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 75
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About three years after his first marriage, Mr. Berntlisel left his old home and moved to a farm a half mile from Haskins, where he now owns 150 acres of land. In 1882 he retired into the village, there to spend his declining years free from business cares. He owns an eighty-aere farm on the river, forty acres west of Haskins.
besides a good home in the village and his old home above alluded to. In politics he is a Demo- crat, as was his father before him. and has held some minor township offices. Socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F., Roche-de-Boeuf Lodge, No. 530, Haskins, in which he has passed most of the chairs, and he and his wife are affiliated with Rebekah Lodge No. 387, Haskins. In religious belief they are members of the Bap- tist Church at Haskins, with which organization he has been identified several years, and has served as trustee thereof.
E. L. BARTON, the genial and efficient man- ager for The Buckeye Supply Company (since merged into The National Supply Company), at Haskins, was born September 14, 1866. in Craw- ford county, Pennsylvania.
His ancestors were early settlers in that State, and his grandfather, Johnathan Benn, was born there, in Westmoreland county, in ISIo. He was a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist Epis- copal Church, and died near Titusville, Penn .. in 1883. Our subject's father's father, Henry Bar- ton, was born in New York, in 1800, and moved to Pennsylvania, in 1826.
Our subject's parents were both natives of Crawford county. Penn. His father, A. B. Bar- ton, was born November 19, 1842, and is still living near Titusville. He was one of the early operators in the oil fields of that region, but left his business in the first year of the Civil war to enlist in Company C, 150th P. V. I., one of the gallant " Buck Tail Regiments." At the close of the war he returned to the oil business, only to lose all his money in the famous " Pit Hole." Since that time he has been engaged in agriculture. In politics he is a Republican. He was married in March, 1865, to Miss Mary Benn. of Crawford county, Penn., who died in I8;7 leaving four children, of whom our subject is the eldest. Mae is a graduate of the State Normal School at Clarion, Penn., and is now a teacher in the public schools of Butler, Penn. J. W. is a fireman on the P. S. & L. E. R. R. Alice lives in Bowling Green. Mr. Barton, Sr., was married a second time, in June, ISSI, to Miss Mary E. Nelson.
Our subject lived at his father's farm until he was nine years old, when his mother died, and he was placed in the care of an annt. Miss Rachel R. Benn, now a missionary in China, but at that time principal of the Model School at Edinboro. Penn. After one year there, he, with his brother and younger sister, were sent to the School for Soldiers' Orphans, at Mercer, Penn , where he
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remained until the age of sixteen. Mr. Barton then took a course in the Commercial College at Titusville, graduating in 1884. He at once en- gaged in the oil business, working in the fields of Clarendon, Red Valley, and Grand Valley, and came to Findlay, Ohio, during the second year of the excitement over the discoveries here. He has worked in nearly every capacity in the oil fields, but in March, 1891, he quit the business, and became a clerk in the post office at Bowling Green for G. W. Gaghan, remaining two years. He then became manager for the branch store of the Buckeye Supply Company, at Montpelier, Ind., remaining there two years, then returning to Wood county, Ohio. In this position his in- timate knowledge of the requirements of the oil business makes his services peculiarly valuable. He is widely popular, and is always ready to give the results of his own experience to perplexed oil operators.
On June 1, 1893, he was married to Miss Effie L. Royal, who was born in Michigan, No- vember 19, 1867. They have one child, Ray- mond. Mr. Barton was for five years a member of the National Guards of his native State, serv- ing as corporal of Company K, 16th Regiment. He is a member of the F. & A. M. and U. R., K. of P., belonging to both lodges at Bowling Green, Ohio (Wood County Lodge No. 112, F. & . A. M .; Kenneth Division No. 90, and Subordi- nate Lodge K. of P. No. 158).
FREDERICK J. BRAND, one of the most prom- nent citizens of Middleton township, was born January 6, 1849, in Hessen, Germany. Adam Brand, his father, a shoemaker by occupation, married Catherine Hof, and had a family of ten children, four of whom died in infancy; the others were Anna, who married Jacob Dower; Mary, deceased, who was the wife of Philip Meyer; John and Julius, farmers in Paulding county. Ohio; Frederick J .; and Catherine, the wife of F. Eccard. The parents of these. and the youngest daughter, came to this country in 1868; the fa- ther died at his home in 1889, the mother pass- ing to her final rest in 1886, at the home of her eldest daughter.
Our subject attended the schools of his birth- place in early youth, and later worked three years at his father's trade. At the age of seventeen he came to America on a steamer, which made the voyage in twelve days. When he landed at New York he had a German piece of money in his pocket, and this he exchanged for a one-dollar note of a defunct bank, thereby leaving himself penniless. With the help of his brother and
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sister, however, he managed to come west, and located in Wood county, working some four years as a farm hand. In 1871, he rented a farm, and kept it seven years, when he bought eighty acres of land at $60 per acre, giving $600 down, and paying six per cent. interest on the balance. He now has one of the best farms of its size in the community, containing 100 acres, having thereon an elegant residence built at a cost of $1, 500, and he has ten oil wells on his property, which are operated by a local company.
In 1871 Mr. Brand married Miss Regina Beil, a sister of Adam and Conrad Beil, well-known farmers of this county. Four children were born of this union: Rosa, the wife of Henry Holz- hauer; Emelia, the wife of Julius Mohr; and Al- bert and Emanuel, both now living at home. In 1886 Mrs. Brand died of consumption, and in 1888 our subject married Miss Louisa Smith, a native of Switzerland. They have two children, Ernest and Ruth.
Mr. Brand is a man of great influence in the community, his ability, integrity, and sound dis- cretion gaining for him the confidence of all who know him. He has been a school director for fifteen years: president of the township board for four years; assessor for three years; real estate appraiser for Middleton township in 1890; is now serving as county commissioner, having been elected on the Republican ticket in the fall of 1895. In the German Reformed Church, of which he is a charter member, he is trustee and elder, and is superintendent of the Sunday-school, of which he has been a teacher for twenty years.
G. M. BARND, a retired merchant of Bloom- dale, was born in Perry county, Ohio, March 17, IS32, the eldest son and second child of eleven children of John and Sarah (Garlinger) Barnd, the former a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of Virginia. When only six weeks old he was taken by his parents to Portage, now Allen, township, Hancock Co., Ohio, of which locali- ty they were early settlers, and where the latter died.
In the usual manner of farmer boys in a fron- tier settlement Mr. Barnd spent his early days, and on arriving at man's estate. he was married in Findlay, Ohio, by David Gray, on July 31. 1862. Miss Mary A. Myers becoming his wife. She is a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, and a daughter of Jonathan and Charlotte (Hull) Myers. who came to Bloom township in 1843, accom- panied by the family of John Russell. The fa- ther located on a heavily-timbered tract, which is now within the corporation limits of Bloomdale,
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and, within a radius of a mile and a half, their only neighbor was Daniel Robbins.
Jonathan W. Myers was born in Trumbull county, December II, ISIO, and on April 3, 1834, was married to Charlotte Hull, who was born in Mahoning county, February 5, 1812, and to this union were born : Henry B., January 7, 1835, married Martha Curtis, of Paulding county, and they now reside in St. Louis; Mary A., September 24, 1836, the wife of our subject; Caroline, November 27, 1838, married Joseph B. Clayton, and they now reside at Van Buren, in Hancock county; and John A., born January 5, 1847, married Matilda Hollingshead, of Hancock county, now residents of that county. On Sep- tember 19, 1849, Mrs. Charlotte Myers died and on December 30, Mr. Myers was married to Elmira Robbins, of Wood county, and to this union were born : Rachel L., November 3, 1850, died July 12, 1853; Ella E., August 19, 1854, married Lorenzo D. Hatfield, who died July 15. 1891, and the widow lives at Bloomdale; and Jonathan E., March 30, 1857, married Emma J. Wineland, who died November 5, 1892, and he then married Emma Hays, and they reside in Ten- nessee. Jonathan W. Myers died September 21, . 1892. He had resided on the same farm for forty-nine years, living to see his children settled in life before whom he had set a good example. He was a member of the M. E. Church.
Our subject and wife began their domestic life upon his farm in Allen township, Hancock coun- ty, which, in 1875, he sold, going to North Balti- inore, than a very small place. He there con- ducted a sash and door factory under the firm name of Barnd, Cameron & Co., for three years, when he disposed of his interest, and removed to Van Buren, Hancock county, where he engaged in the grocery business, and was also a justice of the peace. In 1885 he began general merchan- dising in Marseilles, Wyandot Co., Ohio, which
he conducted for three years, when in the fall of 1888 he went to Risingsun, Wood county, and carried on a similar store until, in May, 1889. He then disposed of his stock, and on the Ist of August, 1890, opened a five and ten cent store in Bloomdale, carrying on the same until his retire- ment to private life in March, 1894.
Mr. and Mrs. Barnd have no children of their own, but have an adopted son, John S., who was born January 24, 1874, and is now located at Hoytville, Ohio, where he is station agent and telegraph operator on the Baltimore & Ohio rail- road.
In his business dealings, Mr. Barnd has ever been straightforward and honorable, pleasant
and courteous to his customers, and well deserves the success that has come to him. In his efforts he has been ably assisted by the support and counsel of his loving wife, a most estimable lady, and they now rank among the most highly es- teemed people of Bloomdale. Politically, he is a strong Democrat, was clerk of Allen township, Hancock county, and a member of the village council of Van Buren, Ohio, while for nearly thirty years he and his wife have been active and consistent members of the Primitive Baptist Church.
DAVID BATES. No country affords a greater opportunity to the poor man than our own; it is, indeed, the poor man's country; here an indus- trious frugal man has a chance to accumulate property. Many fail to do so, but the best of our population lay by some of their earnings, and soon find themselves in the possession of a good competence. Among the latter class is the gentle- man whose name introduces this article.
Mr. Bates is a native of Ohio, born in Scott township, Sandusky county, in 1855, and is the son of Adam and Betsey (Metcalf) Bates. The father still resides in that township, but the mother died when our subject was only three years old, after which he was reared by his uncle, David Phillips, and his education was obtained in the district schools. On attaining man's estate, Mr. Bates was married November 16, 1876, in Scott township, Sandusky county, the lady of his choice being Miss Margaret E. Fiandt, who was born in Jackson township, that county. October 10, 1857, the daughter of Martin and Catherine (Good) Fiandt, farming people of that locality. They have become the parents of six children: Ada E., born April 8, 1878; Etta M., born March 5, 1883; Rosa B., who died in infancy; David M., born October 2, 1889; Amby C., who died in infancy: and Merrill E., born November 3, 1893.
For two years after his marriage, Mr. Bates rented land in Scott township, Sandusky county. but in the spring of 1879 purchased forty acres there in Section 23, at a cost of $Soo, going in debt for half the amount. At the end of two years he rented an eighty-acre farm in Section 27. Montgomery township, Wood county, for a year, which he then bought, after selling his orig- inal tract at a profit. He lived upon that place until April, 1893. when he rented and operated a farm of 240 acies, for four years, but now has 120 acres of fertile and productive land in Sec- tion 27, Montgomery township, on which, in 1896, he erected a fine dwelling at a cost of
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$3,000, and will make it his future home. He has ever been a hard worker, energetic and enter- prising, and is destined to become one of the prosperous farmers of the locality. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bates hold membership with the Church of God, in which he has been deacon, and super- intendent of the Sunday-school, while she has been a teacher in the latter. They are kind- hearted, considerate people, and have the respect of the entire community.
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GEORGE BAIRD QUIGLEY, a prominent resi- dent of Bowling Green, has won the distinction of having spent more years in the oil business than any other man in this region, if not in the entire State of Ohio. Fortune has not always smiled upon his ventures, and he has lost as well as made money; but his pluck and persistence have in later years brought him rich rewards, and he is counted among the leading operators in the State. Ile was born March 25, 1841, in Warren, Penn., the only child of W. B. and Mary Ann (Williams) Quigley, both of whom were natives of the Keystone State. His father went to California in 1849, and soon decided to return, but died on his way back, in 1852, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Our subject spent his youth with his mother's parents at Warren, Penn., where he received his education in the district school. His mother died there in 1863 at the age of fifty-five. Her father, Isaac Newton Williams, was born April 6, 1796, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. after- ward moving to Canada, where he conducted a hotel for some years. Coming back to the United States, he lived for a time at Black Rock, N. Y., finally returning to Pennsylvania, where he engaged in carpentering. He married Miss Susan Guyon, who was born December 5, 1799, and died in 1859, at Warren, Penn., where Mr. Williams was also living at the time of his death, May 6, 1856.
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In 1851 the subject of this sketch started in business as a clerk at $50 a year, without board, but he made himself so useful that the following year another firm offered him a salary of $300, which he, of course, accepted. In 1860 he went to Titusville, Penn., and established the first livery stable ever opened there, owned by the firm of Struthers & Whitmore. He managed this for a time, but becoming interested in pros- pecting for oil, he devoted his attention to drilling wells, putting down four, all of which proved to be dry holes in the ground. He then entered the army, enlisting April 28, 1861, in Company D, 42nd P. V. I., known as the . Buck Tail" regi-
ment. He served over two years, and was in many engagements, among them the battles of Malvern Hill, Gaines' Mills, Mechanicsville, and the second battle of Bull Run. He was also in the Peninsula campaign, including the Seven- days retreat. His last fighting was at Stony Ridge, where he was taken sick, and sent to the hospital at Mt. Pleasant, Washington.
Returning home at the close of the war, Mr. Quigley began clerking again, at a salary of $900 a year, in Warren, Penn. In 1866 he became a partner in the store, but he sold his interest two years later, and engaged in the lumber business at Balltown, Penn., making a specialty of square timber. In 1869 he disposed of this business, and went west, visiting Chicago, St. Louis, Cairo, Kansas City and other places. On returning to his native State he drilled the famous "Buck Tail" oil well, after which he furnished the money to conduct the suit of the Fulmer Brothers against Judge Keating for the Gas Flats oil property. This was decided adversely in 1876, and Mr. Quigley, being then out of funds, accepted a position with the Standard Oil Company at St. Petersburg, Penn., refusing the assistance offered ·by friends, He continued in their employ eighteen years, meanwhile operating on his own account in various places, notably Duke Center and LaFay- ette. In IS88 he came to Bowling Green, and bought out a company which had been operating there, and since that time he has been exclusively engaged in developing this field. He is now a large shareholder in the leading producing com- panies in Wood county, and has several wells of his own.
Mr. Quigley was married July 13, 1879. at Duke Center, Penn., to Mrs. Livia Aldrich Giles. who was born in New York State in 1853. They had one child, Edna G., who died September 29, 1889, aged four years. A step-daughter of Mr. Quigley, Miss Hettie Giles, is a successful teacher in the public schools of Bowling Green. Polit- cally, Mr. Quigley is a Republican; socially, he is a member of the A. O. C. W.
CHARLES F. REDFERN, one of the solid, re- liable and representative agriculturists of Perry township, residing in Section 32, is a native of the county, born January 22, 1854, on the old Redfern homestead, near Bloomdale, and and is a son of Joseph Redfern. His elementary education was acquired in the district schools. which were quite inferior to those of the present day, and he completed his studies in Oberlin College in 1873 and 1874, thus securing a good education, which fits him for life's practical
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duties. Under his father's able instructions he learned the best methods of farming, which vo- cation he has always followed.
On November 16, 1876, in Perry township, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Redfern and Miss Emily E. Hyter, a native of that township, and a daughter of Samuel and Rebecca (McKee) Hyter. Three children grace this union-Fred H., Rolla and Bennie, at home.
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For a short time after his marriage, Mr. Red- fern lived with his father-in-law, after which he removed to his present farm of eighty acres of valuable oil land in Section 32, Perry township. Since 1879 he has there resided, during which time he. has made many useful and substantial improvements. Though no office-seeker, he is an ardent champion of the Republican party. He is a man of remarkably good judgment, sound common sense and ability, which traits have made him prosperous and influential, and the respect in which he is held is due to his high moral character and disinterested benevolence. Both himself and wife are members of the Methodist Church, and are distinguished for their earnest religious character and firm faith. For fifteen years he served as trustee, and has been a class-leader and steward.
SAMUEL R. LIGHT is one of the younger repre- sentatives of the business interests of Portage; but his prominence in commercial circles is by no means limited by his years, for he ranks among the most progressive citizens of the place. He was born December 26, 1871, in Weston, Ohio, and is a son of Adam Light, a native of Bucyrus, Ohio, and a farmer by occupation. In his native city the father was united in marriage with Miss Lucinda Hocker, and afterward removed to Wes- ton, where he purchased a farm of eighty acres, and carried on agricultural pursuits until his death. During the Civil war he manifested his loyalty to the Union in a way that could not be mistaken. In 1861 he joined Company K, 64th O. V. I., and served until after the cessation of hostilities, faithfully following the old flag on many a South- ern battle-field. He was wounded, a ball passing through his head, but he ultimately recovered. His death occurred in 1874. The mother of our subject still resides in Weston, and is now the wife of Mr. Morgan, of that place. Of the first union there were three children: Frank, who is now living on the old homestead; Samuel R. and Daniel, twins, the latter of whom is now a farmer of Henry county, Ohio.
The subject of this review began his educa- tion in the district schools near his home, but his 55
privileges along that line were more meager than his farm training. He early became familiar with all the duties that fall to the lot of the agri- culturist, and aided in the farm work until fifteen years of age, when he began clerking in the drng store of D. L. Aldrich, of Weston, Ohio, and made a study of pharmacy. For five years he continued in the employ of that gentleman, and then entered the Ada Normal School, of Ada, Ohio, where he pursued a two-years' course. He afterward spent one year in the Normal Col- lege at Valparaiso, Ind., and then took a forty- weeks'. course in the School of Pharmacy in Ada, Ohio. On the expiration of that period Mr. Light went to Toledo, where he secured a clerk- ship in a drug store, there remaining for six months. In February, 1894, he bought out a drug store in Portage, and, in the spring of 1895, removed his stock of goods to his present loca- tion. He carries a full line of staple and fancy groceries and drugs, has a well-equipped estab- lishment, and is doing a good business, having secured an excellent trade by his courteous treat- ment and honorable dealing.
On June 10, 1894, in Milton Center, Wood county, Mr. Light was united in marriage with Emma Rickly, and immediately afterward located in Portage, where they have since made their home. One son, Ralph Emerson, was born to them on November 28, 1895, but died August 28, 1896. They have many friends, and occupy a high position in social circles. Mr. Light be- longs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in politics is a Republican. He is an enter- prising, progressive man, wide-awake, and indus- trious, and his present successes indicate still greater prosperity in the future.
ERASTUS BOSSLER, a well-to-do and highly esteemed farmer of Portage township, was born September 20, 1851, in Perry township. this county, on the farm of his father, Tobias Bossler.
Tobias Bossler was born in Pennsylvania, and there, in Westmoreland county, married Catharine Slatterbeck, also a native of that State. In 1846 the parents migrated to Ohio, settling on a farin here in Section IS, Perry township, which contained 160 acres, Mr. Bossler paying the pre- vious owner $7.00 per acre for it. Their first home was a rudely constructed log house, in keeping with all its surroundings, for the farm was still practically a wilderness, and it took many years of hard labor to convert it into the fine farm it now is. Mr. Bossler was a moderate sized man, but strong and robust, and he lived
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LV.
through all the hardships and vicissitudes of pioneer life to a good old age, being seventy-nine years old at the time of his death, which was caused by a stroke of paralysis. He passed his later years in Millgrove, retired from work, though he was always active. His first wife died on the farm in 1878, and in ISSo he wedded Matilda Campbell, but no children were born to their union. To the first marriage came children as follows: Henry, who was born in Pennsyl- vania, and now lives in Florida (on August 15, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, IIIth O. V. I., was appointed sergeant September 9. 1862, and served to the close of the war); Sarah, who mar- ried James Valance, and died in Bloom township; John, who died in Pennsylvania, whither he re- turned after coming to Ohio with his parents (he served in the 57th Regiment); Jonas, who became a member of the 8th O. V. I., and died in the service, being wounded at Antietam; Mary, who married Orrin Henry, and died in Toledo, Ohio; Hattie, who married Thomas Henry, and died in Perry township; George, who died in Bloom township; Eliza J. (the first member of the family born in Wood county), who married Samuel Mc- Cormick, and died in Pemberville; Erastus; and Ella, Mrs. James Dindore, of Perry township. The parents both sleep their last sleep in Mill- grove cemetery. Mr. Bossler was a Democrat in political sentiment, but took no part whatever in party affairs, giving all his time to his family and home affairs. He and his wife affiliated with the Congregational Church, and were highly res- pected by all who knew them.
Erastus Bossler was reared to agricultural pur- suits on the home farm, and during his earlier years attended school a few months in the winter time. But there was plenty of work for him at home, and as soon as he could help with the farm work he seldom attended school. Up to the age of seventeen years he lived at home altogether, and he then went to Fremont, Sandusky county, to learn the tinner's trade, continuing at that un- til his employer failed, when he returned home. On September 13, 1878, Mr. Bossler was mar- ried, in Findlay, Ohio, to Miss Minerva Adams, who was born on a farm in Section 2, Bloom township, daughter of David and Lucinda (Henry) Adams. He then located on the home farm in Perry township, which he had previously worked on shares, renting it for three years, and subsequently bought eighty acres in Section 35, Portage township, of which forty acres were cleared, but the only buikling was a log dwelling. Mr. Bossler went into debt $1, 400 for this tract, and he immediately set to work to make it pro-
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