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 98
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LEONARD DANIELS ( deceased ), who was a highly respected citizen of the county, born in New York December 5, 1811, died at his home in Middleton township in 1871, esteemed by all who knew him. He was one of a family of ten chil- dren born to William and Prudence / Prior ; Pan- iels. In his early life he learned the carpenter's trade, and followed that occupation for some years.
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On February 15, 1856, Mr. Daniels was united in marriage with Miss Martha Worth, a native of the Empire State, born on the 2d of May, 1817. She was one of a family of ten children, whose parents were Thomas and Mary Worth. By the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Daniels were born nine children, namely: D. W., a farmer of Washing- ton township; Prudence, wife of G. A. Simmons, of New York; Amon J., who is operating the old homestead; Herbert R., who is in the West; Jesse M., a carpenter; H. C., who is living in Bowling Green; D. L., a farmer; Alice M., wife of E. H. King; and Inez M., wife of V. R. Porter, of Bowling Green.
The subject of this review continued his resi- dence in the East until 1866, when he came with the family to Wood county, where he purchased 100 acres of land, on which the widow now re- sides. It was then wild and unimproved, but he at once. began to clear it, and worked long and earnestly in transforming it into richly cultivated fields. He continued his work until 1871, when death relieved him of his labors. He was a man of sterling integrity and commendable worth, and had the confidence and good will of all who knew him.
After his death Mrs. Daniels took up the work where her husband laid it down, and, with the help of her sons, has succeeded in clearing the farnı and bringing it under a high state of culti- vation. Many rods of tiling have been laid upon the place, and, thus drained, it has been trans- formed into richly cultivated fields. A good residence and barns add to its value, and it is now highly improved. Mrs. Daniels deserves great credit for carrying on the work as she has done, and she is still, at the age of seventy-eight years, keeping house for her sons.
HON. BENJAMIN F. JAMES, a prominent young attorney of Bowling Green, of the firm of James & Beverstock, and ex-representative of Wood county in the State Legislature, was born near Mt. Gilead, Morrow Co., Ohio, April 30, 1863.
His paternal grandfather, Edmund James, a native of Wales, came to America when a young man, locating near Granville, Ohio, where he met and married Miss Esther Griffith. She had come from Wales in childhood with her parents, who settled at the . Welsh Hills, " in Licking county. After their marriage they remained some years in the same locality, and then moved to Chesterville, in Morrow (then Knox) county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. They had ten children, among whom was Will- iam D. James, our subject's father, who was born
near Chesterville, December 22, 1815. He was a farmer and stock dealer by occupation, and an active politician, first in the Whig, and later in the Republican, party, being one of five in his lo- cality to vote the latter ticket during the war. Strange to say, in 1894, each one of this little band was represented in the State Legislature; William D. James, by his son, the subject of this sketch; John McConica, by his son Senator Thomas H. McConica, of Findlay; Benjamin Philips and David Thomas (cousins of William D. James), by Senator Dudley B. Philips, of Manchester; while Hugh G. Rogers, one of the survivors of the quintette, was there in person as member from Morrow county.
Our subject's mother. Sarah (Meredith) James, was born in July 30, 1318, at Chester- ville, the seventh of the ten children of Williamn and Mary (Farmer) Meredith. Their respective families had emigrated from England to America in ISoo, and settled near Chesterville, where, after their marriage a few years later, Mr. Mere- dith and his wife also located upon a farm. Our subject's father died May 13, 1875, his mother on September 27, 1894. They also had ten chil- dren, of whom Benjamin F. is the youngest. Lucretia married T. H. Peterson, of Longley, Ohio. Milo, a private in Company D, Third O. V. C., died at Nashville, Tenn., September 10, 1862. Mary E. is the widow of Capt. James A. Moore, of Olathe, Kans., and now resides in Fulton, Ohio. James H. is a farmer in Fulton, Morrow county. Milton D. is the president of the Globe Building & Loan Association of Colum- bus, Ohio, and a prominent real-estate dealer there. Robert W., formerly a stock dealer at Marengo, Ohio, died May 9, 1883. Keturah is the wife of G. L. Donals, of Helena, Ohio. Jennie E. died July 9, 1883, the wife of A. A. Crawford, county cominissioner of Morrow county. Ellsworth W., who died December 5, 1889, was a stock dealer in the same county.
Mr. James spent his boyhood upon his father's farm, and up to the age of fifteen was mainly em- ployed in outdoor labor. But he was not one to be contented with the peaceful but monotonous life of a farmer, and he determined to secure an education and take a place in public life. The next six years were passed in different educational institutions, the Chesterville High School, the Ohio Wesleyan University, Dennison University, at Granville, and the Chicago University, where he was graduated June 11. 1884, at the age of twenty-one, with the degree of A. B. The fol- lowing year he took the professorship in Latin and Greek in Burlington College, Burlington,
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lowa, which he resigned at the close of the year to enter Yale University, New Haven, Conn .. although he was tendered the presidency of the college, which he declined. At Yale he took post-graduate and law studies, and on June 28, 1887, he received the degree of LL. B. In Oc- tober of that year he began to practice his pro- fession, first in partnership with Judge G. C. Nearing, and later with Edward Beverstock, his present partner. Although the firm of James & Beverstock is one of the youngest in the county, they already have an extensive practice, having law offices both in Bowling Green and Toledo, Ohio.
Mr. James is highly gifted as an orator, and his speeches at the bar and before public assem- blies are regarded as masterpieces by competent judges. He is a born politician, and his abilities were promptly recognized by the older members of the Republican party. In 1890 he was chosen vice-president of the Ohio Republican League, and a year later a vice-president of the National League. In local politics he was also a leader from the first, and in 1890 he was elected city solicitor, resigning that office in 1891, after his election to the General Assembly. His first term gave him a reputation as a tireless worker, and a fearless champion of any measure which he be- lieved to be right, and he was re-elected in spite of strong partisan opposition. He has the happy faculty of making friends, seldom forgetting a face or a name, and there are few other men in this county who have as wide a circle of acquaint- ances. He is a 32º Mason, holding his mem- bership in the Cincinnati Consistory, and he belongs to the Zeta Psi, a college fraternity, as well as the Phi Delta Phi, a legal fraternity, hav- ing been the founder of the Yale Chapter during his attendance there.
CHRISTOPHER FINKBEINER, ex-recorder of Wood county, and one of the most prominent residents of Bowling Green, was born June 9, 1845, in Wurtemberg, Germany, where his an- cestors on both sides had for many generations been worthy and industrious citizens. His par- ents, Friedrich and Mary A. (Audee) Finkbeiner, came to America in 1847, settling finally in Perrysburg, Wood county. The father was a miller by trade, but after coming to this county found more profitable employment as a carpenter and contractor. He took a hearty interest in the welfare of his adopted country, and sent three of his sons to the defense of the Union. Previous to the war he was a Democrat, and then became an ardent Abolitionist aud Republican. He died Jau-
uary 17, 1863, aged forty-eight years, and his wife in 1865, at the age of fifty. Of their large family four lived to adult age: Frederick and John, who have been engaged in mining in Ari- zona and the West since the war closed; Christo- pher, our subject; and Mary, the youngest child, now the wife of Charles Church, of Toledo, Lucas Co., Ohio.
Our subject, who is the third son, was two years old when he came to this county, and his education was obtained in the common schools of Perrysburg. His first business venture was driv- ing a dray, which occupation he followed until December 4, 1861, when he enlisted in Company E, 72nd O. V. I., under Gen. Sherman. Dur- ing the advance upon Corinth, he contracted typhoid fever, and July 25, 1862, he was dis- charged for disability, and sent home. On July 1, 1863, he again enlisted, this time in Company L, 3d O. V. C., joining in time to take part in the battle of Chickamauga, the pursuit of Gen. Wheeler, and the engagements at Missionary Ridge and Knoxville. In the spring of 1864 bis regiment joined Sherman's forces at Cartersville, Ga., and took part in his famous campaign. After the capture of Atlanta they followed Hood into Alabama, and in the last engagement with his troops, October 25, 1864, near Gadsden, our sub- ject was wounded, necessitating the amputation of his right foot. Until March 16. 1865, he was a patient in various hospitals-at Rome, Chatta- nooga, Nashville, Jefferson Barracks, at St. Louis -and then declining to enter the Invalid Corps he came home. For a short time he worked in a stave factory in Perrysburg, later clerked in a store, and September 30, 1867, he opened a store of his own, dealing in books and notions. After four years he moved his stock to Napoleon, where he remained two years, and then sold out to take a position as traveling salesman for a firm of dealers in wooden ware. During the next seven years he visited in their interests points in Canada, and the northern States from Massachusetts to Colorado. Under Garfield's administration he was appointed postmaster at Perrysburg, and after four years and a half he opened a store for notions and gents' furnishing goods, which he carried on until his election to the office of county recorder in 1888. He served the people of the county in this capacity two terms, his faithful aud efficient service having been rewarded in 1891 by a re-election.
On January 1, 1867, Mr. Finkbeiner was mar- ried to Miss Mattie A. Bellville, a native of Perrys- burg, born November 8, 1847, and they have had four children: Fred J., born November 5, 1867. 1
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is living at Bowling Green, Ohio; William A., born September 13, 1869, is a merchant at Perrysburg (he married Miss Winnie See, and has one son -- Donald A.): Helen Gertrude is now at home; and Jessie Belle is also at home. Mr. Finkbeiner is one of the influential Republicans of Wood county, and he is a member of the I. O. O. F., the N. U. and the G. A. R.
HENRY S. CHAPIN, editor and proprietor of the Democrat, Bowling Green, is a native of Con- necticnt, born January 4, 1835, at Collinsville, Hartford county, a son of Ariel S. and Mary D. (Jones) Chapin, natives of Berkshire county, Massachusetts.
Ariel S. Chapin was a son of Amos and Rebecca (Sheldon) Chapin, who were also of Berkshire county nativity. Mary D. (Jones) Chapin was a daughter of Barnabas and Ada (Harmon) Jones, of the same locality in Massa- chusetts, and on both sides of the house they followed agricultural pursuits. Both families (Chapin and Jones) moved in 1836 from Massa- chusetts to Lenox, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, where they bought land and cleared up farms. Ariel S. Chapin, father of our subject, lived in Col- linsville, Conn., for a time, being there em- ployed in some of the manufactories of that place, though his occupation in the main was that of a farmer. The son, Henry S., was a year old when his parents came to Ohio, and but seven years of age when his father died at Lenox; the mother passed from earth, in 1893, at the home of our subject in Bowling Green. They were the parents of two children: Harriet, who married J. C. Frankeberger, of Sidney, Shelby Co., Ohio, and died there in 1868; and Henry S., our subject, who has never inarried.
Henry S. Chapin attended the common schools; also the Union school of Jefferson, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, and worked on a farm until he was seventeen years of age, when he commenced learning the printing business in the office of the Weekly Telegraph, Ashtabula. At the end of two and one-half years he left there, and during the succeeding two years attended the Union school at Bellefontaine, Ohio. Re- turning to the printer's trade, he, from 1856 to 1862, was a compositor on Cincinnati and St. Louis newspapers, and in October of the latter year, in connection with F. J. Oblinger, he pur- chased the Perrysburg Journal, which they jointly conducted two and one-half years. I 1864, Mr. Chapin went with Company E, 144th O. V. I., Capt. Asher Cook, on the "100-days' service." In the spring of 1865 he bought the
Republican, of Peru, Ind., and published the same until 1868, in which year he went to To- ledo, and opened a job printing office, being associated therein with James Timmons. At Toledo, in 1872, he commenced the publication of the Sunday Journal, which later he sold to Sherwood & Canfield. On April 26, 1876, he commenced the publication of the Toledo Daily Bcc, and had charge of that paper eight years, afterward becoming connected with the Toledo Post, which two years later was sold, and for a short time, in 1888, he was identified with the Toledo Vews. During the year 1889, and up to August, IS90, he was editor of the Post, of Co- lumbus, Ohio, and on September 1, 1890, took charge of the Bowling Green Democrat, which he had purchased, and he has since conducted it with his well-known ability.
GEORGE WILLIAMS was born in Heistenbach, Province of Nassau, Germany, January 4, 1847. His father, Ludwig Williams. a native of Ger- inany and a farmer by occupation, was twice married, first to Katharina Danzer, by whom he had two children, Anton and Clara. For his second wife he married Louisa Fischer, and to this marriage one child was born, George, the subject of this sketch, who remained at home until the age of fourteen years, attending school from the age of six until fourteen. November I, 1858, the father died, and the widow and son were left with but little, and the former was of necessity compelled to work hard from day to day in order to make ends meet. March 15. 1861, when in his fourteenth year, himself and mother left the old home in Germany, and came to Washington township, Wood Co., Ohio. and made their home with a half-brother of the son, Anton Williams, who had come to this country several years before. The first three years after his arrival George remained with Anton, working on the farm, then for four years he worked for Anton Opperman, and one year for Nelson Kuder, farmers of the same township. Following this in 1869. he rented forty acres of land in Middleton township, on which himself and mother made their home for five years.
On October 5, 1873. at the age of twenty- seven, Mr. Williams was married to Emina Hart- man, of Middleton township, and the union was blessed with one son. George Frederick, born April 2, 1884. March 1, 1874, he bought sev- enty-three acres of land near Haskins, Middleton township, at fifty-four dollars per acre, paying $Soo down. The land was in a poor condition. only a few acres being cleared, and the improve-
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ments -- buildings, fences, ditches, etc .- were poor indeed, and Mr. Williams was required to work hard to clear and improve this land, and underthe burden of 12 per cent. interest part of the time. The present buildings on the place are good and substantial, and the other improve- ments correspond. This simple record of actual achievements shows better than praise the indus- try and enterprise of the man. July 27, 1874, the mother died at the age of sixty-one years, having lived only four months and twenty-seven days with them in their own home. The wife's mother, aged seventy-four years, is spending the evening of her life with them. Mr. Williams is a - member of the Lutheran Church, of which he is a trustee, and he has been superintendent of the Sunday-school since the organization of the Church, at Haskins, twenty-three years ago. He has been a school director for two terms, and as- sessor also for two terms.
Faithful in the discharge of every duty, ener- getic, and possessed of an unusual measure of common sense, Mr. Williams has won the esteem and confidence of all who know him.
JOSEPH E. BURNHAM, M. D., one of Wood county's rising young physicians, and junior mem- ber of the well-known firm of Sage & Burnham, of Prairie Depot, belongs to the homeopathic school of medicine. A native of New York, he was born at Pottsdam, St. Lawrence county, May 1, 1865, a son of Aaron and Sarah (Nesbit) Burn- ham, the former born at Augusta, Maine, and the latter in New York. The father was a citizen of Pottsdam, where he died at the age of seventy- two years, but his wife is still living at that place.
The Doctor is the third child and eldest son in the family, and was reared to manhood in his native town. His elementary education was ob- tained in the public schools, where he learned rapidly, and at the age of sixteen years entered the Pottsdam Norinal School, an advanced insti- tution, where he pursued his studies for two years and a half at different times, his attendance being interrupted by school teaching, which he followed very successfully. The illness of his father neces- sitated his leaving the Normal, where he had in- tended to take a full course, and then followed the profession of teaching in the West.
In 1889 our subject entered the office of Dr. H. D. Brown, of Pottsdam, one of the most suc- cessful practitioners of northern New York, and there began the study of medicine. In the fall of 1892 he became a student in the Cleveland Medical College, from which he was graduated with high honor in the class of 1895, standing
second in a class of forty-two. He began prac- tice at Port Clinton, Ohio, but on November IS, 1895, he located at Prairie Depot, and has since been associated with that successful old practi- tioner, Dr. Sage. He is a thorough student of his profession, keeping well informed on the re- cent discoveries in science, and his worth and merit have been justly recognized. Politically, he is identified with the Republican party.
W. H. Woop, the well-known ex-surveyor of Wood county, and a prominent resident of Bowl- ing Green, is a native of this county, born at Tontogany, July 13, 1836.
The family is of English origin, and the founders of the American line were early set- tlers in Virginia, where his grandfather, Judge Joseph Wood, was born about 1768. He re- moved to Marietta, Ohio, where he surveyed the first seven ranges that were officially located in Ohio, being accompanied by a guard to keep the Indians at bay. In later years he served as pro- bate judge of Washington county.
His son Emilius, our subject's father, born in 1793, was the third white child born in the old fort at Marietta. He was educated at the uni- versity at Athens, Ohio, and became a surveyor, and for twelve years was county surveyor of Per- ry county where he married his first wife. Miss Addie Fuller, who died in 1833 leaving two chil- dren-A. J., now in Oklahoma, and E. R .. a res- ident of Belle Plaine, Kans. His second wife was Miss Sarah North, who was born in Phila- delphia, Penn., in :817, and came with her par- ents, Joseph and Catherine North, to Wood coun- ty in 1828, to settle in the wilderness. Her mother, after their arrival, was lost in the woods for three days and nights, staying in a tree at night to keep out of reach of the wolves. She found her way home by following a small stream to the river. Our subject was the eldest of eight children by the second marriage. The others were: Adeline Amelia, Caroline Aurelia de- ceased), Catharine Lucelia, John R. (deceased), Josephine Adelia, Emeline Ophelia, and Angeline Fidelia. Our subject's father came to Wood county, in 1834, and settled at Tontogany, and for many years was engaged in surveying the wild and unbroken forests. During his later years he followed farining as an occupation. His death occurred in 1875 while on a visit in Iowa. His wife had died in 1871 at the age of fifty-four . In politics he was a Republican, and he took a leading part in all the progressive movements in the community. The first Masonic lodge in the county was organized in his house where the
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lodge met for six years, and he was the second to hold the office of Master. At one time he rode to Zanesville on horseback, once to Marietta and once to Columbus, to attend Grand Lodge meetings.
Our subject's early education was acquired in the district schools near his home, and in the high school at Waterville and Maumee City. He taught for five terms, and in the intervals worked on the farm. In 1862 he enlisted in Company D. ILIth O. V. I., and served in the army of the Cumberland. For some time he was de- tailed as hospital guard, having been sick and unfitted for more serious duty, and here his fine abilities as a musician were found useful. During the first and last years of the war he was with his regiment. and marched across Kentucky and Tennessee, taking part in the engagement at Fort Saunders, Tenn. He was mustered out at Salisbury, N. C., June 27, 1865, and discharged at Cleveland, Ohio, July 13, 1865. After the war closed he spent eighteen months in Missouri, and then returned to Wood county, where he has since been engaged in his profession. He has laid out over 15,000 miles of ditches, not to men- tion other work. He was elected county survey- or in 1871, and held the office for four terms, to the satisfaction of all concerned. In 1865 he married Miss Josepha R. Hoskins, who was born in Portage county, Ohio, in August, 1844. She is of the family of Morse, the inventor, and her grandfathers were in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Wood has for many years been the organist of the M. E. Church. He is a Republican, and a member of the G. A. R., No. 46, Wiley Post, and of the I. O. O. F.
R. S. PATTY, a highly esteemed citizen of Bowling Green, is one of the most extensive oil operators in the country, his interests being lo- cated in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Indi- ana. He began work in the oil fields when quite a young man, being first employed as a driller and pumper. Later he became a contractor for drill- ing wells, first doing business for himself as a member of the firm of Patty Brothers, their wells being located near Bradford, Penn. This firm afterward extended their operations to West Vir- ginia. Indiana, and Kentucky, and in 1889 to Ohio.
Of late years the firm of Patty Brothers has also engaged in the gas business, and is at present conducting extensive plants at Weston, W. Va., under the name of the Weston Natural Gas & Fuel Co., and at Logan, Ohio, as the Logan Natural Gas & Fuel Co. The latter supplies the
Boys' Industrial School at Lancaster, and is pre- paring to extend their line into Circleville and to Chillicothe. At Weston, W. Va., they supply. among other public institutions, the State Insane Asylum with light and heat. Our subject and his brother were the promoters of these companies, and now control them.
The subject of this sketch was born in Arm- strong county, Penn., June 16, 1852, and was reared there, his education being limited to the common schools. He was married December !5, 1876, to Mary E. Smathers, who was born in Clarion county, Penn., March 15, 1859, daughter of Isaac (a lumberman ) and Harriet ( Reed Smathers, both yet living, who are parents of eight children: Sarah, Lawson ( who died when a young man ), Mary E., Malinda, John, Robert, Amelia, and Palmer (deceased when young ). Mrs. Patty is descended from the Hulling family. and her great-great-grandmother was a sister of Daniel Boone. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Patty: Harry L., Roy Levern, who died when young, and Eddie R. The fam- ily occupy a palatial residence in Bowling Green, whither they removed in 1889, Mr. Patty's main office being in the Times building, Pittsburg, Penn., where he directs the affairs of his exten- sive business. He is essentially the architect of his own fortune, a genial gentleman who has won his way to success by energy and enterprise, and to-day is conceded to be one of the best business men, and most successful operators in the oil fields of this or any other State. In his political predilections he is a stanch Republican, but has no time to spare for office hunting or office hold- ing. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, of Parkers City, Penn. ; Mrs. Patty of the Church of the same denomination at Bowling Green.
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