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 45
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On February 16, ISSI, Mr. Miller was joined in wedlock with Miss Tina Tripier, the wedding ceremony being performed in Trenton township, Delaware county. The lady was born in Lick- ing county, Ohio, October 13, 1857, and is a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Payne) Tripier. Mr. and Mrs. Miller came to Wood county, and the former purchased forty acres of land in Section 25. Jackson township, continuing its cultivation and improvement for five years, when he sold and purchased his present farm compris-
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ing eighty acres. He has made this one of the valuable and desirable properties in Wood coun- ty, has erected a pleasant and substantial resi- dence, built barns and outbuildings, and fenced, tiled and ditched the entire place. The neat and thrifty appearance of the farm indicates his care- ful supervision, and the place is a monument to his thrift and enterprise. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have had two children: Sperna, born July 12, 1883; and Blynn T., born May 15, 1895, died August 30, 1895.
In his political views Mr. Miller is a stalwart Democrat, unswerving in his support of the prin- ciples of the party. He has been honored with several local offices, having served as school di- rector, road supervisor and is now trustee. His life has been an honorable and upright one, and he has the high regard of all who know him. As a citizen he is true to every duty, and gives a hearty support to all interests which he believes will benefit the community. In personal appear- ance he is tall and finely proportioned, and he is one of the most popular citizens of Wood county.
FLOYD W. HEALD, a prominent resident of Bowling Green, and the deputy collector of the Ioth District, wasborn in Crawford county, Penn., December 3, 1861. Genial, popular, possessed of fine mental gifts, a sound practical education, a character which inspires confidence, a magnifi- cent physique, he is well fitted to fill any office of public trust to which he may aspire.
Until the age of fifteen, his life was spent upon a farm, assisting his father in the work, and attending the district school. In 1876 his father bought a sawmill, where Mr. Heald was em- ployed for some time. He then worked a while in the oil fields; but at eighteen, entered the State Normal school at Edinboro, Penn., and studied for two terms. For two years following, he was baggage master at Chautauqua, N. Y., during the summer season, and in 1882, he came to Jerry City, and entered the employ of J. D. Wilsey & Sons, as boat-oar finisher in their ex- tensive factory. He remained with them six years, finding-or making-time, in the intervals of labor, to continue his studies in the Normal school at Fostoria, and he now holds a diploma from the business course of that institution, hav- ing passed the examination with a grade of 99 per cent.
lumber business, buying for Eastern markets; but this soon ceased to be prontable, and he went to work for the Ohio Oil Co., first as pumper and then as tool dresser, and while thus engaged he was appointed deputy sheriff of Wood county by William B. Bryant. The duties of this office were performed with his accustomed ability and energy, and brought him into favorable notice throughout the county, and in 1895 he was ap- pointed to his present position. He is a member of the F. & A. M., the I. O. O. F., and the K. of P.
GEORGE BRIM. Ohio, as well as her sister States, has her quota of citizens of foreign birth, who, coming to this favored land in pursuit of fortune, in addition to the advantages derived from its free institutions, have not only reaped the reward of their labors in the shape of material prosperity, but have added to the resources of their communities, and to the progress and better- ment of their people. Among those who claim " Merrie Old England" as the land of their nativity may be found the subject of this sketch, and the story of his life, briefly given here, may form an incentive to some other young inan whose start in life may be made under no more favorable auspices than was his.
George Brim was born April 25, 1834, in beautiful Devonshire, England, the son of W. W. and Harriet (Ellis) Brim. His parents were natives of the saine locality, the father born August 19, 1809, and the mother October 2, ISIO. They came of poor people, and when quite young were both bound out to the same man. They grew up together, shared each other's joys and sorrows, worked together and played together, and their love for each other deepened as the boy and girl developed into youth and maiden, finally culminating in their marriage, which took place January 10, 1834. For some time after this event Mr. Brim worked on a farm at $2.20 a week, and when they finally decided to come to America, in 1855, the only capital they possessed on reaching Wood county, Ohio. was one sovereign. They had, however, no end of courage and hopefulness, and with their only child, George, began their life in the new country with brave hearts and a determination to succeed.
From the outset the son cast in his lot with his father, and together the two worked ard managed their affairs, the younger man con- tributing in no small degree, by his business ability and industry, to their success in the New World. They first bought eighty acres of land
In 1884, he was elected mayor of Jerry City, by a large majority, on the Democratic ticket, and proved an efficient and popular officer. On leaving the firm of Wilsey & Sons, Mr. Heald formed a partnership with Henry Meyers in the | in Plain township, Wood county, and added to it
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Amelia Brino
Geo Brin
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as their means increased until at one time they owned 360 acres; all of this was prairie land, which they converted into farms, and cultivated. They were prosperous from the beginning, and at his death, which took place April 5, 1885, the father was a wealthy man. The mother is now making her home with her son George.
The subject of this sketch was married July 4, 1865, to Miss Amelia Austin, who was born in Somersetshire, England, February 10, IS48. Her parents were James and Mary (Keats) Austin, the former of whom, born in England in 1823, died in Wood county in 1865; the latter also died in Wood county. Mr. and Mrs. Brim have had a family of four children: (1) James E., born April 16, 1866, married Lena Knauss, and lives in Bowling Green; they have three children-Walter, Ethel and Mabel. (2) Walter, born October 16, 1867, was educated at the Ada Normal School, and resides at home; he was married in Decem- ber, 1895, to Cora Goldsmith. (3) Samuel, born March 25, 1870, died January 3, 1871. (4) George, born November 12, 1876, is at home.
Mr. Brim is recognized as a leading man, and one of the best citizens of Wood county. He is unassuming in his manners, attends strictly to his business and has accumulated a fine property. In politics he is a Republican; socially he belongs to Centennial Lodge No 626, I. O. O. F., of Bowling Green.
MICHAEL AMOS, JR. This prosperous and in- telligent farmer living in Section 3, Portage town- ship, has spent most of his life in Wood county. His father, who also bears the name of Michael, is one of the oldest living pioneers. His birth occurred in Bavaria, Germany, November 28, 1818, and in October, 1837, he was brought to the United States by his parents, Michael and Caroline (Sondheimer) Amos. They took pas- sage on the " Wild Lion" at Havre, France, and after a long and tedious voyage of thirty-six days landed safely at New York. At New Lisbon, Ohio, they remained until January, 1838, when the grandfather hired a team and brought his family to Section 1, Portage township, Wood county, where he had purchased eighty acres of partially improved land. There his death oc- curred September 29, 1838, from typhoid fever and nostalgia, and he was laid to rest on the farmn, but his body was afterward interred in Portage cemetery.
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The father of our subject being the eldest son, the care of the family fell upon him, and, in order to better perforin this duty, he worked for others as a farm hand. His widowed mother
lived with him a great portion of the time, but died at the home of her son Frederick, in Port- age township. In 1844, Mr. Amos married Theresa Brackley, a native of Lancaster. Ohio, and a daughter of Michael Brackley, a carpenter by trade. Eight children came to bless their union: Michael, of this review; Philip, a farmer of Portage township; Catherine, who became the wife of Ezra Heminger, and died in Center town- ship; John, who died in the same township, and left a family; Anthony, a farmer of Center town- ship; William, a butcher of the village of Port- age; Charles, a farmer of Portage township; and Mary, deceased wife of Monroe Helm, of Port- age. The father bought the interests of the other heirs in the old homestead, and now has a good farm of 132 acres, while he has given each of his children forty acres or its equivalent. He and his estimable wife are two of the few old pioneers left in Portage township, are highly re- spected people, and members of the Lutheran Church. Although they have now reached a ripe old age, and are bent by years of toil, they are yet comparatively active. The entire life of Mr. Amos has been passed in usefulness and hard labor. He never cared for political preferment, but has served as school director and supervisor, and is a supporter of the Democratic party.
On Section 1, Portage township, October 4. 1848, Michael Amos, Jr., first opened his eyes to the light of day. He attended school a few months each winter in District No. I, thus ac- quiring a fair education, and at the age of twen- ty left home, going to Nebraska, where he re- mained a month. For a short time he was then employed on a farm in Jefferson county, Iowa, after which he went to Pike county, Ill., and later to southeastern Missouri, where he engaged in hunting and trapping. With the money thus earned he returned to Pike county, Ill., where he was employed by James Wallace to take rafts down the river to St. Louis, Mo., which proved quite profitable, our subject receiving $2 per day and board. Ife worked in Illinois for some time and helped to cut 135 acres of wheat, which was bound by hand, after which he came back to Wood county. In the fall, however, he went to Missouri, where he again engaged in hunting and trapping, spent the following summer' in a fishery in Illinois, and the next winter was also passed in Missouri. On returning to Wood county, he engaged in ditching and threshing for several years.
On December 21, 1876, in Portage township. this county. Mr. Amos was united in marriage with Miss Emina Wilcox, a native of Sandusky
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county, Ohio, and a daughter of Sterling Wilcox. Three children have been born to them: Ed- ward B., who is attending school in Bowling Green, Ohio; and Curtis and "Cap", at home. Soon after his marriage our subject rented a farm of forty acres in Center township, and his first purchase was ninety-three acres in Section 3, Portage township, mostly unimproved, with a log house standing upon it. For three years he made that place his home, and on selling out removed to his present farm of eighty acres in Section 2, in April, 1881. He is a wide-awake, progressive citizen, and has made his place one . of the best farms in Portage township. Besides general farming, he has also dealt in stock for several years, making many friends and acquaint- ances while engaged in this business. He is one of the leading workers in the Republican party in the community, and in 1886 was elected in- firmary director, taking the office January 1, 1887, in which he served very acceptably for six years. Both himself and wife are esteemed members of the United Brethren Church.
ISAAC G. RIDEOUT, a reliable and progressive agriculturist of Ross township, was born near Massillon, Stark Co., Ohio, May 1, 1839, and is a son of Isaac and Hannah (Galpin) Ridcout, both natives of Dorsetshire, England, the former born December 24, 1793, and the latter Decein- ber 3, 1798. On emigrating to the New World, in 1830, they located at Massillon, Ohio, where the father worked in the Moore & Hart foundry for a few years, but, in 1844, became a resident of Wood county, purchasing forty-five acres of the farm on which our subject now lives. Five of their ten children were born in England, and in order of birth they are as follows: James, deceased; Elizabeth, widow of T. Whitson, and a resident of Iowa; Thomas, of Lucas county, Ohio; Jane, wife of John Kinney, of Lime City, Ohio; and William, deceased. The births of the others occurred in Stark county, Ohio-Anna, deceased; Mary Ann, wife of James Craine, of Lucas county; Margaret, the deceased wife of a Mr. Viokers; Isaac G., and Mrs. Lavina Mc- Dougall.
Our subject obtained his education in the first log school house erected in Ross township, but his advantages along that line were limited. He remained at home until twenty-two years of age, when, October 22, 1861, at Toledo, Ohio, he en- listed in the Union army, as a member of Com- pany B, 67th O. V. I .. under Capt. Ford, and Col. A. C. Voris, of Akron, Ohio, and after serving his entire term, at Hilton Head, S. C.,
he veteranized. He had been discharged, Jan- uary 31, 1864, and after a thirty-days' furlough rejoined his regiment, and was finally discharged at Richmond, Va., September 1, 1865, after al- most four years of faithful and arduous service on Southern battle fields. Returning home, Mr. Rideout has since devoted his attention to gen- eral farming, but expects soon to go into fruit raising. He has tiled and drained his land and placed it under a high state of cultivation, and has erected three good dwellings, besides barns and other outbuildings, which stand as monuments to his thrift and industry.
On Christmas Day, of 1867, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Rideout and Miss Louisa T. Coy, and to them nine children were born-Dar- win, born August 28, 1868, married Carrie Smith. daughter of W. J. Smith, and they have two children, Frank and Ervin; William, born April 6, 1870, married Alberta Royce, daughter of Ed- ward Royce, by whom he has one child. Addie Elizabeth; Ervin, was born October 9, 1872; Margaret, born December 31, 1873, is the wife of Charles Crane, and they have twin sons, Isaac R. and Thomas C .; Charles, born December 17. 1875: Olive, born June 15, 1879; Anna, born March 2, 1882; Isaac, born July 4, 1890, died on August 4, following; and Richard, born March 24, 1894.
Mr. Rideout affiliates with Ford Post, No. 14. G. A. R., of East Toledo, and with John W. Fuller Command, No. 49, U. V. U. He served as sergeant in his company, and now has a medal presented to him by Major-Gen. Q. A. Gilmore, commanding the Department of the South, for gallant and meritorions conduct on the field of bat- tle. Since casting his first vote he has been an ardent Republican in politics, as was also his fa- ther, and has served acceptably as township treasurer for two terms, and was school director for a number of years. In all the relations of life he is honorable and upright, and as faithful to his country in days of peace, as when following the old flag in defense of the Union.
J. W. LONG, an ex-soldier and highly-re- spected citizen of Bloom township, is descended from that race known as Scotch-Irish, which has given to America many of her best citizens. His ancestors were natives of the North of Ireland. whence his grandfather, George Long, emigrated to the United States in 1817, locating in Carroll county, Ohio, where he was married, and became the father of seven children: George, Willian .. John, Catherine, Ellen, Susan and Alexander. The second in order of birth in that family.
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William Long, was the father of our subject. In 1841 he was united in marriage with Sarah Mets- ker, a native of Westmoreland county, Penn., and to them were born six children: Mary Jane, who died in infancy; Eliza E., who became the wife of James Byall, and died in September, 1868; J. W., subject of this review; Catherine and William H., both living in Missouri; and Violet A., who died in that State in 1871. The father was a natural mechanical genius, and worked at various trades, principally carpenter- ing and wagon inaking. For seven years after his marriage he continued to reside in Carroll county, and then removed to Hancock county, Ohio, near the present city of North Baltimore, where he followed his chosen occupation for the remainder of his life. His tragic death, which occurred in 1861, has few parallels in western Ohio. While engaged in remodeling the largest gristmill in Hancock county, at Gilboa, he be- came entangled in a belt connected with a rap- idly revolving shaft, making 105 revolutions a minute, and was instantly conveyed to the shaft and horribly mangled, almost every bone in his body being broken. His untimely death left his widow and family in straitened circumstances, and our subject, then a boy of but fourteen years, being the eldest son, suddenly had to assume . the responsibilities of father and provider.
Mr. Long was born in Carroll county, in 1846, and was but a child of three years when his par- ents removed to Hancock county. As the por- tion of the county in which they located was quite backward, he was reared midst the trials and vicissitudes of pioneer life, and, being the eld- est son of parents whose means were limited, his opportunities in many ways, including those for an education, were very meager. He first at- tended the Thicket school, near Van Buren, Han- cock county, his teacher being Miss Angeline Warner. The numerous removals of his parents served tofurther handicaphim in his effortstosecure his education, which was concluded at Findlay, Ohio, at the early age of fifteen years. He has seen the vast improvement in the schools of the present over those of his youth, which he heartily favors and fully endorses. While the opportuni- ties were not liis, the great school of experience has impressed him with the necessity of educa- tion.
As previously stated, Mr. Long was at a youthful age compelled to perform the duties that his father's death thrust upon him, and he remained at home, administering to the wants and cares of the fatherless family, until his enlist- ment, on August 15, 1862, in the frith O. V. I.
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It was necessary at this time for him to represent himself as being eighteen years of age, so eager was he to defend the flag which had been fired upon at Fort Sumter. His career as a soldier was interrupted by sickness, as soon after his enlistment he was seized with the measles and typhoid fever. He suffered the complete tem- porary loss of his eyesight, and was discharged in March, 1863, on a surgeon's certificate of dis- ability. Our subject returned home, leaving the scenes of carnage for those of a quiet rural life, in Hancock county, a complete physical wreck. Much time and money were spent in his efforts to secure good eyesight, which came to him after a great deal of suffering; but his shattered physical condition could not be restored to its youthful vigor and vitality. He worked at whatever employment he could secure, his every spare penny going toward the support of his mother and younger brothers and sisters.
On August 16, 1868, was celebrated the mar- riage of Mr. Long and Miss Susanna Wineland, a native of Westmoreland county, Penn., and six children came to bless their union: B. F., proprietor of a bicycle livery at North Baltimore, Ohio; William H., general agent for the Porter's cure of pain remedies; Martha F .. now Mrs. Charles Brandeberry, of Bloom township; James E., of the same township; and D. W. and Lemuel L., both at home. After his marriage Mr. Long located near Portage, Wood county, where he resided only a short time, and in 1869 returned to Hancock county, buying a small farm, on which he resided until 1885, when he came to Bloom township, this county. He has forty acres of rich and fertile land in Section 33, and in 1895 completed his present commodious and substantial home. He now takes life easy, having all but retired from active farin work. Politically he is a silver Democrat, and while not an office-seeker, manifests keen interest in the success of his party. For many years he belonged to the Independent Order of Good Templars, and is now a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He and his wife are consistent and active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Bairdstown, Ohio, and are held in the highest esteem by all who know them.
H. L. HINKLEY, of Bowling Green, the able and popular young recorder of Wood county. was born in Milton Center, February 5. 186 ;.
His grandparents. Luther G. and Sally M. Hinkley, came from New York State and settled in Erie county, Ohio, where their son, D. S. Hinkley, our subject's father, was born August
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27, 1838. He learned the wagon maker's trade in early life, and came to Milton Center, where he married Miss Mary j. Hill, a native of that place, born October 28, 1846. Of late years he and his wife have made their home in Prairie Depot, where he follows the carpenter's trade. They have seven children, of whom our subject is the eldest: Lottie is the wife of W. J. Gra- ham, of Portage township; Joseph J. and Charles are in business at Prairie Depot; and D. S., Will- iam and Jessie are three at home.
Mr. Hinkley spent the first eight years of his life at his birthplace, and has since lived at San- dusky on the Bay Shore, for five years, and later at Prairie Depot. He supplemented his common- school education by a course in the business de- partment of the Fostoria Normal School, from which he graduated in October, 1891. For ten years he was a successful teacher in this county, the last three being spent at Prairie De- pot, where he was principal of the high school. He resigned in June, 1895, having been elected the previous November to the position which he now holds. He was installed in office Sep- tember 2, 1895. Although he is one of the youngest workers in the Republican party in this locality, he has already given evidence of marked ability in public affairs, and his friends predict a bright future for him. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., and of the Good Templars Lodge. He was married June 15, 1893, to Miss Effie Mercer, who was born in Liberty township, De- cember 25, 1871, and has one child, Harold Cecil.
CHESTER L. POWELL (deceased) was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, November 10, 1857, a son of George and Sarah Powell, and was reared near Bowling Green. He taught school for sev- eral years, and, later, for two years, kept a hard- ware store at Portage. This he sold, and then went to Fostoria, where for a time he and his brother, A. V. Powell, conducted a similar busi- ness. Afterward he went on the road for a hard- ware firm, but resigned and came to Weston, where, together with a Mr. Baldwin, he opened a clothing and furnishing-goods store, under the fırın name of Baldwin & Powell. Soon after- ward he bought Mr. Baldwin's interest, also the stock of shoes and the shoe-shop belonging to Mr. Ames, and he operated the store with marked success up to his death, which occurred July 6, 1893. He was admired for his business ability, and his good qualities as a citizen. In demeanor he was quiet, but firm in purpose, and seldom failed in anything he undertook. His death was greatly
mourned by the community in which he resided. He was a prominent member of the I. O. O. F., having joined the order at Fostoria, whence he "took his card " to Weston; in religious faith he was a member of the United Brethren Church.
On October 7, 1886, Mr. Powell married Miss Elfa Pugh, who was born in Henry county, Ohio. November 15, 1859. John Pugh, her father, was born in the parish of Kerry, County of Montgomery, North Wales, on the 11th day of February, 1810, of English parents, and when twenty-one years old married and came to the United States, first locating in New York State, then in Perrysburg, Ohio, afterward in Henry county, finally, in 1877, settling in Weston, Wood county, where he died January 9, 1892. He followed the occupation of a farmer; was of the Episcopal faith; was a Whig before the war and a Republican afterward, and he voted for both the Harrisons (his first and last votes respectively). His home was the meeting place of many of the most prominent of the early pio- neers of this section, and he was a great friend of the Indians. The adventures that have been rehearsed, and the stories that have been told by himself and others when gathered around the fire- side, if preserved, would have been worthy of being immortalized in romance and song; but un- fortunately only a faint glimpse of the conditions of life, and the character of those sturdy pio- neers, have been handed down to us. Although miles of swamp and woods separated neighbor from neighbor, a common cause and, we might say, a common misfortune united them in bonds of sympathy almost as strong as family ties.
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