USA > Ohio > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of Wayne County, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 5
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
K
55
WAYNE COUNTY.
ton, in 1848, which office he has continu- ously held through all political phases. For the past four or five years he has given his time and attention to the pen- sion business. Politically he is a Demo- crat. He and his wife have been mem- bers of the Episcopal Church since 1864. On January 8, 1882, Mrs. Bonewitz was afflicted with a severe attack of nervous prostration, from which she was recover- ing until May, 1887, when she met with an accident, which deprived her partly of the use of her limbs; in all her affliction she is a patient, uncomplaining sufferer.
1
S AMUEL SCHMUCK was born in Lancaster County. Penn., July 9, 1822, a son of Henry and Eliza- beth ( Hymiller) Schmuck. In 1832 his parents came to Wayne County, where the father died, aged seventy-three years. Samuel Schmuck. was reared in Wayne County from the age of ten years, remain- ing with his parents and assisting in the D AVID MCDOWELL, son of John and Mary ( Marshall) MeDowell, natives of Washington County, Penn., was born December 5, 1820. in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne Co., Ohio. His parents came to Wayne County, Ohio, in 1819, and entered a tract of land (one cultivation of the farm until his marriage, in 1847, with Miss Sarah Geitgey, daugh- ter of John Geitgey, who died, leaving one child, James Henry. This son died in 1880, aged thirty-two years, leaving a widow and two children. January 27, 1854, Mr. Schmek married Mary Myers, i quarter ) in Sugar Creek Township, where
daughter of Daniel and Martha Myers. They have four children: David Edwin, Sara, Ida May and Annie Mary. In 1847 Mr. Schmuck settled on his present farm, which he has improved, and now has one of the pleasantest homes in Franklin Township. He has been a successful man, his prosperity being due to his untiring energy and good management. In pol- ities Mr. Schmuck is a Republican. Mrs. Selnnuck's father, Daniel Myers, was a native of Germany, born in 1814. At the age of seventeen years he came to the United States. He was on a sailing ves- sel three months, being in the meantime shipwrecked twice. He located in Penn- sylvania, where he learned the cooper's trade. He married Martha ( Deweese ) Shively, and to them were born eight chil- dren, all of whom except one are living. They finally settled on a, farm in Wayne County, Ohio, where both died.
56
WAYNE COUNTY.
they lived and died. John McDowell built a saw and grist mill, which be conducted for many years. He voted first with the Whig and afterward with the Republican party, and held the office of justice of the peace for many years ; he was also an elder in the Seceder Church. He died January 2, 1872, and his wife November 25, 1873. Their family consisted of eleven children, and of them the only ones now living are as follows: Elijah, in Indiana; Luther, in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County; David; Sarah, wife of Samuel Anderson, of Dalton, Ohio, and Mary, wife of John Porter, residing near Fulton, Ohio.
David McDowell, whose name heads this sketch, received his education in the ! log schoolhouse of his day. In 1847 he married Mary Ann, daughter of Samnel Bell, of Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County, and they remained on the home- stead until 1863, in which year he pur- chased his present farm of 200 acres, in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County, where he has since beon engaged in farm- ing and stock raising. Eight of his chil- dren are living, as follows: J. Marshall, in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County; Samnel A., in Nebraska; Nathaniel C., in Sugar Creek Township; Gibson and Ed- win, at home; Laura, now Mrs. Fred Am- mann, of Orrville, Ohio: Violet, now Mrs. Clark Stuck, of Mount Eaton, Ohio, and Emma, now Mrs. Albert Arnold, in Sugar
Creek Township. Mr. MeDowell is a Republican, and has held the office of school director. He and his family are members of the Dalton United Presby- terian Church.
R EV. JOHN K. YODER, bishop of the Amish Mennonite Church, lives on Section 22, in Green Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, his postoffice address being Orrville, Ohio. He comes of a family who have been residents of this country since before the Revolutionary War. His grandfather, who was brought to this country by his parents when quite young, was the oldest of the family, and to help his parents and pay for his passage be was bound out to a farmer in Berks County, Penn., serving until he was twenty-one years of age. He married Magdalena Yoder, who, al- though of the same name, was not a rela- tive, and afterward removed to Mifflin County, Pen., where he died. His wife survived him many years, reaching an ad- vaneed age, and her descendants at the time of her death numbered nearly 200. Their children were three sons and five daughters, none of whom are now living. The father of John K. Yoder, also named John, the eldest of this family,
57
WAYNE COUNTY.
was born in Mifflin County, Penn., in | when he removed to another farm in the 1786, and died in the house of our sub- same county. There he lived for ten ject in 1855, in his seventieth year. He years, until 1855, when he removed to was a farmer in Pennsylvania, but retired from active life a few years before coming to Ohio, to spend the remaining years of his life with his son. He was marriedl to Mary King, a native of Berks, but , reared in Mifflin County, Penn. She was born in 1790, and died in 1866, in her seventy-seventh year, having sur- vived her husband eleven years. John Yoder had always borne the character of an upright and honest man, a useful mem- ber of the Amish Mennonite Church, and of the community in which he lived. He and his wife were the parents of four
Ohio, buying the farm which has ever since been his home. May 5, 1850, while still in Pennsylvania, Mr. Yoder was selected by lot as a minister of his church. He discharged his duties with such zeal and fidelity that in October, 1859, he was elected by ballot by the congregation to the high and holy office of bishop of the church, having oversight of the churches of the district, and also preaching regularly. In Mifflin County, Penn., on January 9, 1815, Mr. Yoder was married to Lydia Zook, who was born there March 18, 1827, and died at their Ohio home Sep- children: Jacob, who was married to . tember 20, 1887, after a long and serious Annie Yoder, removed from Pensyl- , illness, which she bore with the patience vania to Mahoning County, Ohio, and and resignation of a Christian, hoping and devoted mother, and discharged with fidelity her duties in all the relations of life. She passed from this life to the re- ward which awaits those who faithfully believe in Him "who doeth all things well." Mr. and Mrs. Yoder were the parents of three children who lived be- yond infancy. They are Christian Z ... of whom further mention is made below; from there to Michigan, where he died, ; for immortality. She was a faithful wife his wife dying in Missouri; Magdalena is the widow of John Plank, who re- moved first to Logan County, Ohio, and thenee to Michigan, where he died, and where his widow yet lives: Christian K. is married to Catherine Plank, and is a farmer and a minister of the Amish Mennonite Church of Logan County, Ohio; John K., who was the third in order of birth, was born in Mifflin County, . Mary Z., deceased, who was the wife of Jacob N. Yoder, of Green Township, and David Z., married to Mary Ann
Penn., January 21, 1821. He was; brought up on the farm, and lived with ; his parents until after his marriage, Smiley, a farmer in the same township.
58
WAYNE COUNTY.
The Oak Grove Amish Mennonite Church, for which Mr. Yoder has preached so long, is the first of the denomination organized in this part of the country. 'At first services were held in private houses, the present church edifice being built in 1862. It has now a membership of between 400 and 500, which is about the seating capacity of the andience room, which is 43x55, with two rooms attached which can be used as an addition. Sun- day-school services are held every other Sunday, the alternate Sundays being de- voted to the Sunday-school of Pleasant Hill Church, in the adjoining town of Milton. The services of Mr. Yoder have been very acceptable and of great ben- efit to the people under his spiritual charge. We are pleased to record this tribute to the worth of one whose life for many years has been spent in the serv- ice of the Master, and whose walk and conversation have ever been blameless and worthy of praise.
Christian Z. Yoder, the oldest son, was born in Mifflin County, Penn .. No- vember 28, 1815, and was therefore in his tenth year when his parents came to Ohio. He has followed farming all his lifetime. He was married in October, 1868, to Lydia, daughter of John and Mary Smiley. She was born in Elkhart County, Ind., December 5, 1846, and came with her parents to Wayne County
in 1867. They seltled on a farm adjoin- ing Mrs. Smiley's home, and there her father died, and there her mother yet lives. Mr. and Mrs. Yoder are the par- ents of eight children, all yet under the parental roof. They are named John Smiley, David Amasa, Rufus Melvin, Menno Simon, Ora Christian, Mary Emma. Joseph Daniel, and an infant yet unnamed. Since the organization of the Sunday-school attached to the Oak Grove Church Mr. Yoder has been, with the exception of one term, its superintendent, and has taken a very warm interest in its affairs, and has been unceasing in his ef- forts for its advancement and for the religious growth of its attendants. To him much credit is due for the flourish- ing condition of the school. Its attend- ance at times is as high as 300, averag- ing about 250, and never, recently, has fallen as low as 200, a truly gratifying reward to all who have labored in the cause.
E UGENE GROSJEAN, son of John P. and Frances Grosjean, was born in Switzerland, in 1821. 1lis parents immigrated to America in 1833, and located in Paint Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, where they were engaged in Farming. Their family consisted of
59
WAYNE COUNTY.
ten children: Frances, Frederick. Ferdi- nand, Ellen, Mary, Sophia, Julia, Engene, and two that died in infancy. Of these, Frances married Jacob Soyer, and died in Wayne County; Frederick is a resident of France; Ferdinand located in Indiana, where he died; Ellen died at the age of nineteen years; Mary married A. Flory, removed to Indiana, and is now deceased; Sophia is now Mrs. Vol Steinmetz, of Coshocton County, Ohio; Julia was the late Mrs. John Webber, of Indiana.
Engene was reared in Wayne County, and in 1849 married Eugenie, daughter of Charles E. Grosjean. He located in Paint Township, Wayne County, where he re- mained until 1854, when he came to Salt Creek Township, Wayne County, and purchased a farm, which he disposed of, and in 1861 bought the property he now owns. Here he and his wife reared a family of eight children: Albert, Julia, Mary, Charles, Louis, Sophia, Eugene A. and Ellen. Of these, Albert married Ellen, daughter of William Sauers, and is a farmer in Salt Creek Township, Wayne County, near Maysville ; Julia is now Mrs. Merian Winn, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Mary is Mrs. John Mackey, of Salt Creek Township, Wayne County; Charles is at present a resident of San Francisco. Cal. ; Lonis is married to Eliz- abeth Leper, and settled in Hohnes County; Sophia died when a child of nine
1
years of age; Engene A. is a resident of San Francisco, Cal., and Ellen remains at home. Mr. and Mrs. Grosjean are mem- bers of the Congregational Church. In politics he is a Democrat. His life may fairly be said to have been a success, and he is justly recognized as one of the able, representative men of the township.
M I. SMYSER. Among the best known and popular citizens of Wayne County is the subject of this sketch, although yet but a young man. He was born in Wayne County, Ohio, April 3. 1851. His father, Emanuel Smyser, who was of German extraction, and spent his life as a farmer, came to Wayne County in 1832, from York County, Penn., and in 1875 he passed from earth. Hle married Catherine Albert, who bore him eight children, of whom seven still live, six in Wayne County and one in Detroit, Mich. He was an active Repub- liean, and hold the offices of assessor and township trustee.
M. L. Smyser, the subject of this bio- graphical memoir, spent his early life upon the farm until fourteen years of age, when he was sent to Wittenberg Col- lege, at Springfield, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1870. Returning to his
60
WAYNE COUNTY.
native county, he began reading law in the office of. Lyman R. Critchfield, and in April, 1872, he was admitted to the bar at Columbus, by the supreme court of Ohio, and immediately opened an office in Wooster. In the fall of 1872 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Wayne County; in 1873 he formed a partnership with Capt. A. S. MeClure, which partner- ship still continues. He has always been a stanch Republican; in 1884 he was an alternate delegate to the Chicago Repub- lican Convention; in 1888 he was sent as a regular delegate, and the same year received the nomination for Congressman in the Twentieth District, and was elected to the LIst Congress by 2.000 majority. In 1881 Mr. Smyser was united in mar- riage with Miss Alice A. France, daughter of J. B. and Amy France, and a native of Wayne County, of which her father had formerly been sheriff. She is a graduate of the Delaware Female College.
D R. JOHN A. GANN was born at Waterford, N. Y., in 1818. His father, James J. Gann, was by birth an Englishman, and came to Amer- ica in 1847. The paternal grandfather also came to America, the grandmother having died in Europe. The father of
our subject was by trade a miller, which he learned in England. Before starting to America he was wedded to Elizabeth Adams, and together they came to the New World. In 1861, at Monroeville, Ohio, where they had settled, the father passed to his last sleep. Of their wedded life only two children were born, John A. and Lizzie ( Mrs. Durbin Metz, of Woos- ter, Ohio).
At fourteen years of age the subject of this biographical memoir left the common schools which he had been at- tending, and engaged as a clerk, in which capacity he continued four years, and then entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, where he graduated in 1871. He then became superintendent of the public schools at Shelby. Ohio, and remained four years, when he turned his attention to the study of medicine at Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, graduating from there in 1877. He prac- ticed, a short time in Berea, and then came in March, 1577, to Wooster, where he has since made his home. In 1854 the doctor was united in marriage with Anna Metz, daughter of Jacob and Susan Metz, and a native of Wooster, Ohio, where she graduated from the high school in 1876. She is a member of the Moth- odist Episcopal Church and Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. Dr. Gann is president of the State Medical Society
61
WAYNE COUNTY.
and lecturer on physiology at the Cleveland Homeopathie College; is a member of the Odd Fellows order, Independent Order of Red Men, Knights of Pythias, Royal Arcamun and Chosen Friends. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Woos- ter. His home is on North Market Street, where his aged mother resides with him.
surrection," and there is to be found an old still-house yet standing. This was heavily undermined with coal, which the subject of this sketch sold, retaining the farm. With the proceeds of the sale of coal he purchased two large farms in Clinton Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, one of 137 acres, and one of 111. In 1884 he married Laura Hastings, of Holmes County, Ohio, and settled on the farm where he now lives. Mr. and Mrs. Fryer are members of the Methodist Church. Politically he is identified with the Republican party.
S IDNEY J. FRYER, son of William and Elizabeth Fryer, was born in 1862, in Scott Township, Alle- gheny Co., Penn., where he received the chief portion of his education. His father died in 1868, and his mother in 1871, W ILLIAM J. LANCE is a son of Henry and Elizabeth ( Hoffstat- ter) Lance, and was born in Milton Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, De- cember 16, 1834. Christopher Lance, his grandfather, a native of Germany, married in New Jersey, where Hemy Lance was born, and afterward settled in Jefferson County, Ohio. In 1819 Henry and James Lance came to Wayne County, Ohio, and ontered a tract of land in Mil- ton Township, where they engaged in farming, and in connection operated a dis- tillery. Henry Lance married for his when he was but twelve years of age, leaving him heir to a fine estate, and practically the arbiter of his own destiny. There were two others in his parents' family besides himself: William, who resides on the old homestead, and Jona- than, now deceased. The grandfather, William Fryer, who was a native Ameri- can, and pioneer of Western Pennsylvania, purchased the old Bower Hill Farm at a very early time, and here lived until his death, which occurred in his ninetieth yoar. This farm was prominent as being the battle-field during the "whisky in- first wife Lucy Loe, and by her had five
62
WAYNE COUNTY.
children, three of whom are living: Chris- topher, Catherine ( widow of Isaac Weldy ), Jane (widow of Henry Zeigler), all in Milton Township, Wayne Co., Ohio. By his second wife, nee Elizabeth Hoffstatter, he had children, as follows: William J .; John and Abraham, in Milton Township, Wayne Co .; Elizabeth, wife of Allen Walker, in Michigan, and Teressa, wife of Isaac Crossman, also in Michigan. Henry Lance died April 21, 1862.
William J. Lance, our subject, was educated in the schools of his township, and has always followed farming, having lived on his present farm in Milton Town- ship since 1864. In 1862 he married Miss Clara M., daughter of Daniel John- son, of Milton Township, Wayne County, and she died in 1884, leaving seven chil- dren, one of whom has since died. Those now living are Alfred D., married to Miss Hannah Chatman, and residing in Mich- igan; Edwin R., married to Sarah, daugh- ter of Johnston Swagler, and residing in Milton Township; Medwin H., Winfred, Daniel Dewitt and Viva Mabel, all at home. Mr. Lance took for his second wife Mrs. Annie Swagler, widow of Jona- than Swagler. He has since served as constable for one year, trustee for five years, also school director, supervisor, etc. He is a member of Sterling Lodge No. 1818, Royal Arcanum, and is a trustee and deacon in the Baptist Church.
1
A NTHONY WRIGHT. This re- spected citizen of Wayne County was born in Loudoun County, Va., June 26, 1515. His father, also hamed Anthony, was of English extraction, and died in 1818, at the age of seventy-five years. He was a member of the society of Friends, or Quakers, and was married to Elizabeth Harper, also a native of Vir- ginia, who died in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1864, aged eighty-eight years.
John Harper, the maternal grand- father of our subject, was a patriot soldier during the Revolution, and died in Vir- ginia about the year 1828; his widow came to Wayne County, where she died about 1843.
The subject of these lines had but lim- ited opportunities for education, and when eighteen years old was apprenticed to learn the trade of brick-laying. When about twenty years of age he came to Wayne County, and for a time worked in different places as a clerk. In 1850 he removed to St. Louis, where for three years he was engaged in the banking busi- ness, returning to Wooster in 1953. Two years later (in 1855) he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of John and Sarah Walter, and a native of Berkeley County, now a part of West Virginia. When she was two years old her parents came to Wooster, where they passed the remainder of their days. Her father was a German
1
:
Anthony Wright
65
WAYNE COUNTY.
by extraction, and was born on the high seas. Mr. and Mrs. Wright had two chil- dren, twins, one of whom died unnamed; the other, Sarah Elizabeth, is the wife of J. M. Quinby, of Wooster. The mother of these children died in 1881, aged fifty- six years.
Anthony Wright was by inheritance a slave-owner, but upon leaving Virginia set his one slave free, telling him he was a free man. The law of Virginia at that time said that any person desiring to man- umit a slave must give security for his good behavior. Not being of age he could not do this, but his slave lived and died a free man, nevertheless.
Mr. Wright is in politics a Republican, and has been elected to various positions of trust in the county. He has been county treasurer, was mayor of the village of Wooster previous to its becoming a city, and has several times been a member of the council. He is a member of the K. of P., and for forty-two years has been prominently identified with the 1. O. O. F., having held offiees in that body which, taken singly, would aggregate over 100 years. He was for thirty years secretary of his lodge: for fifteen years treasurer of the Grand Encampment of Ohio, a posi- tion he still holds, and has been represent- ative to the Grand Lodge a number of years, besides holding other positions in the order. His success in life is solely
dne to his own efforts and to his business ability and tact, and his sterling charac- ter has caused him to be universally es- teemed.
N ILLIAM WILSON, son of James and Jane ( Fife) Wilson, natives of Allegheny County, Penn., was born on the homestead in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, January 24. 1830. His parents came to Wayne County, Ohio, in 1822, and settled on the farm now owned by their son William, which land was entered by William Wil- son, the grandfather of our subject. James Wilson died in 1872, and his widow in 1874. Five children were born to this couple, viz .: Jolm, who was mur- dered in Kansas; Isabella, who died in 1847; William; Mary, wife of John Wea- ver, of Richland County, Ohio; Sarah Jane, wife of Jonah Creits, of Ashtabula, Ohio.
Of these, William, whose name heads this sketch, attended the common schools, and has always followed farming in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County. In 1864 he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served one hundred days. In 1874 he married Miss Letitia, daughter
4
1
66
WAYNE COUNTY.
of Jonah Fife, of Columbiana County, Ohio, and they have one child, Emerson S., residing at home. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Republican party, and has served as school director, supervisor, etc., of the township. He and his wife are members of the Dalton Presbyterian Church.
1
.
A M. OHL, grocer and dealer in hard- ware and queensware at Smithville, Ohio, is a native of Manchester, Summit Co., Ohio, born May 9, 1862. His grandparents on the paternal side, Henry and Susannah Ohl, came from Pennsylvania to Summit County at an early day, and were among the pioneers of that county, the men and women who reclaimed the land from the wilderness and helped to place Ohio in the proud rank she holds among the most prosperous and influential States in the Union. Henry Ohl was a resident of Summit County for more than sixty years, and died there at the age of eighty-two years; his wife, Susannah, also lived to an advanced age. With the single exception of his father all of Mr. Ohl's ancestors were long-lived people. On his maternal side his grand- parents were also from Pennsylvania, and they too were of these sturdy pioneers
of Summit County, where both are yet living, each being ninety years of age. They had nine children, and had lived in Manchester more than fifty years, and had celebrated their golden wedding some years before a death had occurred in their family.
The father of A. M. Ohl, and who was named Solomon, was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, August 26, 1828. After his marriage he moved to Manchester, where he lived the rest of his lifetime, dying January 19, 1869, when but forty years old. He was a carriage builder, and carried on that business in Manchester until his death. He was a man of strict religions principles, a member of the German Reformed Church. in which he was both deacon and elder. He was an honest and upright man, and had the respect of every one who knew him. Mrs. Ohl was born in Summit County, January, 13, 1832, and is still living in Manchester, and is now the wife of Jacob H. Myers, of that place. The only child of Solomon and Anna Ohl was the subject of this sketch. He was bnt five years old when his father died, and he continued to live with his mother until he was twenty-one. He learned and worked at many trades. First he tried blacksmithing, which he gave up to become a teacher of penmanship. le next tried painting in oils, and afterward house painting, then
67
WAYNE COUNTY.
butchering, and next kept a grocery. His next venture was in keeping a dry goods store in Orrville, this county, for more than a year ; then sold out and moved to Smithville, April 1, 1888. There he has the largest and best stocked grocery and hardware store in the town, carrying a full stock of all goods in this line.
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.