USA > Ohio > Wood County > Commemorative historical and biographical record of Wood County, Ohio : its past and present : early settlement and development biographies and portraits of early settlers and representative citizens, etc. V. 1 > Part 97
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Capt. Knaggs attended schools during boy- hood in Toledo, and later assisted his father in the management of his farms. He came to Wood county in 1845 to see some land, and! there met and married Miss Cynthia Haskins. who was born in Portage, February 6, 1832. After their marriage they spent one year at To- ledo, and then returned to Portage where they have since resided. Their five children are all living. Lottie married G. Carlin; Forest, a
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farmer in Portage, is not inarried; Ivy is the wife of Charles Vandenburg, and has one child- Ruth; Mortimer lives at home; and Wellington, a farmer at Portage, is married to Cora Gunn, and has one daughter, Myrtle, and one son, George. When the war broke out Capt. Knaggs enlisted in Company C, 21st O. V. I., and was commis- sioned Ist lieutenant; and at Nashville, in 1862, he was promoted to the rank of captain and placed in command of Company B. He was wounded at Stone River and discharged for disa- bility, but after a short stay at home he returned to the front only to find that he could not endure the strain of active service. Coming home, he again engaged in farming and later in oil produ- cing. He now owns 120 acres of land and four oil wells. A patriotic and popular citizen, he is a prominent worker in the Republican party, and shortly after his return from the ariny he was elected clerk of the court of Wood county. He is a member of the F. & A. MÍ.
* I. V. WIREBAUGH, a prominent physician and surgcon of Prairie Depot, has been remarkably successful in his chosen calling owing to his abil- ity, professional knowledge and skill. He is a native of Ohio, born in Tod township, Crawford county, August 11, 1863, a son of John and Elizabeth ( Horner ) Wirebaugh, well-to-do and successful farming people, the latter now living. Our subject was reared like most farmer boys, assisting his father in the labors of the field, and attending the district schools of the neighbor- hood. In :886 he began the study of medicine under the direction of Dr. Chesney, of Bucyrus, Ohio, and the next year attended a course of lec- tures at the Western Reserve Medical College, from which he was graduated in March, 1890, after completing the three-years' course and con- tinning his studies during vacations with Dr. Chesney. He began practice at Tiro, Ohio, where he also owned au interest in a drug store, but gave most of his attention to his profession. In December, 1892, he sold out his business there, and on January 31, 1893, he closed a deal for property in Prairic Depot, and on March 4, following, opened an office there, where he has since been successfully engaged in practice. Hc is a talented and skillful physician, and has at- tained his present honorable position among the medical fraternity by his own unaided exertions. He gives the closest attention to his business, and surely au honorable career lies before him in his chosen calling.
On June 10, 1896, Dr. Wirebaugh was mar- ried to Celia Sage, a prominent young lady of
Prairie Depot, who was for several years a suc- cessful teacher in the schools of that place.
The Doctor takes quite an active interest in civic societies, belonging to the Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Knights of the Maccabees.
H. A. HAMILTON, M. D .. of Perrysburg, one of the oldest and most honored members of his profession, is descended from a long line of phy- sicians and surgeons. Of his ancestry the Cen- tennial Edition of the Hartford County Medical Association says: "One of the most distin- guished names upon the roll of physicians in our locality, whether during the last or the present century, is that of Hamilton. Early in the eighteenth century Josiah Hamilton, then a boy, came to Boston from Edinburgh, Scotland. He studied medicine and located for practice in the town of West Brookfield, Mass. He begat Josiah, Jr., who also became a physician, and followed his father in practice in the same town. About the middle of the century Josiah, Jr., be- gat Asa, who also studied medicine, and com- menced practicc at the age of seventeen or eight- een, so precocious was he in the art inherited from his father and grandfather. Dr. Asa Ham- ilton early left Brookfield and settled in Somners, Conn. He with his young wife and infant son made the journey on horseback. This Somers physician was the most distinguished of his fam- ily, and became an officer and surveyor in the Revolutionary army. He was a remarkably fine- looking man, physically, and exceedingly popular in his professional capacity. He was one of the carly members if not a charter member of this society. Although he lived only about twenty years after he commenced practice, his reputa- tion for skill in surgery became extensive. On one occasion his services were sought from East Windsor Hill, a village only eight miles from Hartford. He lived about twice that distance in the opposite direction, and this call was worthy of note because it shows that his reputation en- abled him to encroach upon the domains of the surgeons of a capital city. This fact seems to us quite remarkable, for their reputation is now so pronounced that we surgeons eighteen miles away can hardly keep our minor surgery out of their hands.
"Horatio Arnold Hamilton, who when an in- fant rode into Connecticut with his father, Dr. Asa, on horseback, early in or just before the Revolutionary war, in due time studied medicine also, and practiced in Somers until his two sons. Horatio Asa and Erskine Erasmus, who als)
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studied medicine, were ready to practice, when he gave up the field to them and retired to En- field. Here he built up a large practice, in which he continued to labor until his death, which oc- curred about the year 1850. He was a remark- able man in his way. He had quite a literary taste, and was proud of his professional pedigree. he being the fourth doctor in direct line from Dr. Josiah. He was anxious to contiue the line in liis posterity, and it is said that on one occa- sion when his only remaining son, Dr. Erskine Hamilton (Dr. Horatio having died), was inclined to give his time and attention to farming exclu- sively, he spent whole nights in violent lamenta- tion. His vigorous protestations prevailed, and the line remains unbroken to this day. Dr. Ho- ratio and Dr. Erskine each begat a son who studied medicine, and both of these are now in active practice; one, Dr. Horatio Arnold, in Per- rysburg, Ohio, and the other, Dr. Theodore Erasmus, in Springfield, Mass. And still further, a son of Dr. Horatio Arnold (Harry Arthur) is practicing with his father, and a son of Dr. Theo- dore Erasmus is graduating this year ( IS92) from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City."
As will be seen from the above, Dr. Horatio Arnold is the subject of this sketch. His father, Dr. Horatio Asa, who died at the age of forty, married Miss Clarissa Peck, a daughter of Dr. Peck, of Stafford, Conn., and had three children: Elizabeth married Dr. Royal Strickland, of En- field, Conn., who despite his eighty years is still in practice; H. A. is our subject; and Marinda Eliza is the wife of James Murray, a prominent lawyer, once State's attorney of Ohio.
Dr. H. A. Hamilton was born in Somers, Conn., March 27, 1829, was educated in Suffield, Conn., and in the Medical Department of the University of New York, graduating from the lat- ter school March 22, 1852, after a three-years' course. He practiced three years in Springfield, Mass., and then, in 1854, came to Perrysburg and cominenced practice along with the late Dr. Peck. Dr. Hamilton married October 3, 1855, Miss Delia Dewey, who was born in 1828, in Middleton, Conn. They have three children: Ida married W. J. Parks, of Toledo, and has four children-Grace, William, Hamilton and Harold; Harry Arthur, born January 27, 1862. is now practicing medicine with his father; Charles Murray, born July 1, 1866, is in the employ of the Milburn Wagon Co., of Toledo (he married Miss Anna Bryant, and has two children-Harry and Helen). Dr. Hamilton and his family are prominent in the social life at Perrysburg. He
is a man of unusual robust physique, and al- though nearing the ordinary term of three score years and ten, no task is too difficult for him. and he displays an energy which puts time at de- fiance. He is a member of the American Med- ical Association, the Ohio State Medical Associa- tion, and the Northwestern Ohio Medical Asso- ciation. He has been a Freemason for many years; in politics, was originally a Whig, and has been a Republican since the formation of that party.
ARTHUR B. MURPHY, the able prosecuting attorney of Wood county, was born in Condit, Delaware Co., Ohio, December 15, 1860. Since coming to Bowling Green, in 1887, he has made rapid progress in his profession, his thorough legal training and fine oratorical gifts receiving prompt recognition.
Mr. Murphy's ancestors on both sides were among the early settlers of the Buckeye State. His paternal great-grandfather, William Murphy, came from Maryland early in the century, and settled in Franklin county, Ohio. He was a prominent Democrat, and an extensive land owner, but was chiefly noted for his love of hunt- ing and his large pack of fox hounds. He married a Miss Leaf. Their son Basil, our subject's grandfather, was born in Franklin county, in 1802, whence, in 1828, he moved to Delaware county, and bought a farm on Rattlesnake creek. He acquired a fine competence, and in later years retired to Delaware, Ohio, where he died at the age of seventy-nine. In early life he was a Democrat, but on the nomiitation of Fremont he joined the Republican party. He married Miss Rachel Algire, a lady of German descent, and a member of an old pioneer family living near Win- chester, Fairfield county. She was greatly be- loved for her good works. She was an aunt of the late John A. Shannon, a prominent attorney of Bowling Green, whom she reared. Basil Murphy and his wife had seven children, two of whom died in infancy. The others were Minerva, who married John Sinkey, of Delaware county; Mary, the wife of the late Abraham D. Adams, a well-known lawyer and a partner of Ex-Gov. Dennison; Charles Leaf, our subject's father; Linnie B., now residing in Delaware, and Will- iam, who went to Texas and died there.
Charles L. Murphy was born in 1837 at the old homestead in Delaware county, Ohio, where he now resides. He is a Republican with Prohi- bition tendencies. He married Martha S. Adams, a native of the same county, and a descendant of an old Connecticut family. Her parents, Johs
i
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and Desire (Cook) Adams, came to Delaware county when that region was a wilderness. They were at first undecided whether to locate there on " Derby Plains " or at the present site of Colum- bus; but the finding of a peach tree growing in the woods at the former place turned the scale in its favor. They were devout Methodists, and their house was for many years a regular place of meeting for that society. Both lived to advanced age. Mrs. Adam's sister, Cassandra (Cook) Converse, was the mother of Hon. George L. Converse, of Columbus. Jay Cooke, the finan- cier, was a relative of the family. John Adams and his wife reared a family of seven children named as follows: (1) Ursula, the widow of Dr. L. P. Sigler, formerly of Upper Sandusky, and later of Garden Grove, Iowa. (2) Calvin, a fruit grower in Placer county, Cal. (3) Abraham B., who married Mary Murphy, our subject's aunt. (4) Martha S. (Mrs. Murphy). (5) James, deceased, formerly a resident of Delaware county. (6) John, tlie recorder of Placer coun- ty, Cal. (7) Elijah, formerly recorder of Dela- ware county, and now a resident of Columbus. Our subject is the eldest of a family of eight children, the others being: (2) Lovett, now in Washington. (3) Delano, who died at the age of twenty-two. (4) Grant, at home. (5) Ern- est, deceased at the age of twenty-one. (6) Farrah, a student in the Ohio State University at Columbus. (7) Gertrude, married to George E. Thrall. (8) Cora, at home.
Mr. Murphy attended the district school until he was twelve years old. and then entered the Sunbury High School, and two years later the Ohio Wesleyan University, where he graduated from the scientific course in 1885, with the degree of A. B. He was one of the editors of the college paper, The Transcript. In 1884 he won the col- lege prize for oratory, and in February, 1885, took the second place among eight contestants in the State oratorical contest at Oberlin, Gov. Mc- Kinley being one of the judges. He began the study of law with John S. Jones, of Delaware, and in 1886 entered the senior class of the Cincinnati Law School, graduating the following year. He also engaged in oratorical contests there, obtain- ing second place. On the advice of J. D. Cox, Secretary of the Interior in Grant's cabinet. he came to Bowling Green in the fall of 1887, and engaged in general practice. In November, 1890, he was appointed mayor to succeed Andrew Mears, and in the following April was elected to that office. In 1892 he was re-elected, but re- signed to take the office of prosecuting attorney January 1, 1894. He is acknowledged to be the
most polished speaker of his age in this part of Ohio. He is a close student, but occasionally breaks the routine of professional life by social diversions and hunting expeditions. Mr. Murphy is a Republican in politics; socially he is a mem- ber of the K. of P., the K. O. T. M., and the Phi Delta Theta.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1893, our subject was married to Miss Lizzie Kershner, a native of Lib- erty Center, Henry county, and they have one child, Nellie F., born January 28, 1895. Mirs. Murphy's parents, Andrew R. and Lanie (Andrix) Kershner, were natives of Pennsylvania, and were married in Ohio. They had eight children, viz. : Jennie and Alice, who both died in infancy; Kate, wife of Rev. W. P. Bender, a minister of the M. E. Church; Mrs. Murphy; George Washington, of Bowling Green; Zella, at home: Adaline, teach- ing in the Bowling Green schools; and one whose name is not given. The father was a hotel-keeper. He served in the 160th O. V. I., during the Civil war, and was wounded in the service. He died May 15, 1879; the mother resides at Fostoria. Mrs. Murphy was born August 16, 1868, was edu- cated at Liberty Center under the superintend- ency of George H. Poulson, now of Cleveland, Ohio, and commenced teaching when sixteen. She taught four years in the Bowling Green schools.
GEORGE RETHINGER, of Custar, is a native of Ohio, born in Lucas county. February 13, 1848, a son of John and Mary C. (Long) Reth- inger. Our subject passed his boyhood on his father's farm, receiving the usual winter school advantages, later taking a business course at To- ledo. In early manhood he worked on a farm during the summer, teaching school in the winter season, till 1874, in which year he came to Cus- tar, and entered the general merchandise store of Ingram, Keeler & Co., in the capacity of clerk and bookkeeper, remaining there some nineteen months, or until the firm was burned out. Mr. Rethinger then taught the parochial school of Custar for one winter, after which he embarked in the grocery trade, in course of time, in connection therewith, engaged in the grain and live-stock business, and expanding his gro- cery store into one of general merchandise. This he conducted some nine years, then selling out, and again taking up the profession of teaching, this time in the public schools, in which he con- tinued for one winter. Once more he com- menced general merchandising, including, as before, the grain trade, having a partner in the person of Abram Phenix; but at the end of one
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year our subject purchased his partner's interest, and conducted the business for his own account until the winter of 1895, when he retired from it. He is now representing Southworth & Co., in the grain business at Custar, managing their ele- vator, and buying grain.
On June 8, 1876, Mr. Rethinger was mar- ried to Miss Catherine Dunigan, daughter of Manus and Bridget (Burns) Dunigan, the former of whom died in 1877, and the latter resides in Springfield, Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Rethinger were born ten children, as follows: Charles J., Lucy R., Mary P., Frederick J., Bridget A., George Leo, Lawrence I., Anna G., Andrew Raphael, and Agnes C. (who died July 26, 1895, at the age of eight months). The entire family, including the parents, are members of the Catholic Church; socially Mr. Rethinger is affiliated with the Cath- olic Knights of St. John, and the Catholic Knights of Ohio.
GILBERT T. KNAUSS. Devoting his energies to farm work is this native son of Ohio, who now owns and operates a farm in Middleton township. He was born in Medina county, June 2, 1852, and is a son of George Knauss, one of the early settlers of this locality. When only two years of age he came with his parents to Wood county, and attended school in Plain and Center town- ships. He worked with his father on the farm, aiding in its development, and also learned the trade of a blacksmith, which he followed for two years in Plain township. At the age of nineteen he came to Middleton township, where he owned forty acres of land, and at once began the devel- opment and improvement of his property. He has erected a comfortable country home thereon at a cost of $1, 500, built good barns, laid many rods of tiling, and set out an excellent orchard. In connection with the development of this prop- erty, he has also engaged in conducting a black- smith shop, and has been quite successful in his business. His son now cares for the farm, while he is devoting liis energies entirely to the work in the smithy.
Mr. Knauss was married on June 18, 1871, to Frances Grover, who was born in Ballville township, Sandusky county, September 3, 1848. They now have four children -- George Franklin, born September 26, 1872; Nora M., born Febru- ary 20, 1877, now the wife of Allen Ewing, of Plain township; Florence May, born November 19, 1878; and Edna M., born August 9, IS89.
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Mr. Knauss has ever been a loyal citizen, a fact which he demonstrated when only eleven years of age by attempting to enlist in the army,
but on account of his extreme youth his father prevented him He has for a number of years served as school director, and was instrumental in securing the establishment of a school near his home. In politics, he is a Republican, and in religious faith adheres to the United Brethren Church. He is a broad-minded man, possessed of excellent qualities, and is deservedly num- bered among the leading citizens of the com- munity.
FRANK A. REID, a well-known attorney of Bowling Green, was born at Ottokee, Fulton Co., Ohio, December 4, 1852. His grand- parents, James and Priscilla Reid, were born near Edinburgh, Scotland, and a few years after their marriage they canie to America, locating in Pennsylvania and later in Hancock county, Ohio, at a point since known as Reid's Corners, where Mr. Reid, who was a ship carpenter by trade, engaged in business as a housebuilder. He was also a justice of the peace for many years. Seven of their children grew to maturity; James. who lives in Van Wert Co., Ohio; William. a char- acter sui generis, a carpenter, a shoemaker, a lawyer and world-wide traveler, who died at Sedalia, Mo .; John H., our subject's father; Raine, a resident of Paulding county. Ohio; Alexander G., living at North Baltimore, Wood county; Sarah P., the wife of Edward Koons, of Lawrence, Kans .; and Thomas C., who died at Bowling Green, Ohio, September 7, 1892.
Jolin H. Reid was born in Pittsburg, Penn., February 11, 1823. Not being content with a common-school education and the carpenter's trade, he determined to enter Oberlin College. where, by working in the harvest field in summer, and doing odd jobs during term time, he suc- ceeded in paying his expenses and graduating. He then read law in Findlay, and on being admitted to the bar located at Delta. Fulton county, where, in 1851, he was elected prose- cuting attorney. There he remained until 1853, when he moved to Perrysburg, Wood county. He had previously married a native of this county. Miss Aurelia Augusta Howard, who was born at Grand Rapids January 30, 1826. On his appoint- ment as postmaster in Perrysburg, his wife, a lady of fine mental ability, took charge of the office while he devoted his time to his profession. In 1863 he organized Company D, 86th Regiment, O. V. I., and went to the front as their captain. The company went through the campaign which resulted in the evacuation of Cumberland Gap. Capt. Reid receiving a severe sunstroke while in the mountains. His company had enlisted for
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six months, but were kept on duty nearly a year. After returning home he again entered the army, this time as quartermaster of the 144th O. V. I., in the 100-day service. Shortly after the regi- ment went to the front Frank A. joined his father at Fort Dix, Md .. and saw considerable of army life during that summer. They took part in the operations in the vicinity of Annapolis and Har- per's Ferry. At the close of the war Capt. Reid resumed his practice at Perrysburg, and at the time of the contest over the county seat he was retained on the side of Bowling Green, whose interests he heartily espoused and earnestly de- fended in the highest courts of appeal. Victori- ous in spite of the array of learned counsel on the opposing side, he removed to Bowling Green, where he carried on his practice, the latter part of the time in partnership with our subject, until a stroke of paralysis gave warning of his approach- ing death, which occurred on November 1, 1885. As a judge he had few equals in soundness of logic and subtlety of analysis. As an advocate he was remarkably successful, and when occasion required he could rise to an impassioned yet graceful eloquence. So well balanced was he in his acquirements and gifts that it is difficult to make a distinction, and mention any leading characteristic. Before the war he was a Demo- crat, but studying the issues of that time he be- came a Republican.
He and his wife, who survives him and resides at Chattanooga, Tenn., were members of the Presbyterian Church. Of their children, five grew to adult age, of whom Frank A. is the eldest; J. Howard, born May 13, 1860, died September 30, 1886; James R. and Richard W. are clothing merchants at Chattanooga; Mary Augusta lives with her mother.
The Howard family, from whom our subject's mother descended. were prominent in the history of the Maumee Valley. Thomas Howard, our subject's great-grandfather came from Yates county, N. Y., in 1823 with his wife, a daughter, Sidney, who afterward became Mrs. Howard Davidson, and his three sons- Edward, Robert A., and Richard M. W .- with their respective families. Part of the family came by water, the rest taking the land route and driving their live stock. They first located at Fort Meigs, but later removed to the Rapids of the Maumee, Gilead, where they made their home for many years. Thomas Howard (who was born Novem- ber 15, 1758), died there May 25, 1825. His son, Robert A. Howard, oursubject's grandfather. was born November 10, 1798, and survived all the other members of the band of pioneers. His
last years were spent in what is now Pike town- ship. Fulton county, where he died November 26, 1872. The Toledo Commercial of Decem- ber 4, 1872, gave an extended obituary notice, and mentioned his valued services as a justice of the peace in Fulton county, an office which he held for many years, and used as a means of quietly adjusting difficulties, his kindly advice as a man of well-known impartiality being as po- tent in its influence as his judicial decisions. After Fulton county was established he was em- ployed to transcribe the old records, and later was elected county recorder. His wife, formerly Miss Priscilla Nelson, was highly esteemed by all who knew her. After a half century of married life, they died within a year of each other. Of their nine children five are now living: A. A., of Mason, Mich .; Col. N. M., a prominent business man of Omaha; Edwin A., of Hillsdale, Mich., formerly an Indian agent in Dakota under Presi- dent Grant; James W., of Fulton county, Ohio; and Aurelia Augusta (Mrs. Reid).
Frank A. Reid was less than a year old when brought to Wood county. and lie received his elementary education in the public schools here. Ile then entered the Law School at Ann Arbor, where he was graduated in 1877. Until his fa- ther's illness he practiced with him, and since that time he has continued alone, conducting his extensive practice with unusual ability and marked success. He is an active and influential Republican, and during Garfield's campaign was organizer and president of the Garfield Club. On June 15, 1878, he was married to Miss Alice Lundy, born November 15, 1856, the daughter of Henry and Margaret (Smith) Lundy, who came from Pennsylvania to Wood county in 1836. Mr. Lundy was prominent among the pioneers of Wood county, was for years a direct- or of the County Infirmary, trustee of Center township, and took a leading part in securing the location of the county seat at Bowling Green. contributing generously toward the new court house. Mr. and Mrs. Reid have two children: Earl A., born August 30, 1879, and Helen .A., born March 27, 1881.
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