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 6
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After his return from the war Dr. Hill at- tended the Weston schools for a time, there receiving a fair education, after which he was engaged in teaching. Later he became clerk in a store, but after a short time decided to adopt the medical profession as a life work, and in 18;4 he began reading medicine. In ISso he entered the Western Reserve University at Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1883 entered Toledo Medical Col- lege, from which he was graduated. July 11,
William Wybill M.O.
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1883, the Doctor began practice in Weston, where he was reared from childhood, and from the start met with success. His practice is now large and rapidly increasing in the town and throughout the country, and he is known as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Wood county.
On August 25, 1869, Dr. Hill was married to Miss Elvira A. Hathaway, and by this union there are two sons: ( 1 ) Charles E., born March 10, 1872, is a prominent young business man of Toledo, Ohio, where he is working for the large firm of Armstrong & Co .; he was married No- vember 20, 1895, to Helen Gibson Canary, and they now make their home in that city. (2) Fred M., the younger son, was born March 31, 1874, and is also a thorough business man, hav- ing charge of the telephone business of Bowling Green, Ohio, where he now makes his home. On April 11, 1894, he wedded Florence E. Hol- brook. The family are members of the M. E. Church.
Dr. Hill is a member of the Wood County Medical Association, the Northwestern Medical Society and the Ohio State Medical Association. Having started out in the world with nothing, and at the same time being a cripple, the promi- nence to which he has attained is due to his own individual efforts and perseverance. In all mat- ters pertaining to his profession he is interested, and in addition to his duties as a general practi- tioner he does a large amount of surgical work.
In politics the Doctor is an ardent Repub- lican, believing in the principles of true govern- ment, free schools, free speech and above all the right of franchise to all, irrespective of race or color. He has never actively entered into polit- ical affairs, but has filled the offices of mayor, clerk and member of the board of health. He is an earnest supporter of the temperance cause, as he himself never smokes or chews tobacco, or drinks anything stronger than tea or coffee. He gives his aid to anything that will build up the town or advance the interests of the community. The Doctor has been a Mason twenty-eight years, being a member of the Grand Rapids Lodge No. 289 and Crystal Chapter No. 157. Bowling Green. He is also a member of Neib- ling Post No. 20, G. A. R., of Weston: of Ken- ilworth Lodge No. 340, K. of P., of Weston; and also of Anthony Wayne Tent No. 140, K. O. T. M., of Weston, in all of which he has been active, especially in the Masonic Order, having filled most of the Chairs in the Blue Lodge.
Mrs. Hill is the youngest in the family of
eleven children born to Elihu and Anita (Mallory) Hathaway, both of whom were natives of Queens- bury, Warren Co., N. Y., the former born No- vember 18, 1797, and the latter on July 1, 1804. They were married February 23, 1820, at West- field, Medina Co., Ohio, and the father was a pioneer farmer in Lorain county, where the mother died October 31. 1865. The father sub- sequently came to Wood county, where he passed away March 12, 1876. She was a member of the M. E. Church, he of the Baptist: in politics he was a Democrat of the Jacksonian type. Daniel Mallory, Mrs. Hathaway's father, was a merchant in New York State; he was murdered while on his way to enlist in the war of 1812.
GILES C. ROCKWOOD, a prosperous farmer and oil producer of Plain township, was born in Jefferson county, N. Y., August 19, 1819. The paternal grandfather of our subject lived for many years in the State of New York, and there died. Three of his sons were: Asa, who lived and died in Pittsfield, Lorain Co., Ohio; Ros- well, who spent the most of his life in Champion, N. Y .; and David, the father of Giles C.
David Rockwood was born in 1777 in New Hampshire, and was reared to farin life. When a young man he came with some of his older half-brothers to Cherry Valley, N. Y., and. as they kept " bachelor's hall," he was their cook. In later years their parents came to New York State, also locating in Cherry Valley, and David and his half-brother William moved into Jeffer- son county, N. Y., and bought land. David was united in marriage in that county with Miss Ruby Rounds, a native of Westchester county, N. Y., and while living in that State they became the parents of six sons and one daughter, namely: Henry, a resident of Elyria; Benjamin S., who went west many years ago and has never since been heard from; Emeline, widow of David Gott; F. W., a prominent farmer of Lorain county, Ohio; Giles C., the subject of this sketch; Da- vid P., of La Grange Centre, Ohio; and Almon A., residing in California. Another child, Pauline, now the widow of Hiram Buswell, was born in Lorain county, Ohio. Mr. Rockwood was a well-to-do farmer in New York, and traded his farm there for 600 acres in La Grange township. Lorain Co., Ohio, for which place he set out in June, 1826, driving a team of horses.
Five sons and the daughter came with the parents, the other son traveling by the water route with the household goods. Ast Rockwood. a brother of David, came at the same time. The journey to New York occupied ten days, and
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they came by Cleveland, where at that time there was no bridge across the Cuyahoga river, and where Mr. Rockwood was offered land, now the site of the public square, at four dollars an acre, or land on the west side of the city at twenty shillings an acre. However, they pushed on to Elyria and thence to La Porte, where the family remained while the father went out to look over the land he had bargained for at La- Grange. Upon seeing this he was so disap- pointed that he concluded to return to Cleveland and invest in land there, but was dissauded from this by Belden, Ingersol and Mennels, three of the leading men in Grafton township, who in- duced. him to remain in La Grange in order to more thoroughly settle up the country. He re- mained on the 600-acre farm, a portion of which he traded to Nathan Clark for a like amount in Lot No. 49, and built thereon a rude house of logs, covered with elm bark, into which he moved. This was shortly after supplanted by a better one.
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Mrs. Rockwood died and was buried in La- Grange township, and Mr. Rockwood married for his second wife Miss Polly Graves, who bore him five children, all of whom died young. He was always a farmer, and after moving on his farm in the northwest corner of La Grange township sold some of it, giving it out for work on other parts of the tract. He was stirring, energetic and active up to the age of sixty-five, when he retired from business. His death, which oc- curred in 1877, when he was 100 years and one month old, was the result of old age. In politics he was originally a Whig and later a Democrat, and in religious connection he was a member of the Christian Church.
G. C. Rockwood, subject of this sketch, came to Lorain county with his parents when he was about eight years old. His boyhood days were spent in a manner common to the lads of those pioneer days in the West, but of which the pres- ent generation can know but little. His services were required. at an early age to help chop the timber, clear away the underbrush, and prepare the primitive soil for cultivation. School houses were few and far between, and such as they were were built of logs, the chinks daubed with mud, the floor, generally the bare earth, and the seats and desks of slabs. In these, school was beld during the winter months, when out-door work was almost impossible, and happy the boy who could attend even for that limited season and get a smattering of " three R's." Yet from these rude temples of learning have come some of our brightest and most powerful intellects, men who
have made their mark in the history of our country.
When old enough Mr. Rockwood learned the trade of cabinetinaker and also of a house-builder, which occupations he followed for a number of years. In 1852 he went to California, where he remained eleven months, going and coming via the Panama route, after this making his home in Lorain county until 1864, when he removed to Wood county and located on his present farm of ninety-one acres. On this place he has five oil wells, some of which have been running for two years. He also has the lease of some oil pro- ducing land, and has, at this writing, just drilled a fifteen-barrel well. His operations so far in this line have been very successful and bring him in a handsome income.
Mr. Rockwood was married May 30, 1845, to Miss Laura A. Wack, who was born in Dorset, Vt., February 19, 1819, and who is still living. Three children have been bom to them, namely: Emma V., who is the wife of Judge Guy C. Near- ing, of Bowling Green, Ohio, and has one child, Charles; Hoyt O., married Miss Lucia Miele, July 4, 1872, and died when about twenty-seven years old, his wife also dying soon afterward, leaving two children; Frank died when an infant. Mr. Rockwood took charge after his son's death of the two orphan children and reared them as his own. The elder of these, William P., was a bright, studious, ambitious young man and his death, which occurred July 3, 1892, when he was twenty years old, was a sad blow to his grandparents. The other child, Ernest, makes his home with his grandfather. Mr. Rockwood is a man of strong character and of high princi- ples, and is worthy of the esteem in which he is held. For many years he was an infidel, but later accepted the belief of the Spiritualists and finds much comfort in their doctrines. He was at first a Republican in his political affiliation, and for a time was with the Greenback party. but afterward joined the Democratic ranks.
ALLAN W. RUDULPH, a leading real-estate dealer of Bowling Green, was born in Center township, Columbiana county, Ohio, September 19, 1853, and is the son of Joab and Mary A. (Wheatley) Rudulph.
The father of our subject was born in Scott county, Ky., June 26, 1820, and the mother in Wheeling. W. Va .. July 4. 1824. They were married at New Lisbon, Ohio, and lived at that place, and in the vicinity, until 1855, when they came to Wood county and settled on a farm in Middleton township. They made this their home
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until 1867, when they took up their residence in Bowling Green, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Mr. Rudolph was a merchant, and was engaged in business until 1890, when he re- tired from active life, his death occurring two years later, in October, 1892. He was a prom- inent inan in his community and helped to organ- ize the Republican party in his State. He held various township and city offices and was a lead- ing member of the Swedenborgian Church. To this worthy couple twelve children were born, of whom the following record is given: William HI., deceased, formerly deputy sheriff of Wood county; Emma A., deceased, was the wife of Frank C. Culley; George W., Sarah, Harriet and Adelbert died in infancy; Alice I. became the wife of J. D. Dolles, a druggist of Bowling Green, and died in 1874; Ernest E. married Addie F. Close and died in 1871; Allan W., our subject; James W., a physician, died in Bowling Green in 1881; Herman J. resides in Bowling Green; Mary May, the wife of R. B. Moore, a lawyer of Bowling Green, died in February, 1896.
Titan K. Rudulph, the paternal grandfather of our subject, resided at different times in Co- lumbiana and Carroll counties. He moved tem- porarily to Kentucky and while there left home on horse back, intending to go to Atlanta Ga., but as he was never heard from, it is supposed that he was murdered in the mountains. The name Rudulph is of German origin, but the fam- ily has been known in America since an early day. Our subject's great-uncle, Michael Rudulph, went from this country to France, and is sup- posed to be identical with Marshal Ney, who played such a prominent part in the history of that nation.
Mr. Rudulph's maternal grandfather, Charles Wheatley, was born and reared in Maryland, go- ing thence to Wheeling, W. Va., where he en- gaged in buying and selling stock, driving cattle over the mountains to the New York and .Balti- more markets. He also met an untimely death, being murdered for his money while on one of his trips, and his wife dying soon after their children were left to the care of strangers. At the time of her parents' death Mrs. Rudulph was a mere child and she and our subject's father were married at a very early age, he being nineteen and she fifteen years of age. Allan W. Rudulph was only eight- een months old when his family came to Wood county, and thirteen years of age when they set- tled in Bowling Green. He attended the public schools of that city for one year, when he left home and went to Michigan where he learned the trade of printer with F. C. Culley, at Eaton Rap-
ids. He early developed the instincts of a news- paper man, and at the early age of nineteen years was both editor and proprietor of The Sentinel, published at Bowling Green, which he conducted for twenty years, a part of the time in connection with C. W. Evers and M. P. Brewer. During this time, however, he had for a short period dis- posed of his interest in the paper, and was en- gaged in the drug business, and in 1887 was ap- pointed clerk of the court to straighten out the affairs of the previous occupant of the office, who had proved a defaulter. Mr. Rudulph finally re- tired from the newspaper business September 15, 1893, since which time he has been dealing in real estate, and is one of the most active and enter- prising men in Wood county.
Our subject was married February 25, 1875. to Libbie A. Kitchen, who was born in Center township, Wood county, February 15, 1856. Two children have been born to them, Gerald Kitchen and Katie Wheatley. Mr. Radulph is one of the organizers and a member of the board of directors of the Equitable Building & Loan Co., and is also secretary of the Water Works Co. He belongs to the I. O. O. F., Encampment and Subordinate. In politics he is a Republican, and takes an active interest in all public enterprises.
WILLIAM WEDDELL, deceased. The subject of this sketch was one among the foremost of the able and enterprising men who have redeemed Wood county from its original state and estab- lished modern ways of life throughout its borders. He was born at Perrysburg March 20, 1839- his father, William Weddell, a Scotchman by birth, having settled there in 1832. He married Miss Margaret Dunipace, who was also born and educated in Scotland, and had three children : George, deceased, formerly the clerk of Wood county; William, our subject, and Margaret. deceased. The father of our subject was a con- tractor and builder by occupation. In politics he was a Republican, and he was a stanch and con- sistent adherent of the United Presbyterian faith. His sterling character speedily gained for him the confidence of the people, and his death, which occurred in 1840, was felt as a loss by all who knew him.
Our subject received his early education in the common schools of Webster township, and worked on the homestead until he was twenty- six years of age. He was married on Thursday. December 29, 1864, to Miss Isabell Zimmerman. who was born July 22. 1846, a daughter of William and Isabella (Householder, Zimmerman, a well-known resident of Webster township. Five
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children were born of this union, whose names are as follows: (1) Minnie, who was educated in the Pemberville High School. the Normal at Ada, Ohio, and Valparaiso, Ind., is now a suc- cessful teacher in Wood county; (2) Margaret is also a school teaclier; (3) Sarah J. married J. G. Hurr, a telegraph operator at Bellevue, Ohio, and has had three children-Max, George (de- ceased), and an infant daughter; (4) William L., and (5) Isabell. On August 26, 1861, Mr. Wed- dell enlisted in Company K, 21st O. V. I., under Capt. Canfield, but was discharged January 9, 1862, on surgeon's certificate. He was a mem- ber of the Ohio Militia, being commissioned lieutenant of Company G, Ist Regiment.
Previous to his marriage he bought 160 acres of land in Webster township, near Pemberville, and built a handsome brick residence costing $3,000-one of the finest in the township. He was a good financier and was highly respected, not only for his ability, but for his integrity and manliness. He was a Republican in politics, and was justice of the peace and supervisor for a number of years, and school director from 1864 to the time of his death, which occurred July 11, 1895. He was a prominent member of the United Presbyterian Church at Scotch Ridge, as are also his wife and daughters, Minnie and Mar- garet, and a generous supporter of every good cause. He belonged to Benedict Post, G. A. R., No. 26, of Pemberville, in which he held for a number of years the office of Commander.
THOMAS W. KNIGHT, M. D., who is success- fully engaged in the practice of inedicine, in Portage, was born in Taunton, England, January 8, 1855, and is a son of Thomas W. and Eliza (Warren) Knight.
The father of our subject was a native of Somersetshire, England, born April 7, 1821, a son of Richard and Ann (Warren) Knight. the former of whom was a well-to-do farmer, own- ing 1,053 acres of land whereon his death oc- curred in 1828; his wife survived until 1855. They had a numerous family, no less than twenty-two children, including the following named: Amy; Ann; Richard, a wealthy wool- grower, who died in Australia; William and Anna, who died in England: Samuel, who died in London; John, who died in England in early manhood; Elizabeth, who passed away in the same country; and Thomas W. The parents of our subject had a family of nine children: (1) Sophia, born March 3, 1851, is the wife of Henry Lncal, of Sandusky City, Ohio. (2) John, born September 1, 1852, married Appelinda
Mercer, widow of Samuel Whitaker; he now re- sides in Wood county. (3) Our subject comes next. (4) Fred, born September 25, 1856, died at the age of twenty-five years. (5) Samuel, born July 10, 1858, married Ella Hostetter, and is living in North Baltimore. (6) Eliza Jane, born January 14, 1860, married Joli Robertson, and after his death wedded Manning Goddington; they are now living in New Jersey. (7) Amy, born January 31, 1862, is the wife of John Groh, of Wood county. (8) Ellen, born Decein- ber 27, 1864, is the wife of Jacob Sommers, of Wood county. (9) William Henry, born Janu- ary 5, 1867, died at the age of nine months. (The three youngest children were born in America).
The parents of this family were married May 22, 1850, in Plymouth, Devonshire, Eng., where Mrs. Knight was born March 23, 1825. Prior to his marriage, Mr. Knight worked in a grocery store for seven years. He afterward embarked in merchandising on his own account in Taun- ton, but disposed of his business in 1856, and with his family removed to the Isle of Guernsey. There he rented a farm and remained until 1861, when he came to America, sailing from South- ampton, England, September 29, 1861, and after a voyage of fifteen days landing at New York. For eighteen months Mr. Knight and his family resided in Sandusky City, and then went to Ottawa county, Ohio, where he engaged in farming and grape-growing. After three years he returned to Sandusky City, locating on a farm near there, which he operated for seven and a half years, when he disposed of that place. and removed to another farm where he engaged in fruit culture. . In March, 1876, he came to Wood county, and purchased the Mungen farm, which was his place of abode until the spring of 1884, when he sold, and has since lived with the Doctor. His wife died June, 1873, and lies buried in Clyde cemetery. The father was a stanch Republican in politics, served as trustee of Portage township for three years, and is honored and esteemed by all who know him.
Our subject, as will be seen, was an infant when his parents removed to the Isle of Guernsey, and attending a French school tliere he learned to speak that language very fluently. He also continued his literary education in the public schools of Sandusky City, Ohio, and afterward taught school for a number of years in Wood county. The study of medicine he took up under the direction of his mother, who for many years was engaged in practice, and in 1890, he entered upon a four-years' course in
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Chomax W.knight, Ir
yours Respit Thos AKnight 2. 2.
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Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago. On his graduation he came to Portage, where he has since successfully been engaged in practice, and now has a large and lucrative clientele. In ad- dition, he owns twenty acres of land and four dwelling houses in Mungen, one house and three lots in Portage, and a quarter interest in eighty acres in Liberty township, a quarter interest in the one-sixth royalty of thirteen oil wells in Liberty township, and oil wells in Portage town- ship.
On December 14, 1884, Dr. T. W. Knight · was married to Christina Sommers, who died March 9, 1889, leaving one son, Walter A., born June 24, 1886. Our subject was afterward mar- ried, April 4, 1893, to Miss Maud Book, who was born June 27, 1871. They have one son, Roy, born November 28, 1895. The Doctor and his wife are well known in their locality, and have many warm friends who esteem them high- ly. In politics he is a Republican, and a strong advocate of temperance. He has served his township as clerk for one year, and for nine months was township trustee, filling out an un- expired term caused by a removal.
JOHN E. CARSON, deceased. The honored pioneer agriculturist of Grand Rapids township, whose life forms the theme of this biography, was born in Pennsylvania in 1826, the son of John E. and Jane Carson, both of whom were natives of the same State. He was the eldest of their six children, the others being Elisha, James M., Margaret, Oliver and Elija.
The family came to Wood county in 1835, locating on Beaver creek, in what is now Grand Rapids township, and here John E. Carson re- ceived his education. He supplemented his dis- trict-school course by private reading and study, and fitted himself for teaching: for several win- ters he taught in this county, working in the in- tervals upon the homestead, of which he took entire charge after the death of his father, caring for his widowed mother. He was married March 30, 1854, to Miss Sarah McCabe, a lady of Scotch descent, born April 17, 1836, and the seventh daughter in the family of twelve children of James McCabe, a well-known farmer of Lucas county, Ohio, who was born in Pennsylvania, and married there to Miss Sarah Uhler, who was also a native of the Keystone State, of German parentage. Mrs. Carson's father died at his home in Lucas county, August 20, 1878, and her mother survived him ten years, passing away at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Rebecca Mower, October 6, 1881, aged seveuty-seven years.
A year after his marriage Mr. Carson bought 160 acres of land near Grand Rapids, to which he removed, having built a log cabin and made other improvements. He cleared 140 acres and continued to cultivate it until his death, which occurred March 13, 1878. Fourteen children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Carson, ten of whom were twins. ( I ) Emma, born April 21, 1855, married John Stephens, of Grand Rapids. ( 2 and 3) Jennie and James (twins) were born June 21, 1857; the former married Albert Whit- ney Weston; the latter died in childhood. (4 and 5) Luther E. and Lucy W. ( twins) were born March 18, 1861, and the former now man- ages the homestead for his mother; he married Miss Lula Gestice and has three children; Lucy W. died in infancy. (6) John J., born October 8, 1862, is a farmer in Weston township; he married Miss Mary Judson. (7) Harriet E., born June 11, 1865, married L. D. Judson, of Grand Rapids. (8) Addie, born August 20, 1 868, died at nineteen years of age. ( 9 and 10) Dora and Leonard ( twins ) were born October 12, 1870; the former married Harris Heath, of Portage, and the latter died in childhood. ( II and 12) Nellie and Florence (twins ) were born February 21, 1873; the former married John Ducat, of Sugar Ridge, and the latter died when nine months old. ( 13 and 14), also twins, died in infancy.
Mr. Carson was for a time a soldier in the late war, enlisting in the one hundred days' service in 1861, in the 144th O. V. I. But ill- health compelled him to return home where he sustained the cause of the Union to the best of his ability, giving liberally to secure troops, and hiring a substitute, John D. Gestice, whose daughter Lula is now the wife of Luther Carson. [To him he gave ten dollars a month in addition to the pay allowed by the government. ] Mr. Carson was a man of unusual ability and influ- ence, standing high in the esteem of his neigh- bors. A kind husband and father; his death was a sad loss to the home circle, but in his wider sphere of usefulness he was sincerely mourned. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, in which Mrs. Carson has also been a leading worker for many years, especially in the Home Missionary Society. He was a Republican in politics, and was supervisor for two terms, and also served as school director, and was at all times ready to help forward any measure tending to benefit the community. After his death Mrs. Carson conducted the estate, displaying marked executive ability, and adding many improvements. including a tasteful and commodious dwelling
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