July, 1905. resigned the position to engage in newspaper work elsewhere. He assisted in the starting of a new paper at Sidney, and a few weeks later became associate editor of the News-Republican at Kenton. He held that position until October 31. 1907. when he acquired twenty-five per cent of the stock of The Kenton Republican Company, became a director and the secretary of the company, and the editor-in-chief of the company's publications .- The News-Republican. The Hardin County Republican and The Graphic-News. From the time of his first vote Mr. Kelley has been a Roosevelt Republiean; is a strong champion of prinei- ples he believes to be right .- at the same time granting that other men have a right to views of their own. Ile is not affiliated with secret societies, but has given mueh time to the reorganization and betterment of The Kenton Guards. Company I. Second Regiment of Infantry. O. N. G. He enlisted in the company on June 10. 1902. first as a private. being later appointed company elerk. and then corporal; was elected first lieutenant and commissioned August 1. 1906; and was next elected captain of the Second Infantry and placed in command of Company I. At the time of this commission, made by Governor Ilarris on March 4. 1907. he is thought to have been the youngest commanding officer in the state. During his eaptainey the command has won an excellent reputa- tion through its personnel and marksmanship.
Mr. Kelley married on June 29. 1907. Miss Bess G. Stevenson. an accomplished young woman of Kenton, great-granddaughter of Harvey Buckminster. who conducted the pioneer stage coach line in this part of Ohio, running from Detroit to Cincinnati, and in whose honor Buck township was named. A daughter. Lillian Jane, was born to Mr. and Mrs. Kelley on the 22d of November. 1909. As an editor Charles D. Kelley has proved himself an intelligent shaper of matter for public print. and as a citizen he is identified with the earnest life of his com- munity. publie spirited and patriotic and a diligent worker at anything he attempts. His kindly and always sympathetic nature account for no personal enemies, and his sturdy character and strong personality mark him as one of the truest and best citizens of his community.
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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY
JAMES B. FUEL, a well known and highly respected citizen of Jack- son township. Hardin county, was born in Clinton county, Indiana, in December, 1843. He is a son of Henry and Susan Fuel, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Tennessee. Mr. Fuel and his wife were parents of seven children, namely: Lucy, Martha, Alice, Samantha, Leatha, Miranda and James B.
The early days of James B. Fuel were spent in his native county, and here he attended the district school; he learned the saddle-tree trade, but could not stand the indoor confinement, so abandoned it. He began learning the trade of machinist, but soon gave that up for farming, in which line he has been very successful. Mr. Fuel heard the call of his country at the time of the Rebellion, and enlisted in Company B. Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for three months, being enrolled as musi- cian ; at the expiration of this term of service Mr. Fuel reenlisted in Company B. Sixty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for three years. At the end of this time he was honorably discharged and reenlisted in the same company, serving until the end of the war. He served with bravery and distinction, and took part in many engagements, among them : Rich Mountain, Bowling Green, Petersburg, Savannah, Gettys- burg and Nashville. IIe was wounded three times, first at Petersburg and again at Jonesboro and Atlanta. He was taken prisoner at Atlanta and confined four months in Andersonville prison; he was one of six who attempted to escape from prison, five of whom succeeded and one was shot. he being one of the five to reach the Union lines. Upon being mustered out at the close of the war, Mr. Fuel returned to farming. and since 1879 has owned his present farm of one hundred and thirty- five acres, which he devoted to general farming. He has carried on his farm in an able, efficient manner, and has managed so well financially that he now contemplates retiring from active life, to spend his remain- ing years in the town of Forest.
Mr. Fuel is actively interested in local affairs, and has been honored by the offices of township trustee and school director. He is well known in the community, where his good qualities and high character are ap- preciated. Mr. Fuel is a prominent member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic. IIe and his wife have a daughter who resides with them.
CHARLEY STOUT .- Earnest in purpose, enterprising and industrious, Charley Stout is actively identified with the advancement of the indus- trial prosperity of Hardin county, being busily employed as a farmer, and a lumber manufacturer and dealer in Hepburn. A son of the late Safety Stout, he was born, August 29, 1857, in Licking county, Ohio.
His paternal grandfather, Robert Stout, who served in the war of 1812, came to Ohio in pioneer times, locating in Marion county. Taking up a tract of land that was still in its virgin wildness, he cleared and improved a homestead, on which he was engaged in tilling the soil the remainder of his active career. He died in 1870, at the venerable age of eighty-six years. He married Jane Newman, who became blind during her later years, otherwise retaining her faculties until her death.
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Safety Stout was born, in 1818, in New Jersey, and came as a child with the family to Marion county, Ohio, where he grew to man's estate, acquiring a meager education in the pioneer schools of his day. He subsequently drove stage for a number of years, but after his marriage engaged in the manufacture of lumber, at first having a saw mill in Licking county, but later removing to Marion county, his mill being a portable one. In 1886 he established his mill in Dudley township, and continued its operations until his retirement from active business, con- tinning his residence here until his death, at the age of seventy-two years and ten months. IIe married Cynthia Freeman, who was born in 1819, and died in 1891. Her father, H. Freeman, served in the war of 1812, and was subsequently an early settler of Licking county, Ohio, where he cleared a homestead from the wilderness, and did his part in advancing the interests of town and county. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Safety Stout, as follows: Oliver, engaged in farming in Dudley township; Alice, wife of Milt Armstrong, of Findlay, Ohio; Diantha, wife of Louis Farmer, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Nashville, Tennessee; and Charley, the special subject of this sketch.
Receiving but limited educational advantages, Charley Stout began at the age of thirteen years to be in a measure self supporting. Assist- ing his father in the saw mill, he began running an engine when a mere boy, and subsequently remained with his parents as long as they lived, caring tenderly for them in their closing years. Succeeding to the business at the death of his father, Mr. Stout was extensively engaged as a lumber manufacturer and dealer for many years, and in connection with this industry has carried on general farming since 1893. A man of excellent character and good business qualifications, Mr. Stout has won well merited success in his varied undertakings, and the respect in which he is held throughout the community gives evidence of his up- right and manly life.
Mr. Stout married Dora Moore, who was born in Iowa, in 1858, a daughter of John and Louisa Moore. Her father, a life-long farmer. served as a soldier in the Civil war for a period of three years, taking part in many engagements of importance, in one of which he was severely wounded in the shoulder, the wound, and subsequent exposure and hard- ships, causing his death. Five children have been born to. Mr. and Mrs. Stout, namely : Arthur, employed as a clerk in Hepburn, married Rosa Ward, and they have one child, Harry Stout ; Clifton, deceased; Norma, living at home; Callie, died in infancy; and Mabel, who died when an infant. Politically Mr. Stout supports the principles of the Democratic party at the polls, but has never been an office seeker. Religiously both he and his estimable wife are valned members of the United Brethren . church.
LEROY S. DICKERSON .- Among the enterprising young men of Mt. Victory, Ohio, is Leroy S. Dickerson, station agent for the Big Four Railway and Western Union telegraph operator, born in Shelby, Ohio, February 8, 1888, son of Charles E. and Ida (Pettit) Dickerson, the mother dying when her son was three weeks old. The child was reared
Vol. II-24
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by his foster-parents, Audrian and Addie (Rex) Dickerson. Audrian Dickerson, Sr., died September 9. 1908, at the age of forty-five years; he was born in Ohio, and followed farming until eighteen years of age when he took the position of engineer for threshing machine, which he followed all his life. He was highly respected and well liked by all who knew him, and was an earnest member of the Lutheran church. For twenty years he was a member of the Royal Are Lodge. His wife was born in Richland county, Ohio, and is now forty-four years of age. The father of Charles E. Dickerson. Thomas Dickerson, lives at Shiloh, Ohio, and has reached the age of eighty-eight years; his wife, who was Susan Miller, is deceased.
Leroy S. Dickerson has one brother and one sister living. who were reared by their grandparents,-Roscoe Pettit, of Toledo, Ohio, a mail clerk ; and Bertha, living in Shiloh with her grandmother Pettit. Mr. Dickerson attended school until eighteen years of age, graduating in 1905, and then became employed at Shelby, Ohio, as agent and telegraph operator, remaining there until 1906, when he engaged with the Western Union Telegraph Company, at United States Stock Yards. at Cleveland. Returning to Shiloh. he engaged as operator for the Big Four Railroad at Columbia, Ohio, and later transferred to Mt. Victory, where he has since been employed as freight and ticket agent, and also Western Union telegraph operator.
Politically Mr. Dickerson is a strong Republican, and he is actively interested in public affairs. He is a member of the Lutheran church, of Shiloh, and is a young man of good principles and high character, honest and upright in all his dealings. He is highly esteemed by his employers and has a large circle of friends. In 1908 Mr. Dickerson married Rose A. White, who was born January 13. 1887, in Richland county, a daugh- ter of Newton H. and Alice (Rose) White, retired farmers. To this union one child has been born, Alice, born December 9. 1908. The foster-parents of Mr. Dickerson had one child of their own, Mary S., who married R. W. Corkhill, of Cleveland,
JAMES W. OBENOUR is identified with both the agricultural and commercial life of his community, and he is one of Hardin county's native sons, born in its township of Washington on the 24th of March, 1855. His parents, Henry and Mary Jane (Sheppard) Obenour, are both now deceased, the father dying in 1860, and the mother in 1894, she having reached the age of seventy-two years. She was born in Pennsyl- vania. Mr. and Mrs. Obenour were among the earliest settlers of Hardin county, and he was a life-long agriculturist. Both were mem- bers of the Methodist church. In their family were the following children : Levi Perry, a Dudley township farmer; Joshua, who is farm- ing in MeGuffey township; and Susanna, the wife of John Taylor, of Kenton.
James W. Obenour, also a member of this family, after the school age of fifteen worked at farm labor and at railroading. He has worked in the fields from a very early age, for as a boy of eight he followed the plow, and so small was he at that time that he had to stand on a box to
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