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. 2 > Part 24
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Center, January 16, 1896, of blood poisoning, and the funeral was largely attended by mem- bers of the several societies to which he belonged. He was affiliated with Neibling Post, G. A. R., of Weston, also the I. O. O. F. and Encamp- ment, in both of which he filled all the offices, and for nine years was a faithful member of the Presbyterian Church of Milton Center. In po- litical affairs he took an active interest as a stal- wart advocate of Republican principles, and for a number of years served as township trustee, while, as already related, he was serving his second term as mayor of this city at the time of his decease. Fidelity to duty was one of the predominating traits of his character, and in all the relations of life he was found true and faith- ful to the trusts reposed in him, thereby winning the confidence and high regard of all. Generous and kind-hearted, he was ever ready to lend a listening ear, and stretch out a helping hand, to the unfortunate and the needy.
N. ALLEN ZIMMERMAN is a native of Penn- sylvania, having been born in West Penn town- ship, Schuylkill county, January 13, 1857, a son of Randolph and Hannah (Dunart) Zimmerman, also natives of that county, where they were mar- ried in February, 1856. In April, 1857, they re- moved to Medina county, Ohio, and the father purchased a farm in Homer township, but he afterward left that property and bought ninety-six acres, on which he lived until coming to Wood county nine years later. He here purchased 160 acres of wild land, but afterward sold eighty acres. His first home, a log cabin, was de- stroyed by fire September 9, 1872. and they lost all their household effects save one bed and a sewing machine. The father died on the old homestead, August 13, 1878, and the mother is now living in Michigan with her son, Gideon P .. a farmer. Two children of the family are de- ceased: Lambert Alfred, who died at the age of two years; and Leanna Elnora, deceased, at the age of twenty-six years. The Zimmerman fam- ily is of German origin, and the grandfather of our subject, Samuel Zimmerinan, was the first of them to cross the Atlantic to the United States. His parents died when he was very young, and when twelve years of age he came with the fall- ily by whom he was reared.
Our subject was three months old when his parents removed to Medina county, and he there began his education, afterward continuing his studies in Wood county, acquiring good school privileges. During the summer months he aided his father in the labors of the home farm, aud
continued under the parental roof until his mar- riage, which occurred in Milton township, Jan- uary 1, 1884, the lady of his choice being Miss Elizabeth J. Revenaugh, who was born in Vinton county, Ohio, November 29, 1861, a daughter of John and Catherine Revenaugh. They first lo- cated on the old homestead, but in October. 1884, removed to their present home, he trading his in- terest in the family farm for this property. The greater part of his eighty acres was wild and un- improved; but with characteristic energy he be- gan its development, and soon placed it under the plow. Now well-tilled fields surround a comfor- table residence and substantial barn, and the neat and thrifty appearance of the place indicates the careful supervision of the owner. To Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman were born three children, one son and two daughters, the son being the eldest; he was born July 16, 1891, and died on the 20th of the same month. The elder daugh- ter, born August 26, 1893, died on the 20th of that month. The younger daughter, Ruth Ethe !. born February 26, 1896, yet survives. They also have a child known as R. O. Zimmerman. born October 31, 1886, whom they have raised from infancy. In his political views Mr. Zim- merman is a Democrat. His wife belongs to the Presbyterian Church, and both are higlily es- teemed people who have the warm regard of a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
JOHN KIMBERLIN, a well-known pioneer of Grand Rapids township, was born February 16. 1820, in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania.
His immediate ancestors have been distin- guished for their valor and patriotism. His grandfather, George Kimberlin, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war under Gen. Washington; his father, Henry Kimberlin, served in the war of 1812 under Harrison, making a fine record as a soldier. Henry Kimberlin was a native of Pennsylvania, born December 23, 1789, and was married there to Miss Sarah Brewau, who was born August 20, 1795, and by whom he had ten children, all of whom lived to adult age, viz. : Mary A., born October 2, 1816, married George Gilmore, May 6. 1841, and died July 13. 18;5: Delilah, born April 21, 1818, married John Dull. December 7, 1843, and died May 4, 1888: John. our subject : Frances, born January 8, 1822, mar- ried George Older, August 25, 1860: George, born January 11, 1$24, married Adaliza Olney, June 3, 1856, now a prominent citizen of Bowling Green: Jacob, born February 27. 1826, married Sobinal Guyer, November 10, 1853, and is a leading farmer of Grand Rapids township:
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Amelia, born August S, 1828; Eliza. born Sep- tember 25, 1830; Catherine, born November 22, 1833, married John W. Brown, March 19, 1862, and they reside in Grand Rapids township; and Martha J., born January 2, 1836, and died Oc- tober 2, IS46.
The family moved to Wayne county, Ohio, and four years later came to Wood county. Here . the father bought a tract of wild land at the mouth of Beaver creek, which he cleared and cultivated with the help of his children. He died October 25, 1867, the mother June 20, 1878.
John Kimberlin obtained his early education in an old log school house in the vicinity, and assisted in farm labor until he attained his ma- jority. After leaving the homestead he worked three years upon a neighboring farm, and then began business as a contractor and builder, in which he was engaged thirty years, building school houses, churches, sawmills, and many private dwellings, including some of the finest in the township. In May, 1864, he enlisted in the one-hundred-days' service in Company I, 144th O. V. I., Col. Hunt and Capt. McKee command- ing, and took part in several of the engagements which make that year notable, among them the battle at Monocacy. His regiment formed part of the force which frustrated Early's designs upon Washington. On receiving his discharge, in the fall of 1864, he returned home and con- tinued to follow his trade until 1878, when he and his two sisters bought the old homestead, consisting of 210 acres of land near Grand Rap- ids, and began to develop it into one of the finest farms in the township. He has built a handsome brick dwelling house with fine barns and sheds, and planted an extensive orchard. His attention is chiefly given to stock-raising, and he has one of the finest herds of Jersey cattle in the county, some of the animals being registered. His pres- ent success is the result of industry and frugality, and furnishes an encouraging lesson.
Mr. Kimberlin has never married, but lives happily with his two sisters, each of whom owns a third of the farm. He is a Republican in poli- tics, and has always taken an interest in local af- fairs, serving at one time as township supervisor.
ANDREW J. MUNN, president of the Ex- change Banking Company of Weston, and a leading oil producer of this region, was born in Center township, Wood county, Ohio, January 4, 1842.
William Munn, father of our subject, was a native of County Down, Ireland, born in 1800, and when a young man came to Wood county,
where with the exception of a few years passed in Macoupin county, Ill., he passed the remain- der of his life. He had two brothers, who also came to this country, and one of whom went west, the other settling in New York and acquir- ing a fortune. William Munn kept an inn on the old Munn farm in Center township until his death in 1852, and his house was a favorite resort for the pioneers, who revelled in old songs and stories, and for the local politicians among whom he was aleader. He married Miss Nancy Boosinger, a native of Portage county, Ohio. and had two daughters, who died early in youth. and seven sons, as follows: Robert, deceased. George F., living in Portage; David, murdered in Texas on a sheep ranch; James, who died in Bowling Green; Andrew Jackson, our subject: Matthew, who lives at the old homestead, and William a resident of Bowling Green.
A. J. Munn received his early education in the public schools of this county. On June 20. 1862, he entered the 100th O. V. I. for three years or during the war, and was assigned to the 23rd Army Corps, Central Division. Immedi- ately after the battle at Knoxville he was taken prisoner and sent to Lynchburg, Va., being re- tained there for a few days, then in Libby prison for three weeks, and in Belle Isle for six months. He and his companions escaped through a tunnel. but was captured while cutting loose a canoe. Mr. Munn was beaten over the head with a revolver. all were compelled to crawl back through the tun- nel, and as each man's head emerged it was struck with a spade. While suffering and death reigned supreme in the prison, the captives were aggravated by a gang of thieves among their own numbers, who stole all articles of value which they could secure, and traded them to the Rebels. This gang Mr. Munn assisted in breaking up. Shortly after this was done, he and others were removed to the Pemberton Building, and later to Andersonville, where they arrived March 15, 1864, an attempt to escape from a box car while en route failing, partly because of the breaking of a saw. Mr. Munn and John Cain of the Penn- sylvania Cavalry, Kilpatrick's Divison, escaped soon afterward and traveled all night, but at daybreak, while passing a gristmill, they were seen and pursued by the entire neighborhood assisted by bloodhounds. Fortunately the latter followed the winding trail, and did not come ap to them until they were in custody of men who fed them and sent them back to the prison in a buggy. The next escape was accomplished while assigned to carrying out the dead bodies from the prison Twenty-four who made the attempt were re-cap-
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tured, and, after a night around a camp-fire, were taken before the notorious Capt. Wirtz. He ordered all valuables to be taken from them; but as luck would have it the man who did the searching had an honest and sympathetic heart, and in Mr. Munn's case he reported that he found only two dollars, and, retaining the rest, he afterward expended it for food and other sup- plies for him. The prisoners were then formed in line and questioned as to their mode of escape, which they refused to reveal. They were threat- ened with 150 lashes each if they did not re-con- sider this decision, but while they were debating the matter a dispatch arrived telling how they had escaped. They were then ordered to march to a pile of thirty-two-pound iron balls, each man pick- ingup one and carrying it to the blacksmith'sshop, where it was attached to his ankle by a chain. This done, they were started on a run for the prison, the chains cutting deeper into their flesh at every step; but after they were out of Capt. Wirtz's sight they were permitted to take sticks, and, by tying strings to end of stick and in link next ball. carried the balls before them as they walked. They were compelled to hobble up to quarters every morning for inspection, but in a few days Mr. Munn managed to make an open link and detached his weight, replacing it when called to quarters. He finally managed to file the band off, and was ready for another escape. Ten dollars secured him a place on the detail which brought in wood, and, while out, his plan was favored by a terrific rain storm which made the guards return in haste to shelter.
Our subject had kept well in the rear, and giving his wood to his companions he ran to an outside building where a friend, Turner Winn, was detailed as cook. On his advice Mr. Munn secreted himself in a marsh near by to wait for a supply of food, but, although he remained im- mersed in the water for several hours, he missed his friend and was obliged to start hungry on his journey through the inky darkness and pouring rain. He walked all that night, only to find him- self at dawn close to the prison walls, having traveled in a circle. His dismay can hardly be imagined, but he had no time to brood over his mistake, and starting south he met, four miles out, a negro who secreted him and brought him food. That evening our hero started across the fields in a northwesterly direction in a cold, driz- zling rain, which chilled him to the heart. Al- most despairing, he made several attempts to find shelter and rest in lonely houses, but found each one occupied by sleepers whom he feared to arouse. Just as he was about to throw himself
upon the ground and abandon all hope, he heard! hogs squealing, and finding their pen he kicked them out of their warm nest and dropped down into it himself, losing consciousness the moment. lie fell. On awakening, he found the sunshine beaming upon him, and a white-haired negro call- ing the hogs to feed. When Mr. Munn rose up poor old "Father Buckhorn" stood speechless with astonishment until he learned that the stranger was a . Yankee soldier." "Lord bress you," he said, "I thought it was a new Christ come to earth." He was the overseer of the plantation, and taking Mr. Munn out into an oat field he made him a bed of straw, and soon the colored women supplied him with an abundance of food. The news that "Father Buckhorn " had found a "Yankee" in the hog bed spread far and wide among the negroes, and made that poor old slave the hero of the hour. From all directions the darkies crowded in to look upon the visitor, and they alternately laughed and cried as they made him repeat again and again the story of his adventures and the progress of the war. Their joy at seeing one of their long- hoped-for deliverers was pathetic, and such ex- pressions as " God bress de Yankee generation ; deys done come at last," were frequent. A Con- federate uniform was found for him, and at night a haversack full of food was provided; but he was too weak to carry it, and a darkey offered to carry it, as he was going twenty miles north to see his wife. Hope and strength returning, Mr. Munn walked on through several nights without special incident, resting during the day, but when his food was gone he was again in perplexity. Shouts from a darkey meeting led him safely to a place where a friendly colored man cared for him, hiding him in a barn and giving him a new supply of food. Warned against going north. where the Rebel forces were concentrated. he took a new direction, and met varying fortunes. swimming rivers, walking miles in the bed of a small stream in order to leave no trace for the hounds to follow, and at times subsisting on huckleberries when no colored ally could be found. At one point the negroes warned him against fol- lowing the road farther, as two neighbors kept bloodhounds who would know that he was a Yankee in spite of all precautions. He tried it, however. on a dark night, mounted on a mule, but the hounds at the first house made such an outcry that he dared not go on. He had many other narrow escapes, his gray suit serving him well on several occasions. Once, when desperate for food, he entered a house and told the lady who met him that he was a Confederate soldier; but
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after some conversation learned that she was a Unionist, and then confessed his own identity. Her husband bad gone away rather than fight against the North, and, as both were suspected, she was afraid to do much to help him. In a few hours a Rebel neighbor came in, but so good account did Mr. Munn give of himself that he departed satisfied, and the lady expressed amazement that even a Yankee should be able to invent such a story while he was telling it. When night came she sent him to a Union man near by, who was at first chary of his confidence; but he and his son finally accepted him as " gen- uine," and kept him up until a late hour telling them the news of the war, accurate intelligence seldom reaching the rural communities. He slept that night in a corn crib, as they were in fear of the Rebels, and the next morning while eating his " corn pone " he was told that the Unionists had taken Rome, Ga., sixty miles away, and had a post at Cross Plains, only fifteen miles from his stopping place. On reaching Cross Plains he found this incorrect. He was well treated there, how- ever, by the negroes, dined in the yard of a stanch Rebel, and passed the pickets safely. He tried to keep to the mountains in order to avoid the relays and stations on the road to Rome; but having been told by a negro how to pass them safely, he tried to follow the road, but was pur- sued by a detachment from the next post. After swimming a creek and running a long distance, he fell down exhausted in an oat field, where he lay all night, listening to sounds of battle, by which he decided that the Rebels were retreating. The next morning, Monday, July 4, 1864, he made his way to the Union outposts. But his troubles were not yet over. The most vexatious incident of all his tedions wanderings came through his very accurate "make up " as a Con- federate. He was arrested and placed in the guard house with other prisoners, and with diffi- culty obtained an interview with the colonel in command, who finally became convinced of his loyalty, and offered him a position on his staff. This was declined as Mr. Munn wished to rejoin his company, which he succeeded in doing a few weeks later, at Atlanta. With the regiment he remained until mustered out in September, 1865.
On returning home he engaged in the grocery business at Ottawa, later moving to a farm near Portage and establishing a grocery in that village, where he also served four years as postmaster. In June, 1883, he went to Cleveland and entered the commission business; but in 1884 came to Weston and opened a store for general merchan- dise, which he conducted eight years, and of
which he made a success. Following the arts of peace as energetically as he did those of war, he has been a leading factor in many enterprises. He was the chief organizer of the Exchange Bank- ing Company of Weston, and has been its presi- dent from the start. With others, he engaged in oil producing, and now has an interest in twenty productive wells, and others in process of de- velopment, and holds a number of promising leases besides. When Mr. Munn was seventeen years old he received $500 from his mother as his share of the paternal estate, and on this cap- ital founded the prosperity he now enjoys. He bought eighty acres of wild land in Portage town- ship; and has ever since dealt largely in real es- tate in Wood and Henry counties.
In 1866 Mr. Munn married Miss Louise J. Turner, of Portage, who was born in 1844. They have three children: Arthur, assistant cashier of the Exchange Banking Co .; Maude L., who married J. V. Baldwin, of Weston, and has one. son, Andrew Edward; and Jessie M., the wife of Ambrose C. Vedder. of St. Augustine, Fla. (they have one son, Munn C. A. Vedder). Mr. Munn erected his pleasant home in 1892, one of the finest in the county. He is quite a traveler. and recently spent six months at St. Augustine, Fla., where he has a cottage. Socially he is a member of the F. & A. M. and the G. A. R. He was brought up a Democrat, but during the Civil war changed his political opinions, and is now a member of the Republican party.
MARION V. Cox, a farmer of Milton township, was born in Crawford county, Ohio, near Bucy- rus, April 2, 1847. His parents, George and Nancy J. (Young) Cox, were also natives of the Buckeye State, the former born in Harrison county, in 1816, the latter in Guernsey county, in 1826. They were married in Richland county. later removed to Crawford county, and about 1856 becaine residents of Morrow county. In April, 1861, the father enlisted in Company I. 65th O. V. I., and served until the close of the war. He afterward removed to Hancock county, and in 1871 came to Wood county, where he is now living a retired life in Weston; his wife died there in May, 1893. Their children were Marion V .; Martha, wife of Samuel Wikel, of Wingston; George, a teamster of North Baltimore; Ellen. wife of Jack Wall, of Wingston; Charles, a farni- er of Oklahoma; Viona, wife of Albert Hessong. of Milton township, and Virginia, who died at the age of two years.
Our subject acquired a district-school educa- tion, and was reared as a farmer boy. In 1862.
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when only fifteen years of age, he joined the Union army in Morrow county, and became a member of Company I, 85th O. V. I. At the end of six weeks he was transferred to the 87th Ohio Regiment. and was taken prisoner at Harper's Ferry, but not long after was paroled. Being now a paroled prisoner, he enlisted in Company ", 54th Battalion, Ohio State Guards, for serv- ice in the State. In 1863, although he was fully aware of the great risk he ran, as a paroled pris- oner, to re-enlist for active service, yet he joined Company E, 21st O. V. V. I., in which regiment he participated in the battle of Tunnel Hill, and, on July 9, 1864, was wounded by a minie ball in the right arm, which kept him from duty for two months. He then joined his regiment in front of Atlanta, went with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea, and was in the Carolina cam- paign. While at Columbus, Ohio, July 21, 1865, he was honorably discharged. Mr. Cox says he could relate many a heart-rending scene he was an eyewitness to during his war experiences. For a man of his age during the war, he saw a great deal of hard service.
Soon after his return home, Mr. Cox went to the lumber woods of northern Michigan, where he was engaged in making shingles for three years. He then returned to Findlay, Ohio, in 1869, and was there married to Miss Almira Fel- ler, who was born near Findlay, May 26, 1850. They rented the old Foulk farm, in Hancock county, but after a year rented a farm in Wood county. On the latter place they lived for a year, and Mr. Cox then purchased his present place of eighty acres. This, however, he sold after a year, and for six years rented and operated the Samuel Case farm, in Liberty township. He then again purchased the farm in Milton town- ship, and has made excellent improvements upon it, including the erection of an elegant and spacious dwelling. Industry and enterprise are numbered among his chief characteristics, and have been important factors in his success. Mr. and Mrs. Cox have a family of seven children: Kosie, wife of Ira Lance; Ina; Eldon; Clay and Clyde, twins; Blaine and Olive; they also lost one child that died in infancy. The parents occupy an enviable position in social circles, and have many warm friends. Politically, Mr. Cox affiliates with the Republican party: in religious faith he is an adherent of the United Brethren Church, and, socially, he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His duties of citizenship are discharged with the same loyalty as when a soldier boy he followed the stars and stripes on Southern battle fields.
WILLIAM FURRY. Among the old pioneers and representative agriculturists of Lake town- ship, there is probably no more prominent figure than Mr. Furry, who makes his home in Section 27. He is a native of Stark county, born in 1833, and is a son of Jacob Henry and Fannie (Butler) Furry, the latter of whom died August 20, 1885. The father's birth occurred in Penn- sylvania, where he was reared and married, and in 1833 he took his family to Stark county, Ohio, but the same year came to Wood county, locat- ing at Stony Ridge. He was employed for a time on the Maumee pike, and later entered land in Lake township, which he made his home until his death in 1866. He was one of the first members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Stony Ridge, and helped to build the first church erected at that place. He and his wife were faithful members of that Church until God called them to a better land.
Our subject is the third in order of birth in a family of nine children-five sons and four daughters-the others being as follows: Jacob enlisted in October, 1861, at Stony Ridge, in the 72nd O. V. I., and was discharged at Columbus, Ohio, August 21, 1862; he died at Pemberville, Wood county, in August, 1895. George resides at Stony Ridge. Mrs. James Whitmore lives at Haskins, this county. Mrs. Margaret jennison died at East Toledo in 1890. Mrs. Catherine Mccutcheon makes her home at Stony Ridge. John enlisted at Stony Ridge October 19, 1861, in Company E, 72nd O. V. I., for three years, and was mustered in at Columbus, Ohio; he served in the quartermaster's department until honorably discharged at Louisville, Ky .. in 1865; his death occurred at Woodville, Ohio, in 1887. Mary is the wife of Martin Shook, of Stony Ridge. Charles makes his home at Gibsonburg, Sandusky Co., Ohio.
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