Commemorative biographical record of the counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, Part 70

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1040

USA > Ohio > Sandusky County > Commemorative biographical record of the counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 70
USA > Ohio > Ottawa County > Commemorative biographical record of the counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 70

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).

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHIICAL RECORD.

4, 1877, a farmer of Johnson county, Kans. (2) Sarah Fidelia, born September 7. 1842, is the wife of William L. Rich- ards, of York township. (3) Robert L. is the subject of this sketch. (4) Charles, born February 20, 1848, died March 24, same year.

Robert L. Rife grew up in York town- ship, and at the age of twenty-three, on September 1, 1869, married Miss Maria Dimock, who was born in Brownhelm township, Lorain county, August 4, 1849. After marriage they settled on a small place, and modestly began farming. It can be said that Mr. Rife has a genius for the noble art of husbandry, for he has prospered almost beyond measure, and he is to-day one of the most substantial farmers of Sandusky county. To Mr. and Mrs. Rife have been born five chil- dren: Charles, Fred, Emmet, Gertrude and Homer. Charles, the eldest, mar- ried Hattie Wyatt, and has two children- Beatrice and Ellis. Fred married Miss Christena Knoblow, and has one child- Helen.

S AMUEL FOUGHT, one of the honored pioneers of Sandusky county, has made his home in Washington township since the days when this locality was a frontier settlement, when the work of progress and civilization seemed hardly begun, when homes were widely scattered, and when many of the now thriving towns and vil- lages had not yet sprung into existence. In the work of progress and advancement he has ever borne his part, and his name is inseparably connected with the history of the county.

Mr. Fought is a native of Ohio, born in Perry county, December 3, 1831, and is a son of Michael and Elizabeth (Kline) Fought, who removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio in the days when it was hardly safe to venture far from their log cabin, for the wolves were then more numerous

in Sandusky county than are the cattle to-day. They located upon a forty-acre tract of land about two miles from the present home of our subject, and there spent their remaining days, both reaching an advanced age. The father passed away at the age of eighty-one, and the mother was called to her final rest at the age of eighty-three. In his political relations he was a Democrat, and both were members of the Lutheran Church. Their family numbered eleven children, of whom Peggy became the wife of J. Cunningham, by whom she had four children, and after his death married G. Heverland, by whom she had one child; Sally married J. Hetrick, and both are now deceased; Solomon, Nancy and Michael are also deceased; the other members of the family are Betsy, William, Powell, Polly, Samuel and Levi.

Our subject was a young child when his parents located in Sandusky county, and when he became old enough to attend school he was sent to the only one in the township, about five miles from his home, and that distance he was compelled to walk. He lived with his parents until 1848, when, at the age of seventeen, with the money that he had saved from his earnings, he purchased seventy acres of land in Washington township, and took up his residence thereon. It is located on what is termed the pike, and is one of the most valuable tracts in the township. Here he is successfully engaged in agri- cultural pursuits, and his place is under a high state of cultivation, and well improv- ed with the accessories and conveniences of a model farm.

On October 5, 1843, Mr. Fought was married to Miss Susan Klotz, daughter of David Klotz, a farmer of Pennsylvania, in whose family there were seven children: Philip, Katie, Susan, John, Martin, Samuel and David. The father died at the age of sixty-three, the mother at the advanced age of eighty-six. To Mr. and Mrs. Fought have been born eight chil-

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dren-six sons and two daughters-name- ly: Nancy, born December 16, 1844, now the wife of Fred Gillard; Lucy, born Jan- uary 15, 1847, now the wife of Frank Arnett, a carpenter of Fremont, Ohio; Absalom, born May 11, 1850; William, born February 23, 1852, and is engaged in carpentering in Fremont; Freeman, who was born January 13, 1854, and re- sides in Hessville, Ohio; Levi, who was born August 5, 1856, and follows milling in Fremont; Franklin, a resident of Lind- sey, Ohio, born May 31, 1861; and David E., born August 25, 1864, now a contrac- tor of Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Fought is a stalwart Republican in politics, and has filled the office of school director, taking a deep interest in the cause of education, of which he is a warm friend. He belongs to the United Brethren Church.

A LBERT E. RICHARDS (better known as Bert), who is engaged in the publication of the Farmers' Reporter, of which he is editor and proprietor, has spent his entire life in Sandusky county, his birth having oc- curred in Townsend township, November 2, 1862. He is a son of Archibald and Mary (George) Richards. His father was born near New London, Conn., in 1812, and when a young man he came to the WVest, taking up his residence in Sandusky county, where he carried on agricultural pursuits and succeeded in amassing a com- fortable fortune. In politics the elder Richards was a Democrat until after the division came on the slavery question, when he became a stalwart Republican. His death occurred in 1884. The mother of the subject of this sketch was born in Seneca county, Ohio, in 1819. Her par- ents were from Vermont, and were among the first settlers in this section of the State. Mrs. Richards is still living and is a resident of Clyde.

In the Richards family there were

thirteen children, of whom our subject is the youngest. He attended the dis- trict schools until twelve years of age, when the family left the farm and moved to Clyde, thus giving him the advantage of a better grade of public schools. In 1879 he became a student at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Mich., and remained there three years. He left school at about the time of his father's death, and en- gaged in the insurance business, which he pursued with success during a period of two years. He then disposed of his in- surance interests, and devoted his whole time and attention to art, for which he had always displayed a natural taste and inclination. In art he was fairly success- ful from a financial standpoint, and his work in black and white was warmly re- ceived by some of the best art critics. Our subject, however, could not be satis- fied with anything less than a thorough schooling in color work among the mast- ers abroad, and did not feel financially able to pursue such a course of study. In 1892 he decided to drop his art work for a time, and purchased the Farmers' Reporter, a Republican newspaper with a good circulation, published at Clyde. Mr. Richards at once changed the paper to a Democratic sheet, being a stanch Demo- crat himself. It is well edited, neat in . appearance and devoted to the best inter- ests of the city and county. Being well conducted it receives a liberal patronage, and its business is steadily increasing. One commendable feature about the pa- per, so rare now-a-days, is that it con- tains no medical or other advertisements of a questionable sort, regardless of the high prices offered for space by such ad- vertisers.

Mr. Richards is an inflexible supporter of the principles of his party. He is well known among local politicians throughout northwestern Ohio, and his figure is a fa- miliar one at conventions and other polit- ical gatherings. His friends are many throughout the county, where his genial,

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affable nature has made him popular with everybody.

Our subject was united in marriage on May 17, 1894, to Miss Millicent Fancher, the charming and accomplished daughter of Postmaster Fancher, of Lorain, Ohio.

A A. FENN, one of the prosperous and successful business men of Clyde, Sandusky county, a fruit farmer and ice dealer, is the son of a well-known pioneer of the county, Amos Fenn. The latter came to Clyde in 1820, with the Pogue family, Silas Dewey and Giles Thompson, the earliest settlers, and for more than half a century was a prominent character in the com- munity.

Amos Fenn was born in Litchfield county, Conn., in September, 1793, and was a young man when he came west. He was a carpenter by trade, and built the first frame house in the city of San- dusky. He was twice married, first at Marblehead to Nancy Smith, by whom he had five children, as follows: Susan P., now Mrs. Wing, of Kansas; Charles G., a grocer at Adrian, Ohio; Clara D., who married Horace Woodward, and died near Norwalk; William D., who died many years ago; and Harriet J., unmarried, a resident of Tiffin. Mrs. Fenn died in June, 1839, and in 1840 Amos Fenn mar- ried Emeline, widow of Orrin F. Brace, and daughter of Nathan and Lucy (Smith) Jacobs. She was born in Vermont Sep- tomber 30, 1810, and was married at Ithaca, N. Y., to Mr. Brace, who went west, contracted a fever and returned to Milan to die soon after. By that marriage there was one child, George Brace, now of Grand Ledge, Mich. To Amos and Emeline Fenn came two children, who grew to maturity-Nancy, born February 3, 1841, who was married to Joseph Dufran, of Bucyrus, and died February 16, 1892, leaving five children-Charles, George, Allen, Jean and Fred; and A. A.,

subject of this sketch, born September 9, 1848. Amos Fenn remained a resident of Clyde until his death, January 16, 1879. He was buried in Clyde cemetery. He was a man of deep conviction, and was universally admired and respected. For a time after coming to Clyde he operated an old water sawmill on Coon creek, near the village. For a period of eighteen years from 1843 he served as a justice of the peace, and he was also elected township clerk; in politics he was a Republican. For a man of pioneer times he was fairly educated, and in 1844 he was ordained a Methodist minister, during his later years devoting his life al- most exclusively to ministerial duties, and his farewell sermon in the M. E. Church attracted one of the largest audiences ever assembled in Clyde. Father Fenn, as he was generally known, delivered more funeral sermons, perhaps, than any other man in Sandusky county, and often left the harvest field to officiate at some burial service. This was purely a labor of love, for all he ever received for these ministrations was one white shirt. It was not alone in the lugubrious aspects of life that he par- ticipated, for in disposition he was jovial and generous; he married hundreds of young couples, and his one daughter, Nancy, was among the large number joined in wedlock by him. His widow, at this writing, still survives. She was in early life a member of the Baptist Church, the faith of her parents, but in 1835 joined the M. E. Church at Milan. By letter she, in 1840, became a member of the Clyde Church, and still holds that membership. Somewhat enfeebled by age, she now makes her home with her son, A. A.

Our subject spent his boyhood days in the vicinity of Clyde, and assisted his father on the farm. He was drummer in Company B, One Hundred and Sixty- ninth O. V. I., which did guard service at Fort Ethan Allen during the summer of 1864, and like most of his comrades he

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came home broken down in health from his long stay in a malarial locality. In 1876 he was married to Lida Rathbun, who was born in Clyde June 16, 1856, daughter of Franklin and Louisa (Tucker) Rathbun, the former also a native of Clyde, the latter born February 17, 1827, in Lorain, Lorain county. Franklin Rathbun and wife had five children, as follows: Newton, of Clyde; Mary, wife of James Stokes, of Clyde; Amy, wife of John H. Keller, of Pomona, Cal .; Lida; and Burt, of Clyde. A. A. and Lida Fenn have three children: Franklin Amos, Jay Leon and Ethel May. After mar- riage Mr. Fenn purchased his father's farm, and embarked in the ice and fruit business which he has ever since very successfully cenducted; he is thoroughly attached to this industry, which is one of inestimable value to the community in which he lives. He has a fine spring wa- ter pond, with gate outlet, used for thor- oughly cleansing the pond, which is used for boating in summer. He has sixteen acres in small fruits, three acres of which are devoted to blackberries, the yield increasing every year. In poli- tics Mr. Fenn is a Republican, and in religious belief a Methodist. He is a · prominent member of the G. A. R. and of the K. of P.

J OSHUA D. SAMPSEL. The sub- ject of this sketch is well-known in Sandusky county, where he has re- sided all his life, and especially in Madison township, of which he is one of the prominent and substantial citizens. The story of his life is that of many of the early settlers of Ohio; a boyhood of hard work and privation, with few ad- vantages and still fewer pleasures, but with plenty of grit, earnest endeavor, and stubborn perseverance which have, in the end, lifted him to the level of success and secured for him a competence which en-

ables him to enjoy those privileges of which he was deprived in youth.

Mr. Sampsel was born, September 27, 1849, in the township in which he still makes his home, son of George and Mary (Dick) Sampsel, who came thither from Union county, Penn., in the early days of Ohio, and long before our subject was born. His ancestors on both sides were natives of Pennsylvania, and lived there throughout their lives, with the exception of his maternal grandmother, who accom- panied her daughter to her western home and died in Sandusky county. George Sampsel settled on a forty-acre tract of land on which his son Joshua still lives, and which was then covered with a wild growth of timber. He worked assidu- ously to clear the land and prepare the fields for crops by which to support his little family, but before his task was done his life was crushed out by a log rolling onto him. At the time of this sad event our subject was but two years old, and the other children too young to be of any assistance to their mother. This brave woman took up the heavy burden thus thrown upon her shoulders, and with what she could raise upon the farm, and by weaving carpets, managed to keep the wolf from the door. The family consisted of four children: Sophia, who married William Ickes, a farmer in Madison town- ship (they have one child, Erma); Re- becca, wife of Henry Friar, also a farmer in Madison township (they have three children, a daughter, Minnie-wife of Louis Driftmyer-and two sons, Bertie and Clifford); Joshua D., our subject; and Zephaniah, who died when eighteen years old.

On May 5, 1875, Mr. Sampsel was married to Miss Julia Kingston, who was born May 24, 1858, in Ottawa county, daughter of Henry and Minnie (Socedia) Kingston, farming people, who were of German birth. Their children were seven in number: Minnie, Eliza, Mary, Anna, Julia, Angeline, and one who died in in-

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fancy. Since his marriage, Mr. Sampsel has added to his original farm, and now owns 104 acres of valuable land in the center of the oil district. On it he has seven good wells, which bring him in a comfortable monthly income. All the land is cleared with the exception of about thirty acres, which he uses for tim- ber and pasturage. His family consists of six bright children, as follows: Justis, born July 11, 1876; Vernie, born August 4. 1878; Elsworth, born August 28, 1880; Goldie, born April 3, 1884; Mabel, born August 3. 1887, and Arthur R., born October 11, 1894, all at home. Mr. Sampsel has one of the finest and most comfortable homes in the township, and the handsomely furnished rooms are in- dicative of the excellent taste of its owner. That he stands high in the estimation of his fellow citizens is shown by the various responsible public offices in which he has been placed, he having held the position of school director and road supervisor, and at present that of township trustee. In politics he is a Democrat, and, with his wife, is a member of the Evangelical Church. Mr. Sampsel's father was in sympathy with the principles now held by the Republican party, and served as jus- tice of the peace.

G EORGE W. BAILEY (deceased) was one of the honored pioneers and highly-esteemed citizens of Catawba Island township, Otta- wa county. He was a native of Connect- icut, born in Danbury, Fairfield county, February 1, 1811, and was a son of Will- iam Ward and Anna (Bowton) Bailey, the former of whom served as a soldier in the war of 1812.

In his native city our subject spent the days of his boyhood and youth, and there learned the trades of shoemaker and bricklayer, following the former during the winter months, while through the suinmer season lie worked at the latter.

In 1844 he removed to Ohio, and on May 14 of that year located on Catawba Is- land (then Van Rensselaer township), when this county was almost an unbroken wilderness. Here he engaged in shoe- making until his death, which occurred March 19, 1848.

At New Fairfield, Conn., January 12, 1835, Mr. Bailey married Miss Mary E. Bearss, a native of New Fairfield, born May 16, 1813, and a daughter of Joseph T. and Annie (Hubble) Bearss, also natives of Fairfield county, Conn. In the war of 1812, her father fought in defense of the stars and stripes, and her grand- fathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey became the parents of four children: Thomas W., born May 13. 1837, died March 8, 1890; Lorenzo S., born December 24, 1838; Anna A., born August 19, 1840, is the wife of Frank Wonnel, residing in Port- age township, Ottawa county; and George O., born October 29, 1843, died March 4, 1890, from hardships incurred while serving in the army. In religious faith the family is identified with the Univer- salist Church.

LORENZO S. BAILEY, since the death of his father, has looked after the interests of the homestead farm and cared for his mother, who is now one of the oldest living residents of the community, having attained her eighty-second year, is still hale and hearty, and able to attend to her household duties. During her life she has been a great weaver and has woven thousands of yards of rag carpet, prior to which for years she spun the wool and wove the cloth for the family's clothes. In the summer time they wore cotton clothes colored with yellow oak or black walnut bark boiled down to an extract and set with copperas to hold its color. "Our young people of to-day," says Mr. Lor- enzo Bailey, "think they have hard times, but they know nothing about hard times. I remember very plainly when our family had nothing but boiled wheat and hulled

Mary & Bailey

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corn to eat. Flour was not made in the county, and was hard to get. I worked many a day for twenty-five cents per day, and the winter I was sixteen I chopped wood for my uncle at fifty cents a cord, and boarded myself. At eighteen I went to learn the carpenter's trade, and for three years worked for almost only my board; then followed fishing for several years, made a little money, bought a piece of land and commenced fruit growing.' Lorenzo Bailey is one of the most suc- cessful fruit growers of the island, and is held in high esteem by all who know him.

T HOMAS P. DEWEY, member of the law firm of Finch & Dewey, and one of the prominent attorneys of Clyde, Sandusky county, was born in Crawford county, Penn., December 27, 1853, son of George and Harriet (Ensign) Dewey.

George Dewey is the descendant of an old Massachusetts family of Scotch ex- traction. He was born in 1818, and still survives, a resident of Clyde. His wife, who was born in 1822 in Ashtabula coun- ty, Ohio, died in 1881. George and Harriet Dewey had six children, all of whom are yet living, as follows: Carlie, wife of Henry Bruning, of Toledo, Ohio; Charles, of Fremont, Ohio; Thomas P .; George, a merchant of Shelby, Mich .; and Hattie and Mattie, twins.

Thomas P. Dewey had not the ad- vantages of a collegiate training, but his education was by no means neglected. He attended the public schools of his na- tive town, afterward the excellent schools at Kelloggsville, Ohio, and he was amply compensated by private study for the absence of extraneous opportunities. In 1876 Mr. Dewey began the study of law at Painesville, Lake Co., Ohio, with the firm of Tinker & Alvord, the following year coming to Clyde, where he continued his studies under Judge John M. Lennon. He was admitted to the bar April 23,

1879, and in the following autumn began practice at Tiffin, about a year later, however, returning to Clyde, where he has ever since continued in active prac- tice. For three years he practiced alone, but in 1883 the firm of Finch & Dewey was formed, and these two attorneys have ever since been very successfully associ- ated in a professional way. Theirs is one of the leading firms in the city, and does an extensive legal business, practicing in all the courts. In politics Mr. Dewey is a strong Republican. He is actively in- terested in the triumph of the party's principles, and is recognized as one of the county leaders of his party.

On September 9, 1879, Mr. Dewey was married to Miss Jennie Stilwell, and to their union have been born three chil- dren: Hattie. Benjamin and Lucy. As a sort of recreation, and to get relaxation from his law practice, Mr. Dewey pur- chased two farms one mile west of Clyde, and has put them in splendid state of fertilization, and they are very produc- tive, having been thoroughly drained by tiling, etc. On one of these farms Mr. Dewey was so fortunate as to strike a mineral fountain spring, from which con- stantly flows a stream of nearly five in- ches in diameter. The waters have great healing and medicinal properties, and are highly prized by the people of the city and surrounding country, the waters be- ing very cold and pure.

R ANDALL SPARKS, who with his wife is renowned for his many virtues and exemplary Christian life, is one of the oldest living set- tlers of York township, Sandusky county. He was born in Fayette county, Penn., January 24, 1814, son of Ephraim L. and Sarah (Cook) Sparks.

Ephraim Sparks was born January 1, 1790, in Fayette county, Penn., whither his father, Isaac Sparks, who was a na- tive of New Jersey, of Welsh ancestry,

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had migrated, and there married Anna Lloyd. He followed farming, but also engaged in an early day in the manufac- ture of glass, in which enterprise, how- ever, he did not meet with the financial success that he had anticipated. Ephraim Sparks, his son, migrated about 1817 with a team and covered wagon to Tusca- rawas county, Ohio, with a brother John, locating on a farm in Warren township which had been purchased by their father some years before. Here they remained through life. Ephraim Sparks was twice married. His first wife, Sarah Cook, was born in Pennsylvania July 17, 1794, of old Dutch ancestry. Their seven children were: Randall, subject of this sketch; Thomas, a resident of Boone county, Iowa; David, who was a Lutheran min- ister, of Carroll county, Ohio; Isaac, of Clyde, Ohio; Elizabeth, who married Sam- uel Tressel and reared thirteen children, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, still living at this writing; Annie, who married James McCreary and died in Townsend township; and Mary, who married James Neal and lives in Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland Co., Penn. Mrs. Sparks died September 16, 1828, and Mr. Sparks subsequently mar- ried a Mrs. Lappin, by whom he had five children. In politics he was a Democrat. He died March 24, 1871.

Randall Sparks was reared on the farm in Tuscarawas county, attending school for a few months each year when pressing farm work was done. He was an apt pupil, and before his marriage, at the age of twenty-one, he had taught three terms of school. On May 31, 1835, he married Ann Wingate, who was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, No- vember 7, 1818, daughter of Henry and Mary (Bridall) Wingate, both natives of Delaware, who became early settlers of Carroll county, Ohio. Henry Wingate was of English ancestry; his wife was of French parentage. He died at the age of sixty-six years, she dying when Ann, the youngest child, was five weeks old. She

was the mother of fifteen children, twelve of whom grew to manhood and woman- hood. Ann (Mrs. Sparks) is now the only survivor of the family. One of her brothers died at the age of eighty-three years, another at the age of eighty-five; the eldest brother, who remained in Del- aware, she never saw. After his marriage Randall Sparks settled in Tuscarawas county. He taught another term of school in the winter, and for nearly eight years he remained there, engaged in farm- ing. In the fall of 1842 he came to York township, Sandusky county, and purchas- ing eighty acres of land on the ridge be- gan to clear it up. In the following spring he removed with his family to the new home, and he has lived there ever since. To Mr. and Mrs. Sparks eight children have been born, only one of whom is now living. They were as fol- lows: (1) Lemuel, born December 8, 1836, enlisted November 9, 1861, in Company B, Seventy-second O. V. I., participated in the battle of Shiloh, and died of typhoid fever near Corinth, Miss., May 16, 1862, after two days' illness. (2) Catherine, born July 8, 1839, died January 5, 1858. (3) Albert, born No- vember 26, 1841, died May 31, 1861. (4) Leslie E., born March 21, 1844, joined Company M of the First Ohio Heavy Artillery, and was drowned in the Tennessee river, near Loudon, Tenn., June 2, 1864. With others he had been ordered to guard a railroad bridge, and while they were crossing the river the canoe capsized and he was drowned. (5) Melissa, born January 13, 1847, died No- vember 6, 1869. (6) Elinda Jane, born September 16, 1850, died April 25, 1872. (7) Wilbur L., born February 27, 1854, was married June 11, 1890, to Alice Jar- vis, by whom he had one child, born June 5, IS91. Wilbur L. died May 24, 1893. (8) Ella Belle, born June 15, 1859, at home.

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Commemorative biographical record of the counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, Part 70

Author: J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1040

Author: J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago, J.H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1040