USA > Ohio > Sandusky County > Commemorative biographical record of the counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 89
USA > Ohio > Ottawa County > Commemorative biographical record of the counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 89
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In 1861 Mr. Pickard enlisted for three months in the Seventeenth Ind. V. I., at the end of that time re-enlisting, but his health was so poor that he was rejected. He remained at home for six months, and having somewhat regained his health he entered, in August, 1862, Company E, Sixty-fifth O. V. I .; he was again taken sick, and in the fall of 1863 was dis- charged, but at the end of eight months he had so far recovered that he again en- listed, this time in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth O. V. I., and served out his time. Mr. Pickard was in several
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skirmishes, and in the hot battles of Cum- berland Gap and Shiloh. In the fall of 1864 he went to Nashville as teamster for the government, and there remained for five months. In January, 1865, he went to Graytown, in Benton township, Ottawa Co., Ohio, to work in the saw- mill of Walker & Harman, with whom he continued some ten years. About 1875 he began work in the stave factory of Joseph Traults, at Graytown, where he labored four years; then, after spending several years on a farm, he took up and learned the barber's trade. He is self- made in his vocation, and is known as one of the most skillful tonsorial artists in the county. Mr. Pickard has a neat place of business, and, it being the only establishment of the kind in Rocky Ridge, he has all the custom he can convenient- ly handle. He has purchased a comfort- able home on Third street, and has met with well-merited success, being now able to enjoy life as he deserves.
On August 14, 1865, Mr. Pickard was married to Miss Nancy Ann Bennett, of Port Clinton, and to their union were born six children, their names and dates of birth being as follows: Annie, September 5, 1868; William Henry, November 27, 1870; Alvin Francis, September 8, 1872; George Frederick, January 22, 1875; Lanoria Jane, October 4, 1876; Jacob J., January 8, 1883; of whom, Alvin F. died May 6, 1875; Jacob J. died June 29, 1883; and Annie died May 29, 1884; Lanoria Jane is married to Frank Kiser, of Rocky Ridge; William H. is engaged in the stave business in Paulding county, Ohio; George F. is a clerk for C. F. Frese & Co., of Graytown, and is known as a capable, energetic young man. Mrs. Nancy Ann Pickard died April 7, 1883, after eight years' illness, and Mr. Pickard then remained a widower a few years, caring for his three remaining children. In 1887 he was married to Mrs. Bell Mor- gan, of Rocky Ridge, by whom he had the following children: Frank S., born
July 17, 188-, deceased August 28, 1890; and Ella Belle, born January 1, 1890. On April 1, 1895, Mr. Pickard was mar- ried to Mrs. Jennie Baker, of Rocky Ridge, a lady of Scotch-Irish descent.
The parents of our subject were John and Mary (Shrolley) Pickard, the former of whom was born in 1797, in Pennsyl- vania, and passed from earth in 1882, in Benton township, Ottawa Co., Ohio. The paternal grandparents of Mr. Pickard were John and Ellen Pickard, the former of whom, born in Germany in 1740, died in 1858, at the advanced age of one hun- dred and eighteen years; the grandmother was born in Ireland in 1742, and died in Indiana in 1858, being one hundred and sixteen years old. For twenty years prior to his death the grandfather was blind and deaf. The parents of Mr. Pickard's first wife were of French descent.
W ASHINGTON D. SMITH, who was one of the brave defenders of the Union in the war of the Rebellion, is a son of James A. and Jane (McCormick) Smith, and was born in Harris township, Ottawa county, Ohio, February 7, 1837.
James A. Smith was born in Virginia, June 5, 1806, and his wife, whose maiden name was Jane McCormick, was born in Canada in 1811. They had nine chil- dren-five sons and four daughters-four of whom are now living. The father of James A. Smith was John B. Smith. Mrs. James A. Smith's father was born in Ireland.
Washington D. Smith remained at home until he was nineteen years of age, then went to Indiana, where for two years he worked on the Wabash and Erie canal, and also on a farm. He then re- turned to Ohio, and learned the stone and brick mason's trade, which he had just completed at the outbreak of the Rebellion. On April 27, 1861, Mr. Smith responded to President Lincoln's call for seventy-
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five thousand men for three months, en- listing in Company I, Twenty-first O. V. I. He served his time and immediately re- enlisted in the same company for three years or during the war. In 1863, under the bounty plan, he again re-enlisted, re- ceiving the four-hundred dollars bounty for three years or during the war. Mr. Smith was in some of the hardest battles of the Rebellion, among which may be mentioned those of Stone River, Chicka- mauga, and Atlanta. He was also with Sherman on his famous march to the sea. After the battle of Chickamauga he was taken prisoner October 2, 1863, was held only four days, and then allowed to return to his regiment. Mr. Smith re- gards as one of the most interesting scenes he ever witnessed the battle of Missionary Ridge, which he viewed from a distance of three miles. He was in the grand re- view at Washington at the close of the war, then returned to Ohio, has since given his attention to his trade and to farming, and for the last twenty-three years has lived in Benton township.
Politically Mr. Smith is an ardent supporter of his party's ideas. He is a member of the G. A. R., of the I. O. O. F., and of the P. of H. On July 25, 1870, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Davenport, of Carroll township, Ottawa Co., Ohio, and they have had four chil- dren, as follows: James Edson, born June 27, 1871, died March 11, 1880; Emma, born October 10, 1872; Lula, born No- vember 5, 1875; and Mary Elizabeth, born September 6, 1886. Mrs. W. D. Smith's father was born in 1807 in Ohio; her mother was born in 1809. They had nine children-four sons and five daugh- ters-five of whom are still living. Miss Emma Smith, the eldest daughter of W. D. Smith, was born in Harris township, Ottawa county, where she lived until three years of age, when her parents moved to Benton township. As did also her young sisters, she acquired a liberal literary education in the public schools of
Graytown. She has been away from home the greater part of the time since sixteen years of age, and is at present, and has been for the past four years, en- gaged in Decatur; at the time of this writing she was at home visiting her parents. Lula Smith, the second daugh- ter of the subject of these lines, was born November 5, 1875, in Benton township, where she has since lived. She was edu- cated in the public schools of Graytown, in Benton township, and completed her course of studies in 1894, under the su- pervision of Principal A. L. Ferris. In October, 1894, Miss Lula began her work as a teacher in one of the public schools of Carroll township, Ottawa county, where she has very successfully taught her first year. Her ambition is to pursue her studies further as soon as possible, and to make of herself a professional teacher.
A LFRED C. JOHNSON, manu- facturer of brick and tile, Martin, Ottawa county, and superintend- ent of and stockholder in the Toledo White Lime Company, was born February 7, 1850, in the Kingdom of Sweden, son of Charles Johnson, who followed the occupation of fishing in that country.
When our subject was but a year and a half old his father died, and when Al- fred had reached the age of six years the mother came with her family to America, locating in Sandusky, Ohio. His edu- cational privileges were very meager, and he early began to earn his livelihood in connection with the fishing business. He then began sailing on the lakes, following that life until twenty-four years of age, when, thinking he might bend his ener- gies to a more profitable business, he came to Martin, Ohio, and entered into partnership with his father-in-law, A. E. Salisbury, in the stave manufacturing industry, with which he was connected until 1886, at the same time also engag-
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ing in mercantile pursuits at Martin. In 1886 Mr. Salisbury withdrew, and Mr. Johnson continued the enterprise alone until 1889, when he embarked in the brick and tile manufacturing, business which he yet conducts.
In 1880 Mr. Johnson entered the em- ploy of the Toledo White Lime Company as superintendent, and has since served in that capacity, operating the works at Clay Center, Ohio. In 1890 he became one of the stockholders in the company, and the two industries with which he is now connected yield him a good income. Through his business ability and progres- sive ideas he has succeeded in making the lime works a paying concern, and un- der his supervision many improvements have been made in the kilns, and in the use of the best machinery. He is now superintending the construction of a branch railroad which is to be run from the factory to Clay Center, and he has charge of the erection .of a new kiln in connection with the present one.
On October 13, 1875, Mr. Johnson married Miss Mary Salisbury, daughter of A. E. Salisbury, a prominent business man of Martin. She was born October 22, 1855, in Randall, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, was educated at Martin, Genoa and in Berea (Ohio) College, and made her home with her father until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson now have one daughter, Lottie A., who was born July 5, 1876, in Martin, where she attended school, completing her literary education in the high school of Toledo, after which she entered a business college of that city, taking a full business course. She is now a bookkeeper, stenographer and type- writer in the office of the Toledo White Lime Company, and is a most estimable young lady, possessed of superior busi- ness ability.
His success in life Mr. Johnson owes to no man, it being the reward of his own efforts. He began life without capital, but energy and industry are the traits of
character which have brought him suc- cess. He was self-educated, and is en- tirely self-made, but possesses good busi- ness ability, and the energy and determin- ation that helped him to accomplish what- ever he has undertaken. His straight- forward dealing in all transactions has won him the confidence and good will of all with whom he has been brought in contact, and his life furnishes an example well worthy of emulation. His political support is ever given to the Republican party, of whose principles he is a stanch advocate. The family reside in Toledo.
OHN MCINTYRE LEMMON. Few men are better or more favorably known throughout northern Ohio, or indeed throughout the State, than was the one whose name is here given. In the various relations of citizen, soldier, member of the bar and judge upon the bench, his record has been so full of all that is to be emulated in the conduct of life that it is with more than ordinary pleasure we include a sketch of his career in this volume. Necessarily condensed, owing to the limitations of such a work, we present only tho salient points, from which, however, a correct idea can be ob- tained of the character of the man who possessed the love and admiration of his fellow-citizens, as well as the respect and esteem of all who ever had dealings with him.
Judge Lemmon was a native of Ohio, born July 25, 1839, in Townsend, San- dusky county, a son of Uriah Blake and Emily Amanda (McIntyre) Lemmon. His ancestry were Scotch-Irish, and he in- herited much of the vigorous, well-bal- anced temperament which marks that race. His father's family, in this country, is traced back to Hugh Lemmon, who left Ireland when seventeen years old, coming to New York, where he learned the trade of a tailor, at which he worked for several
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years. He then removed to Pennsylvania, where he married into a family named McHenry, of Scotch origin. He had a family of twelve children, of whom James Lemmon, Sr., the grandfather of our subject, was the second. He was born in Northumberland county, Penn., July 17, 1779; was married to Rebecca Blake in 1805; was a volunteer soldier in the war of 1812; removed to Ohio in 1827, and ·died at his home on North Ridge, Town- send, Sandusky county, May 7, 1854. Uriah Blake Lemmon, the father of our subject, died at Clyde, this State, Febru- ary 16, 1887, when nearly seventy-nine years old. His wife departed this life July 12, 1860, in Townsend township, San- dusky county.
The present generation can scarcely comprehend the manner in which the early settlers of this and other western States were obliged to live, in those early days. The country was wild and sparsely inhabited. It was miles to the house of the nearest neighbor; the only and chief mode of travel was by ox-teams; no roads were laid out, no bridges built; dense for- ests surrounded the log cabin of the lonely settler. It depended on his strong right arm to wrest from the wilderness a living for his little family, and too often sickness and death resulted from the too great la- bor, and on the mother's weaker should- ers was placed the burden of caring for her little ones. The home in which Judge Lemmon opened his eyes upon the world differed but little from those which abounded throughout the West. A log cabin with two rooms, in this case one above the other, through whose chinks peeped the sun by day, and the moon by night; innocent of lath and plaster, the crevices daubed with mud which needed constantly to be renewed to keep out the heat of summer and the chilling rains and snows of winter. The only heat to be obtained was from an immense fire-place in one end of the living room, at which, also, all the cooking was done. It
was lonesome in the little home until the faces of children brightened the bare in- terior and childish voices rang out among the trees, and doubtless the mother's heart often longed for her girlhood's home while the weary hours stole on, her husband hard at work and often absent for a week at a time. The home place comprised 120 acres of land which our subject's father purchased at a low price, and which was covered with heavy timber. He was a carpenter by trade, and worked at this after he was married, by this means sup- porting his family, while in the few leis- ure hours he had he cleared off his farm and prepared it for cultivation. It was a hard life, and involved an amount of la- bor which few men of the present day would care to undertake. Of such stuff, however, were our pioneers made, and we who reap the benefits of their toil can never sufficiently thank and honor them.
The father of Judge Lemmon was a man of limited education, but of excel- lent judgment and practical wisdom, and determined that his children should have all the advantages that he could afford them. His wife was well-educated, a great reader, and possessed fine conver- sational powers. Until he was about twelve years of age Judge Lemmon at- tended the district school, which was then held for three months in the winter and three and a half in the summer. Soon, however, his help was needed on the farm, and he was reduced to the winter term only. When eighteen years of age he attended a select school for six weeks. These tastes of knowledge only gave the ambitious boy a hunger for more, and he employed all his spare time in studying, so well profiting thereby that at the age of nineteen he secured a teacher's certifi- cate and took charge of a school at Clyde. At the close of this school he entered Oberlin College, remaining there three terms. He then taught school again for several terms, and in the spring of 1859 accompanied an uncle to Missouri, where
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he located in Memphis, the seat of Scot- land county.
In November of the same year Judge Lemmon went to Jefferson City, Mo., where he took the decisive step of his career, beginning the study of law under James Proctor Knott, then attorney-gen- eral of that State. During the time he spent there he met and became acquainted with men who afterward were well-known characters in the Civil war, among them being Sterling Price, Claiborne Jackson, afterward governor, Stringfellow and Atchison. In 1860, owing to the illness of his mother, the young lawyer returned to Ohio, and read law in the office of J. R. Bartlett, of Fremont, and in the winter following took charge of the school in his home district. When news of the firing on Fort Sumter reached Fremont on that eventful April day in 1861, young Lemmon did not hesitate as to his duty. He enlisted in Company F, Eighth O. V. I., for three months' service. Before the company left Fremont, however, he was taken with the measles, and did not re- join his company until the regiment reached Fort Denison; soon afterward he was again taken sick, and was compelled to go home. In October of the same year, having regained his health, he again enlisted in Company B, Seventy-second O. V. I., which was organized under Ralph P. Buckland, of Fremont. It may be mentioned incidentally here, that at a reunion of this regiment held in Fremont in October, 1893, Judge Lemmon read a most interesting biography of Gen. Buckland, who served throughout the war with great bravery, and who was afterward elected to Congress.
While waiting for this regiment to be completely organized, Mr. Lemmon went over the county making speeches in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war, and urging his friends and neighbors to enlist. On January 18, 1862, his regiment was sent to Camp Chase, and thence to Cin- cinnati and Paducah, where it was placed
in a division under Brigadier-General W. T. Sherman. His first fight was on April 2, 1862, two days before the battle of Shiloh, and at that memorable battle his regiment saw hard service. It is a curious circumstance that the only injur- ies Mr. Lemmon received in his military career, which lasted throughout the en- tire war, were received on the first two days of the battle at Shiloh. On the first day he was wounded in the left arm by a musket ball, and the next day a ball struck his right arm, benumbing it so that he lost the use of it for a time. In the afternoon of the same day he was dis- abled by a shell from the Rebel batteries exploding and throwing a heavy piece of timber against him.
Mr. Lemmon was in the expedition un- der Gen. Grant which started November 26, 1862, and went as far as Oxford, Miss., and on the return accompanied his regi- ment to Moscow, Bolivar and Corinth. This expedition was full of hardships and privations. After the surrender of Vicks- burg, he was in the siege of Jackson under Sherman, and then in the expedition to Brandon, Miss., which to him was the hardest service seen during the war. The weather was exceedingly hot, and he was on provost-guard duty a part of the time, They marched back to Jackson under a burning sun, and he received a sunstroke which affected his eyes so that they were never afterward strong, and also his head, which troubled him in extremely hot weather. In June, 1864, Mr. Lemmon was detailed as judge-advocate of a mili- tary commission in Memphis, which was a military court organized for the trial of criminal cases for violation of both com- mon and military law by citizens. Some very important cases were brought before this court, and one man, convicted of be- ing the leader of a band of guerrillas, was hanged. Judge Lemmon served for seven months as judge of this court, and was re- lieved at his own request, having gained an enviable reputation for the manner in
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which he performed his responsible duties. Judge Lemmon participated in the cam- paign, under Gen. Canby, against Mobile, and in the siege of Spanish Fort, whence his command was marched to Mont- gomery, Ala., and the welcome news re- ceived that the war was at an end. Two hundred guns were fired in honor of the great event. During his service Judge Lemmon, who enlisted as a private, was promoted to a second lieutenancy, May 23, 1862, and was made captain July 23, 1863.
In June, 1865, the war being over, Judge Lemmon was mustered out of serv- ice, and returned home. He had been married, March 29, 1864, to Miss Annie Covell, at Perkins, Erie county, this State, and, as his health was poor on his return from the army, he settled in Clyde, a quiet little place, where he pur- sued his law studies, practiced his profes- sion, and also carried on the business of claim agent and insurance agent. Or June 11, 1886, he was elected the first mayor of Clyde, and in April, 1867, was re-elected to the same position. His law practice now grew so large that he gave up all other occupations, and devoted his entire time to his profession. He became widely known as thoroughly conversant with every phase of legal knowledge, and as a man of unerring judgment and great ability. In 1881 he received a flattering offer to go to New York City and devote himself entirely to corporation law at a large salary, and where he would have un- doubtedly made both fame and fortune, but his love for a quiet and retired life prevented his acceptance.
In October, 1866, Mr. Lemmon was appointed, without solicitation on his part, as the successor of Charles P. Wick- hamn, judge of the common pleas court of the First Sub-division of the Fourth Judi- cial District of Ohio. He had only shortly before declined to accept the nomination for the same office at the hands of his party friends. In 1887 he
was again asked to fill the place, but de- clined, as he did not then wish to wholly give up his practice.
In the summer of 1887 Judge Lem- mon, with his wife, made a tour through France, England, Scotland and Wales, the first vacation which he had enjoyed in twenty-three years of incessant activ- ity, hoping thereby to gain renewed health and strength. In July, 1888, how- ever, he was seriously threatened with nervous prostration if not with paralysis, from which, later, he fully recovered. He died August 17, 1895, at his home in Clyde, deeply regretted by all who knew him. His last days were days of com- fort and peace, for he had secured a com- fortable competence, and felt that he had completed his part in the busy world. He was a Republican, and though not an active politician did much for the good of his party. His character was above re- proach, and his record as a jurist unsur- passed in the State.
W ILLIAM H. LACHMILLER, one of the most enterprising and public-spirited citizens of Ben- ton township, Ottawa county, was born in Elmore. same county, April 25, 1858, son of William and Mary (Roh- terd) Lachmiller, who settled at Elmore in the year of his birth.
The boyhood of our subject was passed in attending the public schools of Elmore up to the age of fourteen, when he was confirmed in the German Lutheran Church, of which he is still a member. When fifteen years old he removed, with his parents, to Woodville, Sandusky coun- ty, where, for seven years, he assisted his father in the manufacture of wagons, and soon after his marriage, in 1881, he re- moved to Benton township, Ottawa coun- ty, where he has since been identified with business interests, first engaging as clerk in the store of C. F. Frese & Co. At the end of two years he severed his connection
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with this firm and embarked in business for himself, engaging in the lumber trade in company with Peter Lickert, under the firm name of Lickert & Lachmiller. On March 1, 1885, Mr. Lickert sold out his interest in the concern to Frese & Co., the name changing to Lachmiller & Frese Bros., and so continuing for four years, when Mr. Lachmiller purchased the Frese Brothers' share, thus becoming sole owner of the business. At the end of one year he sold a third interest to his brother-in-law, John F. Shoemaker, pur- chasing this share again, however, in 1894, since which time he has conducted the business alone. He carries a stock of lumber, shingles, etc., ranging in value from $5,000 to $10,000, and his large and flourishing trade is ever on the increase, the hum of the mill being heard unceas- ingly from 7 A. M. to 6 P. M.
In 1883, when Mr. Lachmiller ven- tured into business, he had but $1,000, which he invested in his plant, going in debt for the remainder, and by diligent attention to his affairs he has not only succeeded in paying that debt, but now has a lumber stock and mill free of all in- cumbrances, the value of which is not less than $17,000. Aside from the lum- ber industry and his large mill Mr. Lach- miller owns property in Graytown, Oak Harbor and Toledo, valued at $10,000. By the foregoing it will be seen that in the short space of twelve years this com- paratively young man has, by his own individual efforts, made for himself the snug fortune of over $25,000. This is indeed a business record of which any young man would have great reason to feel proud. Many a young man has be- come wealthy by inheritance; but for a man to start with only $1,000, and in the short period of twelve years work out a fortune such as he has, is a record of which few can boast. Mr. Lachmiller is very public-spirited, takes great interest in educational matters, having for eight years been a member of the school board
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