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 68
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
Mr. Kramer attended the common schools of Franklin county during boyhood, and, after work- ing for a year on a railroad, he continued his studies in Dayton and Westerville, Ohio. He prepared himself for teaching, and in 1 868 went to Iowa hoping to find an opening in that profession, but that locality was not then sufficiently devel- oped to provide profitable employment in that line, so he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed in Marshall county, Iowa, for three
years. Returning to his old home, he continued the same business for thirteen years, and then opened a hardware store in Canal Winchester. He sold this in 1887, and removed to Bowling Green, where he and his partner, Mr. Chaney, bought out the stock of Lynch Bros., to which they have added until they now have one of the best hardware stores in Wood county.
Mr. Kramer married Miss Marilla Waters, of Columbus, Ohio, and has one child, Mildred, the wife of Elmer Spafford, the well-known civil engineer, of Bowling Green. In politics our sub- ject adhercs to the faith of his father, and is a member of the Democratic party.
JOHN C. WEBB, one of the oldest settlers of Wood county, where he arrived in 1822, when Bowling Green was unknown, has seen the com- plete growth and development of that region. The land was then covered with a densc forest. and much of it was under water for a portion of the year; the wild game of all kinds, which was very plentiful, furnished many a meal for the early pioneers. His boyhood and youth were passed amidst such surroundings, so that he early be- came inured to the arduous task of clearing and cultivating wild land. On the 26th of November. 1822, he was brought to Wood county, and it was in 1857 that he located in Troy township, where he owns a good farm on Road Tract No. 62.
Mr. Webb was born September 2, 1822. in Canton, Stark Co., Ohio, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Charles) Webb. The father's birth occurred in New York, August 27, 1795. and on attaining manhood went to Mifflinburg. Union Co., Penn., where he married Miss Charles. who was born in that State in 1794. Immedi- ately afterward they came on horseback over the mountains to Stark county, Ohio, arriving there in March, 1820. By trade Mr. Webb was a hat- ter, and carried on a shop in Canton until com- ing to Wood county, in November, 1822. At Perrysburg he continued the manufacture of hats for about two years, when he was appointed county clerk, which office he capably filled fo: thirty years. He was also sheriff for three terms. and at one time held the position of internal rev- enue collector.
The mother of our subject died at Perrysburg. December 17, 1833. In her family were seven children, namely: Susanna, deceased; John C .. Rebecca, Catherine and Sarah, all three deceased: Thomas, who enlisted in 1861, becoming a mem- ber of the Commissary Department, and now makes his home in Dayton, Ohio; and Henry. who died at the age of fifteen years. In Perrys-
1
:
------
827
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
burg, the father again married in July, 1834, his second union being with Mary Dean. who died February 14, 1849, leaving four children, three of whom are still living-Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Marshall, of Canada; Mrs. Saralı Ann Smith, of Columbiaville, Mich. ; Corwin, of Perrysburg; and Clayton, deceased. Corwin enlisted in an Indiana regiment during the Civil war, and lost an arm at the battle of Pea Ridge, Ark. For his third wife Mr. Webb married Mary A. Jones, of Perrysburg, February 23, 1851, and she still makes her home in that city. By this union three children were born -- Ellen Dustin, of Perrysburg: Mrs. Eliza H. Taylor, of Conway, Ky., and Lewis, of Mau- mee, Ohio. The father was widely known throughout northwestern Ohio, and took an act- ive part in political matters in Wood county, be- ing a leader of the Whig party in this community at an early day. He continued to make his home in Perrysburg until his death on the 27th of Au- gust, 1885.
Our subject was educated in the schools of Perrysburg, and there learned the trade of a tan- ner and currier, after which he traveled about, working at that occupation until he located upon his present farm. On January 16, 1861, in Perrysburg township, he led to the marriage altar Miss Eliza Polly Jones, a native of New York, and a daughter of Daniel S. and Polly Jones, who were also born in that State, where the fa- ther died in 1832. His widow, in 1856, removed to Wood county, where she passed away in 1870. To our subject and his wife have been born three children : John Charles, who is married and re- sides in Troy township; Florence Savanna, a graduate of the Michigan State Normal, and a teacher for several years in Michigan; and Lyra Claribel.
In Troy township, February 11, 1864, Mr. Webb enlisted in Company C, 2Ist O. V. I., for three years' service or until the close of the war, and was mustered into the United States service at Columbus, Ohio, being assigned to the army of the Tennessee. He participated in the en- gagements at Goldsboro and Resaca, and was in all the battles under General Sherman during his March to the Sea. He took part in the Carolina campaign, and was in the Grand Review at Washington, D. C. At Louisville, Ky., he was honorably discharged July 25, 1865, and returned to his home in Troy township with an untarnished war record, having always been found at the post of duty. Since the organization of the Republican party, he has supported its banner, being prev- iously was a Whig, and though never an office seeker, has served as a member of the school
board. He belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, being a member of Benedict Post, No. 26, at Pemberville, Wood county.
ALFRED SIMON is a prominent representative of the family of that name in Wood county, and is one of Bloom township's progressive farmer citizens. He was born in Jackson township. Mahoning Co., Ohio, January 8, 1837, and is a son of Reinhart and Maria (Brougher) Simon. His paternal grandfather, Adam Simon, was one of the six sons born to the first marriage of Michael Simon, the founder of the family in the Buckey State.
The father of our subject was born in Board- man township, Mahoning county, January 13, ISII, and on November 13, 1834, he wedded Miss Brougher, also a native of Mahoning county, born May 28, 1817, daughter of Daniel Brouglier. Five children blessed this union - Lorinda, born October 8, 1835, is the widow of James Hamil- ton, of Bloomdale; Alfred is next in order of birth; Daniel, born December 18, 1838, enlisted August 15, 1861. in Company H, 49th O. V. I., and died at Nashville, September 5, 1862; Re- becca, born in September, 1840, is the wife of Rev. J. Whistler, a Methodist Episcopal minister of Denver, Colo .; and Lucy Ann, born June 13, 1843, died September 19, 1855. In September. 1854, Reinhart Simon brought his family and household goods in two covered wagons to Wood county, driving the entire distance. He bought 160 acres of land in Section 15, Bloom town- ship, and made his temporary home with his brother Cornelius. He was at first forced to buy supplies, as there was not land enough cleared to raise crops sufficient for the family's use; but he soon converted the place into an arable tract, and his first crop of corn from fifteen acres amounted to 1, 500 bushels in the ear. From that time prosperity attended his efforts, the greatest trouble experienced by the family being sickness from fever and ague. Mr. Sinon reached the ripe old age of seventy-three years. while his wife passed away at the age of sixty- four, and they were laid to rest in Bloom Chapel cemetery. They were active workers in the Lutheran church, and in politics he was formerly a Whig, and on its organization joined the Repub- lican party: for six years he served as treasurer of Bloom township.
During his boyhood Alfred Simon attended the subscription schools, but the greater part of his education has been obtained since leaving school, being acquired through reading and ob- servation. He was seventeen years of age at the
828
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
time the family came to Wood county, and re- inained upon the home farm until his marriage. with the exception of one summer, when he worked by the month. About 1858, he bought an eighty-acre tract of school land in Section 16, securing the same from his father, to whom he paid interest until the land became productive, when he paid off the principle. His land lay just across the road from the old homestead, where he often worked during the day, while he cleared and improved his own place in the evening. Hc believes in using the latest methods and machinery in his agricultural pursuits, and now has seventy- eighty and three-quarters acres of the best de- veloped land in Bloom township.
At Portage, Wood county, Mr. Simon was united in marriage, October 20, 1859, with Sil- vina Milliron, who was born in Westmoreland county, Penn., in IS41, a daughter of Jacob Milliron, Five children were born of this union -- Olive, wife of Robert Wiers, of Liberty town- ship, Wood county; Emma I, wife of J. Repass, of Bowling Green, Ohio; Laura E., wife of George Vick, a machinist of Detroit, Mich. ; William G., of Toledo, Ohio; and Carrie M., wife of Sanford Lea, of Liberty township. The i mother, who was a faithful member of the United Brethern Church, died December 13, 1872, and was buried in Bloom Chapel Cemetery. 1 On July 18, 1876, in Perry township, Mr. Simon was again married, his second union being with Harriet M. Baily, who was born June 6, 1844, and is a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Simon) Bailey. They have become the parents of one son-Myron O., born August 20, 1881.
During the Civil war Mr. Simon became a member of the Ohio National Guards, and enlisted in the United States service in May, 1864, as a member of Company E, 144th O. V. I. He did guard duty at Wilmington, Del., and at the end of his one-hundred-days' service was honorably discharged and returned home. His support has always been given to the Republican party, and he served for two years as trustee of his town- ship, but has never been an office seeker, having steadily refused political honors. He and his es- timable wife enjoy the friendship and society of the best people of the community, and are con- sistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, belonging to the Bloom Chapel con- gregation.
--
GEORGE KLINE, a public-spirited and pro- gressive citizen of Wood county, was born No- vember 12, 1830, in Dauphin county, Penn., and is a son of Jacob Kline, who was born in Ger-
many, in 1779, and during his boyhood came to America with his parents, the family locating in Dauphin county, Penn. He there learned and followed the gunsmith's trade, in connection with the grandfather, for a number of years. When a young man he went to Pittsburg, Penn., where he married Miss Elizabeth Rheinhardt, subse- quently returning to Dauphin county. . Several years later he removed to Cumberland county, Penn., whence he and his wife afterward came on a visit to our subject, in Wood county. where they spent two years. Their last days were passed at the home of their daughter, Mrs. Maria Hess, of Harrisburg, Penn. The members of the fam- ily were: Maria, deceased wife of William Hess, of Harrisburg; Mrs. Elizabeth Shirk, of Pennsyl- vania; Mrs. Catherine Heck, of Pittsburg, Penn., now deceased; Annie, widow of William King, of Pittsburg; Margaret, who died in childhood; John, who died in Andersonville prison; Albert, who died during the war, at Knoxville, Tenn .; Henry, who died in Andersonville prison: George, subject of this sketch; Jacob, a gunsmith, of Mc- Comb, Ohio; and two who died in infancy.
The educational privileges which our subject received were very meager. When he was a child of six years his father bound him out to a tailor to serve a six-years' apprenticeship. He then followed the business for fifteen consecutive years, in Pottsville, Chambersburg, and Newburg. Penn., and afterward worked at his trade in Crawford county, Ohio. and also in Leesville, this State. While in Crawford county he, in 1852, married Miss Elizabeth Campbell. Soon after he aban- doned his trade, and began the cultivation of an eighty-acre farm in Jackson township, which was given him by his father-in-law. He located there- on in 1858, erected a rude log cabin, and in course of time the wild land was converted into rich fields of waving grain. His farm labors, how- ever, were interrupted by his service in the army, for in 1865 he enlisted, at Leipsic, Ohio, in Com- pany D, 192nd O. V. I., in which he served until the close of the war. After his return home he gave his entire attention to farming for some years. In 1884, however, he sold that property and purchased twenty acres of land in Hoytville. erecting thereon a comfortable dwelling, in which he is now living retired, enjoying the comfort- able competence which his own energy brought him.
On December 17, 1891, Mr. Kline was called upon to mourn the death of his first wife. ()n September 7, 1892, he married Annie Deremer, who was born July 2, 1858, in Lonaconing, Alle- gany Co., Md .; she was educated in Sunbury
-
...
George Keine
829
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
Delaware Co., Olio. from the high school of which place she was graduated in 1874. She has also made a study of music, and plays the organ to the entertainment of her many friends. In politics Mr. Kline was formerly a Democrat, but he is now a stalwart Republican. For one year he served as marshal, but he has never been a politician in the sense of office-seeking. He holds membership with the Christian Church, and his life is one well worthy of emulation in many re- spects. Mrs. Kline is a Roman Catholic in Church connection, having been baptized in that faith April 9, 1877.
JAMES M. BRONSON, son of Stephen Bronson, of Vermont, and one of the pioneers of Bloom township, was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., in 1809. Like contemporary boys, his opportu- nities for obtaining an education were nothing more than presented by the winter term of his district, but he used them to the limit, and was rewarded for his diligence. His marriage with Hannah Almira, daughter of James and Catherine Helmer (natives of Germany and Hol- land respectively), took place April 4, 1826, Squire Samuel Edwards, of Manlius, N. Y., per- forming the marriage rite. She was born in Montgomery county, N. Y., April 12. 1806. A woman small in stature, but great in woman's courage, she was a faithful wife in the wilderness of Wood, from 1840 to 1864, in which latter year her husband died. In November of the former year, she accompanied her husband and children to the site of Eagleville, where early in the spring of that year, he had purchased 160 acres of land. A tract of about one and one- half acres in area was cleared, some corn planted, and a log cabin constructed. Then Mr. Bron- son returned to New York for his wife and five children. In coming hither the family traveled of a canal boat from Rochester to Buffalo, on steamer to Sandusky, and thence on wagon to their new home, which they reached November 17, 1840. He had then only $3. 50 and a tract of 160 acres of wild land; but with it he posses- sed natural ability, physical strength and a desire | to succeed. Soon after coming he opened a school in Ora Baird's cabin, in Section 35, then the only dwelling in the township that could boast of two rooms. His success as a teacher was such that his services were in ready demand, and for a number of winters he taught school in Bloom, giving his time, during the spring, sum- mer and fall to chopping, clearing on the home- stead, and cultivating it. His command of Scripture texts was phenomenal, however at vari-
ance with the majority were his interpretations. He believed in the salvation of the human race, and for this reason refused the kind offer of his maternal grandfather to send him to a Baptist school, if he would consent to become a Baptist preacher. As related in the history of Bloom township, he built a house of worship at Eagle- ville, after he had the village surveyed, which was free to the use of all, organized a society known as the Universalists, and urged the formation of other religious bodies. He opened a store, as described in the chapter on Bloom, and was postmaster, teacher and preacher. During the war for the Union he was a loyal, patriotic advo- cate in support of the old flag. In all respects Mr. Bronson was an exemplary citizen, beloved and esteemed by all who knew him.
Of the eleven children born to his marriage with Miss Helmer, three died in infancy; of the eight that grew to manhood and womanhood. three are deceased, namely: Mary A., who mar- ried James Baird, of Charlotte, Mich., James D., and Charles O. The five survivors of this old Wood county family are Ellen E. Bartow, of Milan, Ohio: Charlotte F. Bonnell, of Campe Verde, Texas; Sarah C. Evers, of Bowling Green. Ohio; Angelia A. McClellan, of Adrian, Mich. ; and Horace W. Bronson, of Hudson, Mich. The mother of this family became a widow in 1864, but ten years later married Joel Hale, of Fos- toria. After his death, in 1877, she passed her years visiting her children, and died October 30, 1893. In 1842, her husband had a herd of six milch cows, and with this beginning she estab- lished a dairy, selling butter at six cents a pound; she also established a little cheese factory, the pro- duct of which, for oneseason, was 300 pounds. The press used in this primitive factory was a rail, one end of which was fixed in the fence while the other was attached to a brass kettle filled with rock. In addition to the butter and cheese in- dustries, was a hennery, where numerous eggs were found daily, which sold readily for three cents a dozen. Then there was the ginseng root. dug up, washed, and dried by thechildren, worth eighteen cents a pound, and the ordinary farm products to help out the income of the house; but with all these incans at the disposal of the bread. winners of the house, there were privations and disappointments with which American pioneers could alone cope. In 1843, the six cows starved to deatlı. In 1844, the husband and two chil- dren were -tricken with typhus fever, and. for six weeks, the noble self-sacrificing wife and mother attended the sick without thought of self. When the clothing, brought hither from her old home
(
.
1
830
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
in New York State, was worn to shreds, and there was no money to purchase new goods at Fostoria or Perrysburg, she dyed the blankets, and made them into comfortable and well-fitting clothes for her children, and when the baking soda was exhausted she reduced corn-cobs to ashes, placed the ashes in a bowl of water, waited until precipitation took place, and then poured off the clear liquid to be used in place of soda in the manufacture of corn bread. Her courage, patience and endurance with her happy expedi- ents made her a woman with few equals in the settlement; one to be honored by the pioneers and to be adored by her family.
JACOB C. DAUER, a representative pioneer of the county, was born in Nassau, Germany, De- cember 10, 1831, and is a son of George and Dora Dauer, the former a farmer by occupation. In their family were six children: Catherine, deceased; Christine, widow of Joe Hofner: Wil- helmina, wife of Christ Asınas; Theodore, a farm- er, of Middleton township; William, deceased; and Jacob C. The mother died in her native land; but the father came to the New World in 1864, and spent his remaining days in Huron county, Ohio.
In 1853 Jacob C. Dauer left the shores of Germany on a vessel which was nine weeks in reaching America, and on landing he remained some four months in New York. For the nine years following he made his home in Erie county, Ohio, where he rented a farm of seventy acres. He then bought an unimproved tract of land in Wood county, which he has since ditched and tiled, and has one of the best farms in the vicin- ity. He erected a fine residence and barns, and has upon his place nine productive oil wells, one operated by Alexander McDonald, and the others by the Standard Oil Company, and John Watts.
In 1859, in Erie county, Ohio, Mr. Dauer married Miss Anna Brand, a sister of F. J. Brand, : of Middleton township, this county, and eleven children were born to them, four of whom have now passed away: John, born June 2, 1861. died in 1880; Julius, born July 22, 1862, died in 1874; William, born September 30, 1873, died in 1880; and Angust, born April 11, 1874, died in 1875. Those living are: Chris, born Janu- ary 18, 1864, who wedded Mary Opperman, a daughter of Anton Opperman, a farmer of Wash- ington township, Wood county (they have four children): Mary, born May 15, 1865, married to Henry Weihl (they have two children): Charley, born September 14, 1866, married to Louisa Moore (they have three children); Frederick,
born October 17, 1869, married to Lizzie Beil. a daughter of Adam Beil (they have one child); Emma, born June 29, 1871; Adam, born Decem- ber 16, 1875, at present taking a classical course in a school at Tiffin, Ohio; and Anna E., born September 7, 1877. Mrs. Dauer was born No- vember 26, 1835, in Hessen, Germany, a daugh- ter of Adam, a shoemaker, and Catherine (Hof) Brand, who, in 1867, came to America and to Wood county, where they both died. They had ten children, four of whom died in Germany, the others being: Julius J., John, Fred, Mary (Mrs. Meyer, now deceased), Catherine, and Eckert, the last named living in Lucas county. Mrs. Dauer came to this country when twenty-three years old, in company with three other young people.
Mr. Dauer is a Democrat, has served as school director, and for one term was a member of the city council at Haskins. In religious faith he is identified with the German Reformed Church, in which for four years he has served as trustee, and is now a deacon. The entire life of Mr. Dauer has been one of unusual activity and in- dustry, and he is a self-made man in the fullest sense of the word. On his arrival in the country all his worldly possessions were tied up in his handkerchief, and his capital, of nothing save willing hands and a strong determination to succeed.
G. C. HOUSKEEPER, a leading horticulturist and farmer of Center township, was born in Lan- caster, Fairfield county, December 24, 1854. He is a son of Aaron Houskeeper, a native of Pennsylvania, who now resides with him.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the schools of his native town, and early gave evidence of the energy and enterprise which have distinguished his later career, by becoming an efficient helper to his father in the business of harness making before he was twelve years old. On arriving at that age he hired out as a farmi laborer at four dollars a month, and continued in the same line of work until he reached his majority. In 1876 he came to Wood county and bought forty acres of land in Center township. part of which was improved. He was married January 3, 1876, at Bowling Green, to Miss Amelia Klopfenstein, a daughter of Peter Klop- fenstein, a well-known resident of Center town- ship, and not contented with the work of lus farm he also engaged for the next three Years in the manufacture of lime, in partnership with he. father-in-law. In 1878 he sold his hrst farm, and rented one belonging to George Klopfenstent.
831
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
which he conducted for five years, when he bonght forty acres near Bowling Green, and has since improved it. The orchard, his especial pride, covers fifteen acres, and is one of the finest in the county. He is now renting sixty acres of land in addition to his own farm, keep- ing the entire tract under cultivation.
Mr. Houskeeper and his wife are prominent members of the U. B. Church. They have four children : Edith, born in 1879; Willard, ISSI; Ernest, 1883; and Dora, 1885. Mr. Houskeeper is a Prohibitionist in politics, and is an active worker in local matters, his popularity resting upon his admirable personal qualities. He is now the official weather reporter for the U. S. Me- teorological Bureau, and the crop reporter for the State Department of Agriculture. Progressive and original in ideas, he is one of the foremost of his profession in this county, was master of the Grange for three years, and one of the chief promoters and supporters of the Wood County Farmers Institute.
WILLIAM OLMSTEAD KEELER, deceased, was a leading and influential citizen of Milton town- ship, and one of the honored pioneers of Wood county. He was born in Weston, July 28, 1833, and was a son of Ralph Olmstead Keeler, a na- tive of New York. The grandfather was Major C. I. Keeler, who won his title in the war of 1812, and settled in Toledo, Ohio, at a very early day. The father of our subject married Orlantha Brown, of Wood county, and purchased 400 acres of land on which the town of Weston now stands. He died in Weston, and his wife died in Maumee, Ohio. In the family were four children: Amelia became the wife of Martin V. Seeley, and removed to Illinois, where her death occurred; Ralph went to Cuba on the 14th of December, 1874, as a correspondent for the New York Tribune, engaged in writing up the insurrection. He was on a Spanish vessel going from Cuba to Havanna, and disappeared in the night, although the ship had stopped at no port. It is believed he was killed by the Spaniards, and then thrown overboard. He had won considerable promin- enee as an author. having written the following: "Gloverson," "His Silent Partner, " and .. . Vaga- bond Adventures," the last mentioned being a true history of his own boyhood. At the time of lus deathi he was writing an article called "Owen Brown's Escape from Harper's Ferry," which afterward appeared in a number of magarines. He was an excellent linguist, speaking and writ- unig eight different languages, and one of his liter- ary works was the translation of George Sand's
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.