Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th, Part 82

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 926

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th > Part 82

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ILLIAM POTTS, a substantial farmer and well-known citizen of Porter Township, residing on his farm of 98 acres, was born Au- gust 18, 1829, in Northumber- land County. Pennsylvania, and is a son of Charles and Mary Ann ( Updyke ) Potts.

The grandparents of William Potts were William and Susan Potts, who moved from Connecticut to New Jersey during the boy- hood of their son Charles and remained in that State during the rest of their lives. Charles Potts was born in Connecticut in 1808 and lived in New Jersey until he was twenty years of age. when he moved to Pennsylvania. In 1828 he married Mary Ann Updyke, and eight years later they removed to Ohio, settling in Licking County, near Utica. They had nine children, namely : William, Catherine. Ben- jamin. Joseph, John. Daniel. Susan, Marga- ret. and Mary. Five of their children were born in Pennsylvania and four in Ohio. The survivors are: Benjamin, William. Joseph. Daniel, and Susan ( Moore ).

William Potts was a boy of eight years when his parents came to Ohio. The first vear was spent with a maternal uncle living at U'tica, and then the family moved to a farm the father bought near Mt. Vernon, in Knox County. Five years later this farm was soll

and the family removed to Delaware County, the father purchasing a farm on which they resided for twenty-seven years. Charles Potts retired to Sparta after selling his farm and died there six months later, aged sixty-five years. His widow survived to the age of sev- enty-five years. She was born in New Jersey in 1809.

Mr. Potts has been a resident of Delaware County for the past thirty-five years and has owned his present farm for thirty years. He purchased this property from Attorneys Cur- tis and Irvin of Mt. Vernon, who disposed of it at sheriff's sale. Mr. Potts has made all the excellent improvements here and his build- ings are tasteful. substantial and attractive as he put them up himself, being a skilled car- penter. For the past twenty years he has given the larger part of his time to general farming.

In 1853, in Knox County, Ohio, Mr. Potts married Malinda Spindler, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1830, and died in Porter Township April 14, 1905. She was a daugh- ter of John Spindler. Mr. and Mrs. Potts had seven children born to them, namely: John, James, Mary J., Charles, Lenna, George and William. John Potts was born in 1854 and is a carpenter by trade, residing at Columbus. He married Addie Pierce and they have two children, Verna and Coral. James Potts, born in Knox County in 1857, resides at Olive Green, Ohio. He married Clara Powell and they have five children : Edith, Gertrude, Ad- die. Ray, and Hubert. Mary Jane Potts, born in Delaware County, in 1859, married Elmer Mandrel and they reside near Delaware, Ohio. They have two children. Alice and Howard. Charles Potts, born in 1861, residing in Mor- row County, married Hettie Chambers and they have the following children: Elsie. Er- nest, William, Belle, Fred and Mary Jane. Lenna Potts, born in 1863 and George Potts. born in 1865. both reside at home. William, who was born in 1867. died in 1908. Mr. Potts is a quiet, industrious, self-respecting citizen, one who enjoys the esteem of the com- munity in which he has lived for so many years.

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY

AMES E. CARTER, a representative agriculturist of Troy Township, was born December 26, 1852. in Delaware County, Ohio, and is a son of Hugh and Nancy ( Cash) Carter.

Hugh Carter, father of James E., was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and was taken to Belmont County, Ohio, by his parents, in his childhood. He remained in Belmont County until after his marriage and the birth of two children, when he came to Delaware, probably about 1832. being one of the earliest settlers in Troy Township. He built a log house in the depth of the woods, and with his family, endured many pioneer hardships. He died December 25, 1887. His wife had passed away nine years previously. the date of her death being December 28, 1878. Of their children the following sur- vive: William, residing in Colorado: Keziah. who is the widow of John Willey, residing in Orange Township; John H., residing in Marl- borough Township; Ellen, who married James Armstrong, residing in Belmont County ; Helen, who married Murray Francis, and re- sides at Lima, Ohio: James E., whose name begins this sketch; and Alice, who married William Ryan, of Belmont County.

James E. Carter has devoted the larger part of his attention since leaving school, to agricultural pursuits and has made a specialty of growing sheep, with other stock. He owns 109 acres of excellent land and is one of the township's substantial men.

On January .30, 1879, Mr. Carter was married to Mary Jones, of Franklin County, Ohio, and they have one daughter. Mattie FF., residing at home. Mr. Carter and family be- long to Troy Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, all being actively interested in its good work. Politically, Mr. Carter is a Re- publican. He has been willing to accept no office except that of school director, but was tendered the office of justice of the peace. Fle belongs to the order of Knights of Pythias, at Delaware.

The parents of Mrs. Carter were Francis and Mary ( Bebb ) Jones, both of whom were born in Wales and came to Franklin County

with the early settlers. Their three surviving children are: Mary (MIrs. Carter ) : Anna. who is the widow of James H. Walker. now residing in Delaware: and Sarah, who is the widow of David Davis, residing in Delaware Township. Mr. Carter is the only member of his family residing in Troy Township.

EORGE KIRBY, one of the success- ful agriculturists of Delaware Town- ship. Delaware County, Ohio, who is cultivating his fine farm of more than 100 acres, was born April 10. 1860, at Batesville. Albemarle County, Vir- ginia, and is a son of William O. and Mary 1. ( Mayfield) Kirby.

William O. Kirby, who was also a native of Albemarle County. Virginia. received a common school education, and being a nattt- ral mechanic followed carpentering until the outbreak of the Civil War. He served four years in the Confederate army and after the close of the great struggle engaged in farm- ing. as the freedom of the slaves had opened opportunities for the individual farmer. Mr. Kirby was married to Mary A. Mayfield, who was born in 1827. and died in 1891, and they had a family of children as follows: James Henry, a resident of North Garden. Vir- ginia: John, who died in infancy: Nancy Jane, who married Joseph Moyer: William J .. of Massey's Mills. Nelson County, Vir- ginia; Mary, who died at the age of twenty- two years; George, subject of this sketch : Hamilton, who lives at Scottsville, Virginia : Catherine, the wife of Robert Freeman, of Al- berene, Virginia ; and Calvin O.

George Kirby received a common school education in his native locality. On May 8. 1884. he removed to Ostrander. Delaware County, Ohio, where he worked as a farmer. and he continued thus employed until his mar- riage, at which time he went to Watkins. Un- ion County. There he farmed on his own ac- count until 1904. in the spring of which year he purchased what is known as the James K. Brittain farm in Delaware Township, a tract

REV A C. CRIST

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of more than 100 acres, eighty-five acres of which are under cultivation. Mr. Kirby raises oats, corn, wheat and hay, has a seventy-ton silo, operates a small dairy and keeps from fifty to sixty hogs, and is considered one of the township's good, practical farmers. In political matters he is a Democrat, but he has never cared for public office.

In 1892 Mr. Kirby was married to Mary Easton, who is the daughter of Joseph and Margaret Easton. and three children have been born to this union-Mary Ruth, Forrest Easton, and Paul Mayfield. Mrs. Kirby was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, to which place her father had emigrated at the age of sixteen years with an elder brother, from Essex, Eng- land. He subsequently followed agriculture near Lafayette. Mrs. Kirby is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

R EV. A. C. CRIST. From the Herald and Presbyter, a denominational or- gan of the Presbyterian Church, we quote the following: "Prominent among the forces of Presbyterianism in Delaware is Rev. A. C. Crist, who resides here, and who is a sort of pastor-at-large in Marion Presbytery. By reason of his long and successful pastorates at Iberia and Os- trander, he is well, widely, and most favorably known. As a teacher he has gained great prominence. The lives of hundreds of stu- dents have been powerfully impressed by his noble individuality."

The Crist family traces back through five generations in this country to three brothers, Johannas, Henricus and Stephanus Christus, natives of Alsace, Germany, who were among the large number of Huguenot refugees who came to America during the latter part of the 1;th century as a result of the revocation of the Ediet of Nantes. They settled in Orange County, New York, and in course of time, the name became Anglicized, the "h" and the "us" being dropped. Henricus married Anne Bo- line. a full-blooded French woman who came 10 America with him. The families led the

agricultural life of those times, and continued in the locality where they settled until Henry Crist, the grandfather of A. C., moved to the adjoining county of Sullivan. In religious belief they were German Lutherans. Here our subject's father, the third Henry in lineal de- scent from the original Henricus, was born January. 8. 1811. He was a carpenter and followed his trade most of his life. He moved to Hocking County, Ohio, in 1838, and resided there until 1848, when he took up his resi- dence in Union County. He cast his first vote for Andrew Jackson, but was a stanch Abolitionist, and upon the organization of the Republican Party he identified himself with it.

He married Miss Marian Hollister of Stil- livan County, New York, whose father was a native of England. This union was blessed by a family of eleven children. Two sons, Abner B. and James Alfred. lost their lives in the Union cause during the Rebellion, and one son, Alexander, lost a leg and died from the results of the injury, a few years after his return home. Henry Crist and his wife were for many years consistent members of the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Crist died Janti- ary 30, 1891, aged seventy-six. He died Jan- uary 29, 1902, having only twenty-two days previously celebrated his ninety-first birthday.

Rev. Asahel Clark Crist, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born in Hocking County, Ohio, April 19, 1845, the fifth child of his parents. He remained at home, helping to clear up the farm, until he was nineteen years of age, having only the advantages of the district school for three or four months in the winter season.

During the summer of 1864, young Crist served in Co. D., 136th Reg. O. V. I .. and entered the high school at Marysville, in the fall of that year. lle taught a district school for three months during the winter. Our sub- ject united with the Presbyterian Church of Marysville, in the fall of 1865, and was taken under the care of the Marion Presbytery ( old school) at Cardington, at the spring meeting in 1866. That summer he was employed as a colporteur for the Presbytery, and canvassed all that part of the Presbytery west of the Big

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Four Railroad. The following winter he taught a district school for three months and attended the high school at Marysville the re- mainder of the time. In July, 1867, he en- tered Vermillion Institute at Haysville, Ohio. and was graduated there in October, 1870. He was tutor of mathematics for two years of the time at Vermillion Institute, and by that means helped to defray his expenses. Im- mediately after graduating, he entered the Western Theological Seminary. During the junior vacation, he taught a select school at Worthington, Pennsylvania, for five months. Mr. Crist was licensed to preach at Liberty Church, Marion Presbytery, at the spring meeting, 1872, and supplied Brown, Kingston. and Porter churches that summer.

Mr. Crist was graduated at Western Theological Seminary, April. 1873, and im- mediately took charge of Brown, Kingston and Porter churches, living at Eden. He was ordained at Trenton Church, April 23, 1874. In 1875 he dropped Kingston and Porter, and supplied Berlin and Brown until June, 1876. During this time the church at Berlin was re- built. He also supplied Ashley, in the even- ing, for three months in the winter of 1875. He taught a select school much of the time, during his residence at Eden, thus supplement- ing his salary.

In the spring of 1876 he was elected as Professor of Languages in the Ohio Central College, at Iberia, Ohio, and removed there the 15th of August. In the spring of 1877. Mr. Crist took charge of the Presbyterian Church at lberia in addition to his work of instruction at the college. This pastoral re- lation continued for twelve years. For about five years of this time, he supplied the pulpit at Caledonia, Ohio, in the afternoons. In March, 1889, he took charge of the church at Ostrander, being installed there in the first week in March, and in connection with the work of this pastorate supplied Providence and Jerome. This relation continued until September 15. 1897. when it was dissolved. On August 21, 1872, Mr. Crist was mar- ried to Lovina 11., daughter of James Pocock. While living at Eden, two children were born

to Mr. and Mrs. Crist- - Bessie and Henry Mickliff. Bessie, a bright. lovely girl. died December 10, 1894, in the twenty-first year of her age. Henry Wickliff, born November 19. 1875, was a graduate from Wooster Uni- versity in 1897, after which he studied law with James R. Lytle, Esq., of Delaware, and was admitted to the bar on December 7, 1900. He is one of the able and prominent young attorneys of Delaware, and is now ( 1908) campleting a term of three years as a member of the General Assembly. It may be said' that he has done more and better work as a repre- sentative than any man of this county who has had the office in recent years.

The only fraternal order with which the subject of this sketch is connected is the George B. Torrence Post, No. 60, G. A. R., of Delaware. When he was located at Os- trander. he served as commander of the Jo- seph Tanner Post of that town.

Probably no clergyman of any denomina- tion in Delaware has such a wide personal acquaintance with the citizens of this county. To quote again from the Herald and Presby- ter, "Every Sabbath finds him actively en- gaged in the Master's service, filling some va- cancy, encouraging some weak church, or starting some new enterprise. Mr. Crist is a man of high intellectual attainments, and is possessed of rare social qualities."

DAM SIEGFRIED. agent for the ? Pennsylvania Railroad Company, at Delaware, was born in Delaware Township. Delaware County, Ohio. March 25, 1857, and is a son of Wil- liam and Susan ( Swartz) Siegfried.

The grandparents of Mr. Siegfried came to Ohio from Pennsylvania, in 1827. They were Jacob and Elizabeth ( Lantz) Siegfried. both of whom were members of well-known old German families of Berks and Northamp- ton Counties. Jacob Siegfried located first at Stratford, in Delaware County, but in a few years he moved to a point north of the town of Delaware, where he kept a tavern for

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a short time. He died prior to 1848, aged fifty-six years. His eight children were : AAngeline: William; Catherine, who married Ephraim Willy; Sallie: Rebecca; Samuel ; Isaac, who was blind from the age of eleven years, was a broom-maker by trade and a nat- ural musician ; and Benjamin, who removed from his farm north of Delaware to Colum- bus, where he died. He married Harriet Willy. Of the above family several never married and all have passed away with the ex- ception of Angeline, the first-born. She mar- ried John Troutman and resides in Troy Township. having reached the age of eighty- six years.

William Siegfried, father of Adam, was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, January 6, 1822, and was five years old when he ac- 1 companied his parents to Ohio. In November. 1848, he was married to Susan Swartz, who ! was born October 17, 1829. in Lehigh - County, Pennsylvania, and died AAugust 31. i 1905. She was a daughter of Daniel and Sa- rah ( Smith ) Swartz. Daniel Swartz brought his family to Ohio in 1835, settling first in Fairfield County. Conditions there did not alto- gether please him and he left his family there while he came on a prospecting tour through Delaware County, covering the distance on horseback. He found two tracts of land lo- cated one and one-half miles north of Dela- ware, which met his requirements, and these he secured, and in 1836 brought his family to Delaware Township. At that time the land was all heavily timbered. He cleared it and made most of the substantial improvements. In 1849 he built a stone barn which still stands, and which, at the time of its erection. was the finest in the county. He also built a residence, which his son-in-law, William Sieg- fried. replaced, in 1876, with a fine brick house. Daniel Swartz died in 1870, aged sev- enty-seven years. His widow survived him seven years and was seventy-seven years old at that time. They had five children, namely : Susan M., the mother of Adam Siegfried ; Daniel, who died in Delaware County; Ellen, who married Lewis Graham, and lived and died in Marlborough Township; Caroline,

who married Daniel Miller, and died at Dela- ware; and Elizabeth, who married Thomas Slough, and died on the old homestead. Dan- jel Swartz had 240 acres of land in his two farms, and this was considered the finest piece of agricultural property in Delaware Town- ship.

William Siegfried took charge of the old tavern on the Marion turnpike, north of Del- aware, which he conducted for two and a half years and then bought a farm adjoining that property, on which he resided from 1852 un- til the death of his father-in-law, Daniel Swartz. He settled on the Swartz farm in 1871 and resided there until his death, which occurred May 9. 1899. He and his wife had seven children, as follows: Three daughters, all of whom died in infancy: Adam, the direct subject of this sketch; Samuel, born May 5, 1861, who married Martha Thomas, and re- sides on his fine farm north of Delaware: Wil- mer, born in 1864, who married Gwendolyn Hudson, and now owns his father's first farm and also the farm adjoining the old tavern property : Charles, born in 1869, who resides in Delaware, having sold his farm and in- vested in city realty, and who married Mary Gross.

Adam Siegfried attended the district school, the sessions of which were held in the old stone school-house, north of Delaware. He continued to work on the home farm until he was twenty-two years of age, when he married. He then farmed for several years more in Delaware County, but in 1883. he moved to Omaha, Nebraska, in which city he resided for two years, being employed as a shipping clerk in a lumber yard. His next move was to Lincoln, in the same State, where he remained until the fall of 1885, when he returned to Delaware. He now remained on his father's farm until 1891, when he em- barked in a livery business at Delaware, which he conducted for eighteen months. In 1893, Mr. Siegfried went to work for the Columbus & Sandusky Short Line Railroad and contin- ued as one of its employes after it became a part of the Pennsylvania system, in 1903. He has now maintained this connection for fifteen

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years. He entered the railroad business as a freight hand and baggage man and has been steadily advanced to his present responsible position as passenger and freight agent at Del- aware. For fourteen years, Mr. Siegfried re- mained at his post without a single day of ab- sence. His fidelity was recognized by the company, which, in the summer of 1907, not only gave him a vacation but presented him with a pass over all its eastern lines. He thor- oughly enjoyed this period of recreation but, like the excellent business man that he is, was ready to return to his routine work when the vacation expired.

In 1880, Mr. Siegfried was married ( first ) to Maria Stimmel, who was a dangh- ter of John and Hettie Ann Stimmel. They had one son, John, who was reared mainly in Delaware County and became a clerk in the freight department of the Pennsylvania Rail- road at Delaware. He was popular with his employers and associates and was a valued member of Hiram Lodge, No. 18, F. & A. M., at Delaware. His death took place February 12. 1906, when he was aged twenty-four years. He was buried with Masonic honors, from the Masonic Temple at Delaware.

Mr. Siegfried was married secondly to Ida Davis, in October, 1892. She was reared west of Delaware and is a daughter of David and Sarah Davis. Of this union there are two children, Paul D. and Ruth Helen, aged four- teen and eleven years, respectively.

In politics, Mr. Siegfried, like his father, ha- always been identified with the Demo- cratic party. The elder Mr. Siegfried was a stanch supporter of its policies through the greater part of his life and on many occasions was elected to political office. In 1874 he was elected county commissioner of Delaware County and served in that capacity for three years, his election taking place when the county had an adverse majority of 600. Adam Siegfried has been equally successful in overcoming the normal Republican plu- rality. In 1907 he was elected a mem- ber of the City Council of Delaware, overcoming the regular majority of 200 votes in the city, and in 1801 was made

the Democratic nominee for sheriff and came within three votes of being elected to this of- fice. He is a member of Hiram Lodge, No. 18, F. & A. M. He is a man who stands very high in the esteem of his fellow-citizens, one whose business capacity and personal integ- rity are universally recognized.

OL. JACOB AYRES, now living re- tired on his farm of 58 acres, a valuable tract of land which is sit- nated in Scioto Township, has many valid claims to the respect of his fel- low-citizens. Colonel Ayres was born in Pick- away County, Ohio, March 12, 1841, and is a son of Isaac and Catherine ( Freese) Ayres.

Isaac Ayres was born in 18to, at Harris- burg. Pennsylvania, and died in Delaware County, Ohio, in 1872. He learned the blacksmith's trade in York County, Pennsyl- vania, which he followed more or less throughout the entire period of his industrial life. When he reached the age of twenty-one years he started on foot and crossed the moun- tains into Ohio, 'settling first in Pickaway County, where he married. He remained there until after the birth of five children, when he came to Delaware County, locating near Bell- point, where he acquired a small farm, the op- erating of which was largely left to his sons. He was a man of sterling character and fre- quently was invited to accept political office but consistently refused. He was married shortly after coming to Ohio, to Catherine Freese, who was born in 1814, and died' in 1848. She was a daughter of Rev. Isaac Freese, a minister of the German United Brethren faith. He was born and married in Germany and after coming to America settled first in Pickaway County, but subsequently moved to Bellpoint, where he conducted relig- ious services in both the German and English languages. The children born to Isaac Ayres and his wife were: John, who died in the service of his country, following the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, as a member of Com- pany C, One Hundred Twenty-first Regiment,

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Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Ellen L., now de- ceased, who married Royal Edwards; Andrew, who died in early manhood; Martha, who is deceased : Catherine, deceased, who married David llamilton; Sarah, also deceased, who married Frank Speese: Jacob, subject of this article ; Abraham, who resides in Concord Township: Hester Flora, who married John Fuller, and resides at Roann, Indiana ; Isaac, and one child unnamed that died in infancy. Both parents were very active church workers.

Jacob Avres lived at home until his mother's death. and attended what was called! the Haney School at Bellpoint. Until 1858 he resided with Green Neff, at Berlin Station, and then, coming to Delaware, learned the carpenter's trade with Henry Robinson and George Perry. He continued to work as a carpenter until he enlisted in the Federal Army, on February 1, 1862. He became a member of Company I, Eighty-second Regi- ment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was sent to Grafton. West Virginia, thence to Moorefield and later to McDowell, Virginia, where the Union forces were defeated May 8, 1862, and retreated to Moorefield. Here they were reinforced by General Fremont and then crossed the mountains to Strasburg. where they defeated General Jackson's forces and drove him up the valley to Harrisburg. Company 1 then fell back to Middletown, and from there went to Culpeper Court House to reinforce General Banks, going thence to the banks of the Rapidan River under General Sickles. At this point, the force with which Colonel Ayres was connected, being notified of General Lee's advance, began a retreat to Culpeper Court House. They subsequently fought in the second battle of Bull Run, un- dler General Pope, and after the defeat fell back to Washington. The corps was left at Arlington Heights to recruit. while the re- mainder of the army went to take part in the battle of Antietam. as a part of the forces un- (ler General Mcclellan.

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Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th, Part 82

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company Number of Pages: 926

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 926