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 7
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after the union of wedlock, enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, and was soon thereafter promoted to orderly sergeant, and soon after the consolidation of the One Hundred and Twentieth and One Hundred and Four- teenth Ohio Regiments, November 27, 1864, was commissioned second lieutenant of Company D, and was with his regi- ments in all the vicissitudes of their numerous campaigns-during the long and perilous siege at Vicksburg, partici- pating in the battles of Arkansas Post, Thompson's Hills, the storming of Fort Blakely, opposite the City of Mobile, etc .. etc.
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that year by uniting with Ashland Lodge, No. 151, F. & A. M., located at Ashland, Ohio. Upon his removal to Wooster, Ohio, he united with Ebenezer Lodge, No. 33, F. & A. M., and also joined Wooster Chapter, No. 27, R. A. M., Wooster Coun- cil, No. 13, R. & S. M., all of Wooster, Ohio, and Wooster Commandery, No. - , Knights Templar, also of Wooster, Ohio, of all of which he is an active member. In September, 1877, he became a member of Irene Lodge, No. 64, K. of H., and soon thereafter united with Wayne Council, No. 13, Royal Arcanum, as a charter member. He occupied the chairs of regent and past regent, and was elected a represent- ative to the Grand Council meeting held in Columbus, Ohio, in March, 1879. In 1879 he became a charter member of Ohio Council, No. 1, Order of Chosen Friends, located in Wooster, Ohio, and has the dis- tinguished honor of being the first Chosen Friend in the State of Ohio. He has been a member of the Supreme Council ever since its organization, and at each session has been placed upon its most important committees, those of laws and supervision and finance and accounts. He has heldl the positions of supreme trustee two yours, supreme worden two years, and supreme marshal six years, which posi- tion he still holds.
At the organization of the Supreme Sitting of the Order of the Iron Hall,
March 28, 1881, he was commissioned a deputy supreme justice, and on the even- ing of May 8, 1881, organized Local Branch No. 2 of that order in Wooster, with seventy-five charter members. He was also a member of the Supreme Sit- ting for a period of six years, during which time he held the offices of supreme watchman and chairman of the Board of Supreme Trustees. In September, 1881, he assisted in organizing Given Post, No. 133. G. A. R., of Wooster, Ohio, and was elected past post commander, and repre- sented the post at the Department En- campment held in Cincinnati, Ohio, Jan- uary 17 and 18, 1882. In the spring of 1879 he was chosen a member of the city council of Wooster, Ohio, for two years, and in 1881 was re-elected for a corres- ponding period, when he was unanimously elected president of the council, the duties of which responsible position he dis- charged with executive and parliamentary ability and skill. He served as chairman of the fire and finance committees and several others of commensurate import- ance. His present and permanent home is Wooster, Ohio. whither he removed in 1874. In polities he is a Democrat of the Jacksonian stripe, and has always taken an interest in all the campaigns since he has been a voter.
From what is above written it must be apparent that Mr. Van Nest is not only a
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society man, a worthy, honorable and in- telligent member of many of the most noble orders of the country, possessing the confidence to that extent of their be- stowal of honors and dignities upon him, but a man of public enterprise, compre- hensive and liberal views, exemplifying character, position and influence in the great, jostling thoroughfare of the world.
OHN B. ODELL. Lorenzo D. Odell was born in Adams County, Ohio, October 29, 1810. His father re- moving to Wayne County the ensuing year, he became a citizen of the county in infancy. The earlier years of his life were spent upon the farm and assisting his father in the mill. His opportunities for procuring an education were of a lim- ited character, consisting chiefly in self- instruction in spare hours. When quite a boy he visited Michigan, and became associated with the corps of surveyors who were running off government lands, and with them he remained a period of six months. After his return, in the fall of 1829, he began teaching, an occupation he continued until 1832, and in 1838 he purchased a part of his father's farm, where he devoted himself to agriculture and surveying. Mr. Odell was justice of
the peace in 1836, and held the position for twelve years, being elected the last two terms without opposition. He acted in the capacity of county surveyor from 1847 to 1850, and was elected to the Leg- islature of the State of Ohio from Wayne County, serving in that honorable body two terms, from January 7, 1856, to Janu- ary 2, 1860. He took an active part in the construction of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and was in- strumental in procuring the station at Big Prairie. Mr. Odell had been a member of the Baptist Church since 1841. He was married July 12, 1832, to Annie Gib- bou, of Lycoming County, Penn., by whom he became the father of five children: Ophelia, deceased wife of Robert C. Jones, of Shreve; Tobias G., who married Martha J. Bell, and they are now residents of Lakeville, Holmes Co., Ohio; Therrissa; Pemptos R., who married Mary Haslen (now deceased), and is now a resident of Richmond, Ind .; and Jolm B., whose name heads this sketch. The father died April 6, 1883.
John B. Odell was reared and edu- cated in the schools of the county, and has assumed general management of basi- ness affairs since the decease of his father, occupying the old homestead. He has been justice of the peace for the last twelve years, and is engaged in agrienlt- ural pursuits. Mr. Odell is a member of
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the Baptist Church. In politics he is a Democrat, and is prominent and enter- prising in all local public matters.
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0 K. GRIFFITH, banker and miller, Orrville, Ohio, comes of Welsh ancestors on his father's side, who immigrated to America at an early day, 1 settling in York Conty, Pem., where the family lived for several generations. His grandfather, Joseph Griffith, was born in that county, living all of his lifetime on his birthplace, dying at the age of eighty- seven. He was a Quaker in religion. There his son, Mode, father of O. K., was born in 1805. He learned the trade of a plasterer, which became his lifelong oc- cupation. He lived in his native conty until 1839, when he removed to Indiana County, Penn., remaining there fonr years, when he went to Boiling Springs, Cumberland Co., Penn., where he and his wife both died. he at the age of seventy- seven, and she aged sixty-two. Mr. Grit- fith was an industrions man, of a remark- ably upright and conscientious character, who regarded a promise as sacred; out- spoken in the expression of his opinions; , an ardent advocate of protective tariff, and an Abolitionist, when to be one was to be unpopular, and an agent for the " under-
ground railroad," who often helped runa- way slaves. He was married in 1830 to Eliza Kaufman, a native of Boiling Springs, of a well-known family. One of her brothers, D. S. Kaufman, was for many years a Congressman from Texas, elected several times without opposition; another, Abram Kaufman, was a prominent minister of the Episcopal Church of Charleston, S. C., who was honored at his death by interment in the body of the church. Mode and Eliza Griffith were parents of ten children: D. S .. who is now living in Colorado; William C., A. K. and Levi, in Lincoln, Neb .; O. K., om sub- ject, and Jennie, at Boiling Springs. Penn .; four are deccased, viz .: Harriet, Benjamin, Joseph and an infant.
O. K. Griffith, the subject of this sketch, was born at Dillstown, York Co., Penn., April 28. 1831. Through the influ- ence of his nnele from Texas, he seenred a clerkship in the United States Treasury Department, which he held until a change of administration threw him out. He then stayed at home for awhile, and in 1853 came to Wayne County, where he had several acquaintances. Here for three years he worked at plastering in , summer and taught school in winter, and in the winter of 1856-57 taught in Illi- nois, going to Kansas the following spring, and taking up some land there. In 1858 he returned to Wayne County, and getting
OK& Griffith
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married bought some timber land between Wooster and Smithville, which he cleared. On this place he lived until 1873, when he removed to Smithville, where he stayed for a year and a half. In October, 1874, he removed to Orrville and bought the Orrville Mill, in co-partnership with John Willaman. This firm existed nutil 1880, when new partners were taken into the concern, and the name changed to the Orrville Milling Company. Great im- provemeuts were at once begun, a fine new mill being built while the old one was running, and when the new mill was running the old one was moved into it. To-day the mill runs night and day, except Sundays, and has a daily capacity of 500 barrels. The mill is operated solely by Mr. Griffith, its prod- uct being all engaged beforehand, the flour having a high reputation. This re- sult is due to its being located in a first- class wheat-raising section; to their hav- ing their own warehouses, and being able to select their wheat, and in an eminent degree to the able and careful manage- ment of Mr. Griffith. In addition to his milling business Mr. Griffith is engaged in banking, being president of the Orr- ville Banking Company, started by him and some other gentlemen, and of which he was and is the leading spirit. This is an individual liability bank, the stock- holders each being responsible to the full |
amount of their property, giving ample security to customers. During the War of the Rebellion Mr. Griffith enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteers.
Mr. Griffith has been twice married; first in March, 1858, to Miss Jane Was- son, daughter of David and Margaret ( Beale) Wasson, old settlers of Wayne Township, in this county, where she was born in 1836. To this union five chil- dren were born: Frank, who is married to Eva Blackmore, of Orrville, and is living on a large farm in Colorado, owned by his father; Mary and John, living with their father; Charles, who died in 1883, aged nineteen, and Alice, who died in chikdl- hood. The mother of this family died December 3, 1870. She was a woman of a rare Christian character, truly pions, a member of the Presbyterian Church. A faithful wife and devoted mother, her loss was sincerely mourned by her bereaved husband and children.
In March, 1874, Mr. Griffith was mar- ried to Mary, daughter of John and Nancy Heineman, of Wooster. She was born in Wayne County. The issue of this union was two children, one of whom, Edwin Fay, died in childhood; the other, Grace, is now ( 1888) eleven years of age. Mr. Griffith has never been an aspirant l'or publie office, but was once elected justice of the peace, which office he gladly got
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rid of by removing from the township. He is a member of the G. A. R., of the Knights of Honor, and of the I. O. O. F. In polities he is a Republican, and a pro- tective tariff man. A straightforward, enterprising and stirring man, Mr. Grif- fith is an important factor in the growth and prosperity of Orrville, and a central figure in the business circles. He is known as a thoroughly upright man and a valuable citizen.
C HRISTIAN M. BALMER is of Ger- man and Swiss extraction. His grandfather, Jacob Balmer, was born in Lancaster County, Peun., December 4, 1771. Late in life he removed to Cum- berland County, Penn., where he died in 1836. His wife was Elizabeth Hanek, born in Lancaster County, November 23, 1780, and died in Cumberland County in 1865. Her father had emigrated from Switzerland at a very early day. They were the parents of eleven children, three of whom are now living: Samuel, in Dau- phin County, Penn .; Lydia, wife of Daniel Graybill, of Akron, Ohio; and Levi, in Wood County, Ohio. Those deceased were named George, Jacob, Andrew, Christian, Susan. John. Eliza- beth and Daniel.
The father of Christian M. Balmer was also named Christian, and was born in Lanenster County, Penn., May 28, 180-1. and was eight years okl when his par- ents removed to Cumberland County. There he lived with his parents until his marriage, at the age of twenty-seven. when he moved to Shiremanstown, in the same county, working at his trade of car- riage making until 1851, when he immi- grated to Smithville, Ohio, where for a short time he worked at his trade, remov- ing in the spring of 1852 to the farm where our subjeet now lives, which he previously purchased, and which com- prised 133 acres. Here he lived until the marriage of Christian ML., when he re- tired and removed to Smithville, where he died July 5, 1884. While living in Shiremanstown Mr. Balmer was licensed to preach, in 18-14, by the Quarterly Con- ference of the United Brethren Church, and later joined the Annual Conference, by which he was also licensed. He preached for that church until the sepa- ration of the German and English branches in Ohio, when he united with the River Brethren, and preached for them until his death, his last sermon being de- livered but two weeks before his demise, thus devoting the greater part of his life to the service of his Master. He was a man of truly religious principles, and lived up to all his professions; was seru-
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pulonsly honest in all his dealings, cautious in his conversation, never speak- ing aught to the detriment of his neighbors, and much respected by all who knew him. He was married in Sep- tember, 1833, to Annie, daughter of Christian and Barbara Musser, of York County, Penn., where she was born May 5, 1811. Her parents were old residents of that part of Pennsylvania, and the family is very numerous there yet. She died on the Wayne County farm, March 24, 1867. They had eight children: Christian M. was the first born; Eliza- beth, who was twice married, is now wife of Gottlieb Bitser, and lives in Huron County, Ohio; Susan, widow of Joseph Musser, lives in Cleveland, Ohio; Annie, also twice wedded, is wife of Cyrus Strat- ton, of this county; Barbara died un- married in March, 1865; Mary is wife of Daniel Stanffer, and lives in St. Joseph Connty, Mich .; Sarah Catherine is wife of Daniel Davidson, of Canaan Township, this county; and Esther S. is wife of W. S. Sago, of Huron County, Ohio, and she and her husband are both missionaries at Rotafunk, Sierra Leone, West Africa.
Christian M. Balmer was born near Shiremanstown, Pen., October 5, 1834, and was in his seventeenth year when the family came to Ohio. He had helped his father in the shop during his boyhood, but on the removal to the farm he became
a farmer, and has followed that ocenpa- tion ever since. He was married May 9, 1880, to Miss Matilda Oyler, daughter of John P. and Mary ( Miller) Oyler. She was born in Lawrence Township, Stark Co., Ohio, June 17, 1852. Her parents were Pennsylvanians, the father born in Franklin County and the mother in Lancaster County. The mother died in April, 1888, and the father is now liv- ing in Canal Fulton, Stark County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Balmer have one child, Mary Etta. Christian M. Balmer and wife are members of the United Brethren Church, in which he has been a class leader, and he also holds a license as an exhorter in that denomination. He has the reputation of a strictly upright man, possessing many of the good traits of char- acter of his estimable father, and rightly is held in esteem by his fellow-citizens.
B. PINKERTON, superintendent of the Wayne County Children's Home, comes from a family whose name was known in America as early as the year 1700. Near that date eleven brothers, natives of the north of Scotland, left the land of their birth and settled in different parts of this country, and it is a known fact that all of this name now liv-
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ing in the United States are descendants of these pioneers. Benjamin Pinkerton, great-grandfather of our subject, was born in Franklin County, Penn., and was mar- ried to Catherine Hansel. Jacob, an only child, was born to this couple, and at the early age of nine was left an orphan by the death of both of his parents. When he was ten years old he was taken to Lan- easter County, Penn., by relatives of his mother, and there grew to manhood. He followed farming and distilling in that county until 1837. In 1816 he had passed through the State of Ohio, and, being much attracted thereby, in 1837 settled in East Union Township, Wayne County. He was married to Elizabeth Stanffer, who became the mother of three children, their names being Reuben, Rudolph and Elizabeth. When he arrived in Wayne County Mr. Pinkerton purchased a farm, where he resided until his death, in 1581. Reuben, the oldest of the children, was born in 1816, and is now a resident of East Union Township. Ho was married to Susanna Brenner, daughter of Adam Brenner. Eight children were born to this union, of whom but four are now liv- ing: J. B., Elizabeth ( Mrs. Hoffman), Delilah ( Mrs. Liphart) and Catherine (the latter at home).
J. B. Pinkerton, our subject, the only son of Reuben and Susanna ( Brenner) Pinkerton, was born in Lancaster Conn-
ty, Penn., and was six weeks old when his parents immigrated to Ohio. He was educated in the academy of Edin- burgh and Fredericksburgh, and at Mount Union College, Ohio. He has made school-teaching and farming the busi- nesses of his life. Iu 1862 Mr. Pinker- ton enlisted in the One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Infantry, and was a soldier until the close of the war, in 1865. In the latter year he was married to Miss Rachel B. Carey, daughter of Stephen Carey, of Salt Creek Township, Wayne County. Three children have been born of this anion, as follows: Pe- nola. now living, and William and Emma, deceased. In 1882 Mr. Pinkerton was appointed superintendent of the Wayno County Children's Home, which position he now holds. He is a courteous gentle- man, reliable, and highly respected by all who know him. Mr. Pinkerton's family are members of the Presbyterian Church. In politics he is a Republican.
G EO. H. KEPPEL was born in Ches- ter County, Penn., July 11, 1845. His parents, who are still living in Chester County, Penn., are JJohn and Barbara ( Weaver) Keppel. Geo. H. was reared on the homestead farm, attending
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the district schools, and when eighteen years old left home, and learned the car- penter's trade in Philadelphia, where he remained six years. In 1868 he came to Wayne County, Ohio, and worked at his Erade in Wooster For abont one year, then moved to New Pittsburgh, where he lived until 1875, in which year he moved to Apple Creek and established his present warehouse business. In 1875 Mr. Kep- pel was united in marriage with Miss Selaca. E., daughter of Philip Spotts, of Reedsburgh. Mr. Keppel is a prominent member of the Democratic party. In 1887 he was elected the first mayor of the vil- lage of Apple Creek, and is also a notary public. He is a member of Ebenezer Lodge, No. 33, F. & A. M., of Wooster, and Wooster Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., also a charter member of Apple Creek Lodge No. 6744, I. O. O. F.
D ANTEL C. MARTIN was born in Cumberland County, Penn., April 17, 1826, and died May 3, 1889. Ilo was a son of David and Elizabeth (Coble) Martin, the former of whom was born in Lancaster County, Penn., in 1795. The parents were married in February 1819, and had a family of six sons and three daughters, as follows: Sons-John,
Jacob and Levi, who died in infancy; Daniel C., our subject: David, who now lives in Stockton, Kas., and Abraham, who died in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion. Daughters -- Mar- tha, who married John Irwin, now liv- ing in Dalton, Ohio; Elizabeth, who mar- ried David Miller, now living in Kan- .. sas, and Mary, who died in infancy. David Martin, the father of this family, moved from Cumberland County, Penn., to Wayne County, Ohio, in 1>32, when Daniel C. was a six-year-old boy.
The subject of this biographical memoir attended the public schools in Sugar Creek Township, Wayne County, but when nineteen years of age he was disabled by hip disease. He then taught school for two years, and afterward entered mer- cantile business at Reedsburgh, Plain Township, Wayne County, continuing in the same six years, during which time he read and practiced law, being admitted to the bar of Wayne County in 1857. In 1853 Mr. Martin was elected a justice of the peace, which office he held three years; was also appointed notary public, holding that office at the time of his death. For ten years from 1876 Mr. Mar- tin was a licensed minister in the Moth- odist Episcopal Church. February 20, 1819, he was married to Cordelia Gondy, of Dalton, Ohio, who bore him four chil- dren, viz .: Clara, who married W. R.
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MeClellan, and now living in Urbana, Ohio; John, who married Isabella, daugh- of Jacob Hess, living in Reedsburgh, Wayne County ; Ida, who married George W. Obenour, of Plain Township, Wayne County, and Flora, who died when three years of age. The mother of this family died in 1865, and in February, 1884, Mr. Martin married Julia Fornshell, of Wooster, Ohio.
AMES F. BRITON, son of Robert and Margaret (Finley ) Briton, both natives of Ireland, former from near Londonderry, was born on " Deer Lick Farm," in Congress Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, November 7, 1826. Robert Briton immigrated to America in 1824, located in Congress Township, Wayne Co., Ohio, and leased a farm on Section 9. He died February 14, 1827, and his widow then returned to her father's family, also residents of Congress Town- ship, where she died March 2, 1874, at the age of seventy-four years.
James F., their son, received a com- mon-school education, and at the carly age of sixteen commeneed school-teach- ing, which profession he followed snc- cessfully for some time. In 1550 he made an overland journey to California,
taking ninety-five days to reach Sacra- mento, arriving there July 24, that year. Locating in Campo Seco, Township No. 4, in Calaveras County, Cal., he remained there nine years, engaged in mining. Here he was elected a justice of the peace, and was foreign tax collector, and afterward he served as deputy sheriff. From California Mr. Briton moved, in 1859, to Chili, South America, where he was engaged in railroad building, re- maining for a period of fifteen years. Then, after an absence of twenty-four years, in which he met with varied suc- cess, he returned to his old, home in Wayne County.
Mr. Briton was united in marriage in 1874 with Miss Asenath Stanley, daughter of Nathaniel and Mary Stan- ley, who were among the early pio- neer settlers of Wayne County. Our subject and wife have two sons, Ernest A. and Charles G., and are comfortably sur- rounded with all home comforts in their residence at Deer Lick Farm. It may be mentioned that upon the breaking out of the war between Porn and Bolivia against Chili he returned to his old home in the latter country. This was in 1879. His sympathies were very naturally with the Chilian people and government. He re- mained there three years. During a form of thirteen months he was a successful manager of " The Guano Loading Com-
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pany," of P. A. Mckellar & Co., of Val- paraiso, Chili. This was on the coast of Peru. Mr. McKellar frequently acts as American consul, and is a gentleman of wealth and character. Politically he is a Republican.
N ICHOLAS RUEGSEGGER was born in Switzerland, May 16, 1834, son of Nicholas Ruegsegger, who was born in 1785, at Rothenbach, Canton Bern, Switzerland, and married Elizabeth Forni, who died in 1831, leaving the following-named children: John, in Stark County, Ohio; Christian; Samuel, in Stark County; Frederick; Ulrich, in Paint Township: Annie; Elizabeth, widow of Daniel Ohinstead, of Tusearawas County, Ohio; Barbara, widow of Jacob Olmstead, of Tuscarawas County. Ohio: Susanna, wife of Christian Blasser, of Paint Township; Magdalene, and Marga- rot, wife of Joseph Krespach, of Paint Township. Christian, Frederick, Annie and Magdalene are now deceased. For his second wife Mr. Ruegsegger married Barbara Berger, by whom he had the following-named children: Nicholas, in Paint Township; Mary, deceased, and Rosana, wife of Alex. Meyers, of Isa- bella County, Mich. In 1835 the father,
with his large family of wife and twelve children, eleven by first marriage and one by second, immigrated to America, locating first in Stark County, Ohio, for six months, then settling in Paint Town- ship, Wayne County. They were promi- nent members of the German Reformed Church. The father died in 1860, and the mother in 1870.
Nicholas Ruegsegger, whose name heads this sketch, came to Wayne County with his parents when a mere child, and was reared on the homestead, attending the township schools. He has always re- mained on the homestead, and followed farming. In 1861 he married Miss Lena, daughter of Samnel Graber, of Paint Township, Wayne County, and they have six children, as follows: Iney Ann, wife of John J. Wefler, of Stark County, Ohio; Aaron W .; Clara R .; Ida L. : Elma L. and Cleveland Wilson. Nicholas Rnegsegger is a prominent Democrat, and has held the offices of trustee, super- visor, clerk of the school board, etc. He is an older in and trustee of the Ger- man Reformed Church, and one of the building committee of the new church at Mt. Eaton.
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