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 78
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S. A. Linhart was thirteen years old when the family removed to Hancock county. He re- mained at home until he was twenty-two years of age, attending the school of the district dur- ing boyhood. In 1872 he returned to Pittsburg, and studied in a business college, afterward se- curing a situation with the Iron City Spice Co. as bookkeeper. Later he worked for De Haven & Co., stove manufacturers, in the same capac- ity. In the spring of ISSt he came to Bloom- dale, where he engaged with his brother Joseph and E. S. Bryant in the lumber business, and
since his brother's withdrawal, in 1883, he has continued in business with Mr. Bryant. He is an enterprising and diligent worker in various lines of effort, his integrity and sound judgment giving him great influence in business circles. He is a director of the Bloomdale Building & Loan Association, and a stockholder in the Bloomdale Creamery.
Mr. Linhart was married May 6, IS88, in Bloomdale, to Miss Lillie Greer, a daughter of William Greer, a well-known citizen of Wyan- dot county. Their pleasant home is gladdened by one daughter, Louise, born April 17, 1890. In politics Mr. Linhart is a Republican, and he is among the leaders in local affairs. He has served two terms as a member of the city coun- cil, and is now a member of the school board and treasurer of the village. He is a charter member of Lodge No. 278, K. of P., of Bloom- dale.
ADAM GRAHAM. The subject of this sketch was born in Wayne (now Ashland) county, Janu- ary 6, 1830, and is the son of William and Eliza- beth (Laiter) Graham.
The father of our subject moved to Portage township, in 1836, settled in Section 36, having entered land there some time before, and began to make improvements on the place, which con- sisted of 160 acres. There he died, aged over seventy-two years; his wife passed away at the age of seventy years. Their children were as follows: Elizabeth, who married Harry Adams, and died in Bloom township; Mary, who became the wife of Bernard Soule, and lives in Fostoria; Sarah (now Mrs. Jacob Bair), of Montgomery township; Caroline, who married L. Soule, and died in Bloom township; Adam, our subject; and William, a resident of Minnesota.
Our subject, who was fourteen years old be- fore he went to school, was reared a farmer's boy, and was thirty years old before he ever had an overcoat. His first land was forty acres in Perry township, which his father had given him when he reached his twenty-first birthday. He went to work on his land, and later bought twenty acres in Section 32, which had a small log house on it, and where he removed to when he was married, which event occurred when he was twenty-five years of age, the lady of his choice being Miss Mary J. Lee, of Bloom town- ship, a daughter of George J. and Hannah ( Wol- lam) Lee. After his marriage our subject never left Montgomery township, although he lived at various places within its limits. His present home is on 360 acres of land in Section 32, where
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ADAM GRAHAM.
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he has resided since the spring of 1889. To him and his wife have been born the following chil- dren: Sarah A. (now Mrs. George Stearns), of Seneca county; Mary E., who married John Adams, of Bloom township; Charlotte E., who became the wife of J. W. Fry, and died in Port- age township; Clorinda married Francis Dicken, of Seneca county; Orrin is a fariner, of Mont- gomery township; Charles lives at home: Adam W. follows farming in Montgomery township.
Mr. Graham has 160 acres in Henry county, making a total of 520 acres, and of this he has cleared over 200. Few men in Wood county have done as much to improve their section as has our subject. He is a Democrat, but no office- seeker, although he has served in several minor offices in his district. He is a highly respected citizen, and, despite the years of hard labor he has passed through, may yet be found actively engaged in farm work. To just such efforts of the old pioneers is it that Wood county owes her position as foremost in the ranks of Ohio's best counties.
L. WOOSTER. As the able cashier of the First National Bank of North Baltimore, of which he was also one of the organizers, the subject of this sketch holds a high place among the representa- tive business men of his locality. He is of Ger- man parentage, his father, Mathias Wooster, having been born in the Fatherland in 1808, and his mother, Catherine Snellbaker, in 1812. They came to America in 1835, and the father followed the shoemaker's trade in Hancock county for many years. His death occurred in 1883, but the mother passed away eight years before, and the mortal remains of both were interred in Han- cock county. They had ten children, of whom four are now living: Catherine married H. Ern- est, a farmer in Putnam county; Eliza is the wife of W. H. Lawhead, a merchant in Fostoria; and Margaret married A. J. Rich, a shoe dealer in Fostoria.
Mr. Wooster, the youngest of the family, was born in West Independence, Hancock Co., Ohio, October 12, 1855. His literary training was ob- tained at his native place, and at fourteen he went to Fostoria and becaine a salesman in the dry-goods store of Weaver & Adams. In 1883 he engaged in the shoe business with Mr. Adams, and continued until 1887, when he was appointed postmaster at Fostoria, by President Cleveland, there being nineteen applicants for the position. He filled this place creditably until 1890, when he resigned to take his present responsible post.
On October 28, 1879, Mr. Wooster was united
in wedlock to Miss Amanda Emerine, who was born April 1, 1859, the daughter of the well- known banker of Fostoria, Ohio, Andrew Emer- ine. He was a native of Germany, born Decem- ber 2, 1830, and at an early age accompanied his parents to Hancock county, Ohio, where they settled. In 1849 he embarked in the saddle and harness business in Fostoria, and later engaged in farming and in the brokerage business, but in 188o he was elected president of the First Na- tional Bank of Fostoria, and has since given his attention to the management of that institution.
Mrs. Wooster was educated in Fostoria, grad- uating in 1878. Two children were born of her marriage: Laila, April 8, 1882, and Trude, De- cember 15, 1887. The family residence, one of the most elegant homes in North Baltimore, was a gift to Mrs. Wooster from her father. Politic- ally, Mr. Wooster is a supporter of the principles of the Democratic party. He and his wife are leading members of the M. E. Church of North Baltimore, and are actively interested in all that tends to the advancement of the town.
B. Z. COUTANT, who is recognized as one of the progressive and prosperous farmers of Bloom township, is the owner of over sixty-six acres of fertile land, which is supplied with a good set of farm buildings, and all the other improvements requisite to the carrying on of agriculture in a profitable manner. The place has been trans- formed by him, through his industrious labors and good management, from an uncultivated tract of land to one of the most valuable pieces of property in that locality.
Monroe county, Penn., is the birthplace of our subject, where he began life November 23, 1828, at the home of his parents, Jasper and Phœbe (Birdsall) Coutant. His first teacher was his mother, who conducted a small school on the home farm; but his educational privileges were meager, being limited to a few months' attend- ance at the district schools during the winter seasons. He was reared as a farmer boy, and remained at home until his marriage, November 1, 1856, with Miss Sarah A. Miller. She was born in Monroe county, Penn., January 26, 1826, and was a daughter of John Miller. Two chil- dren blessed this union: William H., a farmer of Bloom township, who was born in Greenwich township, Huron Co., Ohio; and Nathan G., at home. The mother died March 11, 1889, and was laid to rest in Beaver cemetery, Bloom township. In Cleveland, Ohio, on September 21, 1892, Mr. Coutant was again married, this time to Mrs. Johnson, widow of George Johnson,
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and a native of Buffalo, N. Y., born in 1830, daughter of Stephen and Ruth (Blackmore) Kelley, the former of whom was a mason by trade.
In the spring of 1857 Mr. Coutant removed to Greenwich township, Huron county, where many of his relatives and friends were living, and he was the last one of the family to leave Monroe county. His mother made her home with him, and he operated her farm in Huron county for twenty-seven years, but in April. 1884, he came to Wood county, locating on eighty acres of land-the W. & of the S. E. }, Section 36, Bloom township, which he had purchased in 1864. On his arrival only ten acres had been cleared, and he erected the first house upon the place that summer. Mr. Coutant cast his first vote with the Whig party, and is now a strong Republican, taking a deep interest in the success of his party. Since 1858 he has been a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is at present holding the office of trustee, and filled the same position when the house of worship was erected in Bloomdale. He is a member of the Lodge No. 406, I. O. O. F., Bloomdale, and both he and his wife belong to the order of Rebekah.
DAVID M. PHISTER. Some of the finest types of citizenship are to be found among the upright, forceful natures which have been fostered and developed by an independent country life, and the subject of this sketch, a well-known agricult- urist of Montgomery township, furnishes a con- vincing example.
He is an Ohioan by birth, having first seen the light in Knox county, November 15, 1840. His father, a native of Washington county, Penn., came to Wood county in the latter part of 1840 with his wife, Charlotte Zedacker, and their fain- ily, and located upon a tract of 200 acres in Sec- tions 13 and 24. Montgomery township, which he had acquired by a trade. A log house stood upon it, in Section 24, and here and there a knoll was cleared, but the place was generally in a primitive condition, covered with water and heavy timber. Few can imagine the effort neces- sary to support a family in that early time, and it was fortunate that his skill as a hunter enabled the father to secure a supply of meat. For some time his family occupied the cabin, but later he erected a house upon the other part of the prop- erty. He was a finely-built man, six feet high in his bare feet. and was a hard worker, engaging in broom making in addition to thic labor of the farm. Asa member of the Evangelical Church he took an active part in religious work, serving
as an exhorter and class-leader, and in other positions. In politics he was a Republican after the formation of that party; but his assistance extended only to the expression of his own opin- ion by his ballot. He died at the age of sixty- nine years, and the faithful partner of his joys and sorrows survived him only six years, their mortal remains being laid to rest in the cemetery at Prairie Depot. Mr. Phister was fond of his home and family, and toiled cheerfully to give his children such comforts as his circumstances afforded. They were eight in number, viz .: Roxie, who married Thomas Hunt, and died in Montgomery township; Lucy J., the widow of George Foulk, of Bellefontaine, Ohio; Julia, who married Solomon Theasley, and died in Michigan; Charlotte, who died in girlhood; John, who died in southwestern Ohio; Mary, the widow of Jere- miah Mackey, of Risingsun, formerly a member of the 25th Regiment O. V. I .; David M., our subject; and Jacob D., a resident of Risingsun.
David M. Phister's early education was ob- tained during the brief terms of the neighboring district school, in a building of the old-fashioned sort with puncheon seats, and in later years his hearty approval has been given to the educational movements which have resulted in better schools. His attendance was often interrupted because of home needs, and by frequent hunting trips, which he enjoyed better then his books. On attaining his majority he began to work the homestead on shares; but, on May 2, 1864, he enlisted in Company K, 144th O. V. I., which was assigned to duty at Washington. In August he was taken sick and sent to Mt. Pleasant Hos- pital, near Washington, on his recovery rejoining his company, and serving until his discharge, September 2, 1864. Returning home he resumed the work of the farm upon the same terms, and on November 29, 1864, he was married in Madi- son township, Sandusky Co., Ohio, to Miss Mary E. Houtz, a native of Scott township, Sandusky county, born February 7, 1844, the only child of John and Catherine Houtz. She was left motherless when three weeks old. Naturally bright and intelligent, she availed herself of the opportunities given by the district schools of the time, the methods and apparatus of which were of the crudest, and she learned to write with a goose quill.
At the time of his marriage Mr. Phister had but few worldly possessions, including a horse and cow, and a small sum of money, which he had hoarded up from his limited income. He rented a small house in Scott township, San- dusky county, and continued to work his father's
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farm. In 1866 he purchased his first home, the east quarter of the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 13, Montgomery township, and moved into a log house there. The buildings were poor, and much work was necessary to put the place into good shape; but, although he went in debt for the property, he took great satisfaction in the thought that his hard work was beginning to show tangible results. As he could not make a living from this farm alone, he worked, as be- fore, at the homestead. His real start toward prosperity was from a contract to build two miles of the West Division of the Toledo & Ohio Central railway, in 1871 and 1872, in partner- ship with Jacob Stahl. They only completed one and three-quarter miles of it but their profits were large. After the death of his father, Mr. Phister purchased the claims of the other heirs, and now owns the old homestead, which has been in the family over fifty years. He has erected all the buildings now on the farm, his substantial brick residence having been com- pleted in 1882. He has eighty-six acres of ex- cellent land, while his wife owns seventy-three acres in Scott township, Sandusky county. They have three children who are reflecting credit upon their parentage and training: William H. taught school successfully for some time in Fos- toria, and is now engaged in the laundry business at Bowling Green; Charlotte L. married John C. Lyberger, of Risingsun, and John C. Phister, one of the most promising young men of that vicin- ity, lives at home.
Mr. Phister is one of the kindest and most generous of men, and is held in high esteem as a neighbor and friend. His wife has been a true helpmeet to him, and both are consistent mem- bers of the Church of Christ. Politically, Mr. Phister is a Republican, but he has more than once declined to become a candidate for office. He is a member of the G. A. R. at Prairie Depot.
J. W. BLESSING, a leading citizen of Rising- sun, is one of the men whose broad views and keen appreciation of the intellectual side of life make them important factors in the best element of a community. Although he lacked the ad- vantages of a liberal education in his youth, he has succeeded through his own exertions in gain- ing more than ordinary familiarity with a great variety of subjects, and his example must be full of encouragement for those young people of to- day whose intellectual aspirations are thwarted by unfortunate circumstances.
The old home of his family was near Heidel- berg, Germany, where he first saw the light All-
gust 19, 1846. The emigration of the family to this country took place when he was a child, and included three generations. His grandfather, Benedict Blessing, spent his last years in Mont- gomery township. He had three sons-Adam, who also came to America; Andrew, who was drowned in a small stream during a freshet, in Germany; and George, our subject's father. The latter was inarried in early manhood to his first wife, Mary E. Yeager, who died leaving one son, our subject. Soon after this sad event the family came to America, spending forty-three days up- on the ocean in the sailing vessel " Westmins- ter." George Blessing was a millwright, and found employment for a time in New York State before coming to Ohio, where he located suc- cessively in Doylestown, Bristol (now Marshall- ville), where he built a mill, and Copley town- ship, Summit county, where he and his brother Adam bought a gristmill, to which they added a sawmill with steam power. In 1855 he and this brother came to Wood county, here buying ten acres of land where the village of Risingsun now stands, and there he passed his remaining years, and died August 11, 1866, aged about fifty years. His remains were interred in Trinity cemetery, Sandusky county. He followed farm- ing to some extent, but was mainly engaged in the lumber business, and, notwithstanding a few unprofitable ventures, he secured a competence. He was medium in stature, of active habits, in- dustrious and ambitious. In religion he was a Catholic, and, politically, he was in sympathy with the Democratic party, but although he was a regular voter, he despised the professional poli- tician. Not long after his arrival in America he was married at Bristol, Ohio, to his second wife, Margaretta Schmidt, a native of Germany, born November 2, 1823, who came to this country in the same ship with him. She survives, and re- sides in Risingsun. They had nine children: Eva, Mrs. J. W. Bonawitt, of Scott township, Sandusky county; Margaret, who married Abra- ham Miller, and died in Jackson township, Seneca county; Elizabeth, Mrs. William H. Wight, of Mitchell county, Kans .; Mary, Mrs. W. W. Billman, of Montgomery township; Annie, Mrs. William Wollam, of the same town- ship; Leonard and Joseph, who died in infancy; Christina, Mrs. A. Stephens, of Philadelphia, Penn .; and Augusta, Mrs. C. A. Huston, of Pawnee, Oklahoma Territory.
The first school which our subject attended was in Summit county, and he was only nine years old when his father came to this locality, where he pursued his studies in District No. 7.
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Montgomery township, his first teacher here be- ing James Lincoln. The changes in methods of instruction, which time has brought, have given hin great satisfaction, and he has done all in his power to forward the movement, taking an act- ive part in securing a special district for Rising- sun, and introducing improvements there. At eighteen his school life ended, the necessity of earning his own living interfering with his desire for wider opportunities. As a boy he had worked about his father's inill, and also among neigbor- ing farmers, and had displayed rare mechanical skill. In the latter part of the " sixties," he pur- chased an old mill from his father's estate, and paid $100 down, going in debt for the remainder. He has successfully conducted the business ever since, and is familiar with every detail of its man- agement, thoroughly efficient in every branch of the work, from filing a saw with skill and judg- ment, to throwing coal or wood in the furnace. Several lots of timber have passed under his con- trol at times, furnishing material for his mill to work up, and he has engaged in agriculture in this connection. He also has valuable oil hold- ings, and, among others is a member of the Ris- ingsun Oil Company.
On January 7, 1869, Mr. Blessing was united in matrimony at Risingsun to Miss Celia Reade, a native of New York, and a lady of rare intelli- gence. She is an earnest Christian, and a leader in good works. Her father, David Reade, a cabinet maker by trade, had a large family, and one of his sons, Rev. T. C. Reade, is a noted Methodist divine, and president of Taylor University, at Upland, Ind. The only surviving son of this marriage, Thaddeus C. Blessing, born August 19, 1870, lives at home, and is in business with his father. As prosperity has smiled upon him, Mr. Blessing has been able in satisfy, in some degree, the cherislied desires of his early years for a thorough education. A great reader, and an in- dependent, original thinker, he has traversed a wide field of thought, covering the works of the most celebrated writers upon varied subjects, and his retentive memory has enabled him to hold the information thus gained. His knowledge upon scientific questions, including all branches of physical science, is remarkable, while a natur- ally refined taste in literature is shown in his study of the best writers in prose and verse. He has traveled extensively in his own country, as well as in Europe, visiting especially the South and West, and the years 1878 and 1879 he spent mainly in southwestern Texas, in the hope that Mrs. Blessing's health would be benefited by their stay. In the spring of 1889 Mr. Blessing :
sailed from New York on the " Arizona," and passed the entire suminer in Europe, traveling through England, Scotland, Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy, making liberal stays in the principal cities and most his- toric places of each country named, among others Paris, where the Exposition was in progress, Rome, Genoa, Venice, the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the St. Gothard and Mt. Cenis tunnels. The scenes of his childhood were re- visited, and the beauty of the Fatherland revealed to his maturer vision in a trip up the Rhine. He returned on the steamer " Alaska."
Until 1884 Mr. Blessing was identified with the Democratic party; but since that time he has sympathized with the Prohibitionists. Although he does not indorse all the ideas incorporated in their platforms, he believes that the liquor traffic should be overcome, first, by scientific temper- ance instruction in the public schools, and, sec- ond, at the ballot box, by the united force of public opinion. He has held office at times, and served as justice of the peace, president of the school board after the organization of the new district, and for several terms as councilman. 1
JOHN PHILLIPS, SR., a leading farmer of Montgomery township, is one of the men whose shrewd business judgment has been profitably applied in agricultural pursuits. Reared in a typ- ical pioneer home, he early acquired habits of industry and thrift from which he has reaped in later years a gratifying harvest.
His father, the late David Phillips, was born in New York, September 6, 1804. the son of Ves Patient and Cynthia Phillips. His mother died during his childhood, and for some years his home was among strangers; but later he came to Ohio with his father, who, after a short stay in the extreme eastern part of the State, settled in Stark county to spend his remaining days. David Phillips worked there for nine years upon the canal, receiving ten and twelve dollars per month, and also engaged in wood chopping and similar work; but despite the fact that he could accumu- late no capital upon his low wages, he was mar- ried in December, 1827, to Miss Mary A. Bates. who was born in Pennsylvania, April 13, ISIO, a daughter of Andrew and Anna (Homan) Bates. They had come to Ohio, in an old-fashioned cov- ered wagon when she was a child, and settled in Stark county, seven miles west of Massillon. She was the eldest of a family of five sons and five daughters. After their marriage our sub- ject's parents settled in Stark county, but later moved to a small tract of land, on Sugar
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creek, Trumbull county, which was the first home of his own that David Phillips had. In 1843 he brought his family to Scott township, Sandusky county, traveling in wagons upon roads where the horses were often knee-deep in water. He bought eighty acres of woodland for $250, giving a horse for the first payment. The log house which he built was the first on the place, and its bark floor, stick chimney, and clapboard roof were of the most primitive sort. The snow often lay several inches deep on the beds in the cabin loft, and their fire was kept up with huge logs which were drawn into the house by a horse. Wild game was sometimes their only food, and johnny-cake was very popular. The mother spun the flax and wove the cloth from which she made the clothing for the family. They prospered, notwithstanding their hardships, and acquired 160 acres of land, all redeemed from the wild state.
David Phillips was a stanch Democrat, and, although he never sought office, he never missed an election. For over forty years he was an active member of the Church of God, to which our subject and his wife also belong, and his up- right life and integrity of character were a potent evidence of the sincerity of his faith. His mental abilities were of a high order, and the lack of carly education was a misfortune to be deeply regretted. Although he was over ninety-one years of age at the time of his death, which oc- curred January 14, 1896, he had been working on his well-kept farm seven weeks before, clear- ing up the fences. The faithful helpmeet of his sixty-eight years of wedded life survives him and still resides at the old home, in excellent health for her years. Eleven children were born to this worthy Christian couple: Mary A., now Mrs. Stephen Day, of Perry township; Lucinda, Mrs. Stephen Winchell, of Risingsun: Henry, a farmer in Scott township, Sandusky county; David, of Marysville, Mo .; Sylvester, a farmer in Sandusky county; John, our subject; Hiram, a soldier in the 72d Regiment, O. V. I., who went west and has not been heard from; Eliza J., Mrs. Fry, of Scott township, Sandusky coun- ty; Mariah, who married Joseph Riley, and died in Perry township; George, who died in infancy, and Sarab, now Mrs. George Wise, of Seneca county.
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