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 8
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WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
the fall of 1866 entered Oberlin College, but failing health compelled him to again relinquish Ins studies; however. he has always been a great reader, and is thoroughly posted on the topics of the day.
Mr. Probert was married, December 24, 1869, to Miss Chastina M. Worcester, a native ef Pitts- held, daughter of Joseph W. Worcester, who was born in Vermont in 1812 and was for years a citizen of Oberlin; he is now deceased. Three children were born of this union: Merton A., al expert stenographer, who is serving tempo- rarily in the superintendent's office of the Adams Express Co. at Columbus, and is taking a med- ical course in Starling Medical College, of that city: Jessie, who died aged two years, and Oliver M., now at home.
After his marriage and two years of farming, our subject engaged in teaming in Oberlin for several years. Later he worked fourteen months as baggage agent at Oberlin for the L. S. & M. S. railroad, and was also for some time a brake- aran. He then went into the grocery business with his brother John, under the firm name of Probert Bros., and carried it on profitably for five
iears. Selling out in 1881, he came to Bloom- dale, where he has since resided. He bought righty acres of timberland in Perry township which he cleared and now owns, and later he bought an interest in a drug store, disposing of that to buy a hardware and grocery business which he conducted for seven years under the firm name of A. B. Probert & Co. ; in 1889 he re- tired from mercantile business. He is an active and influential Republican, and was the first mayor of Bloomdale, an honor conferred for his efforts as agent of the citizens in securing the corporation charter, and he has served in other positions of trust. In 1894 he was elected to his present office of justice of the peace.
Col. Probert has a natural talent for military work and organization, and was captain of the first known mounted torchlight company, so strong at Oberlin in the Garfield campaign. During the Blaine campaign he organized a torchlight company at Bloomdale, which created much enthusiasm and led to the formation in 1885 of Campany H, ed O. N. G., with Col .. Probert as captain, he having been the leader in the organization. This was a fine body ot sol- diers, ranking among the foremost in the State and embracing men of wealth, influence and po- sition, and its appearance overcame Asst. -. Adgt. - Gen. Dill's objections to its acceptance as a part of the State militia. In 1886 Capt. Probert was promoted to the position of lieutenant-colonel of
the 2d Regiment, which he held five years. Hc is a leader in G. A. R. circles, and at the Na- tional Encampment in Columbus in IS89, when fourteen G. A. R. posts of Wood county ap- peared in the parade as a regiment, he was chosen colonel of the organization, and was re- elected the next year. During the great parade the Wood county batallion was one of the few to remain intact from the start to the disbandment. Later our subject was elected brigade com- mander of the Fourth District, G. A. R., of Ohio. He was also chosen to represent one dis- trict of five counties of Northwestern Ohio, at the National G. A. R. Encampment in Boston. He is now serving his fourth term as commander of Urie Post No. 110, of Bloomdale. He was admitted to practice as a pension attorney in 1892, and has met with great success. In the Masonic Fraternity, which he joined in 1867 at Oberlin, he has held several official positions.
H. L. BYINGTON, M. D., the oldest practic- ing physician of Risingsun, and one of the most successful men of his profession in the county, is a notable example of a self-made man. He is of English descent.
His grandfather, Nathaniel Byington, was a farmer in Vermont, during the greater part of his life, and was a hard-working man, often earning his slender income by shoe-making; but never ac- cumulated a competence. The old homestead was near Weybridge, where his son, Edmund H. Byington, the Doctor's father, was born, the youngest of a family of four sons and one daugh- ter. He married Miss Helen M. Langdon, a na- tive of New Haven, Vt., and the daughter of Ward Langdon, who was at one time a member of the Vermont legislature. This family was also of English origin. The young man had but limited means, yet he and his bride started for the new lands in the West, as the frontier lines in Franklin county, N. Y., was then called, and locating upon a small tract of land in the woods they toiled on through all difficulties until pros- perity dawned upon them. Their success was not won by self denial, but by industry and good management; they now own two farms contain- ing more than 250 acres of valuable land. They have fortunately both been spared to enjoy the fruits of their labors, and are among the most highly respected citizens of their vicinity. MIr. Byington is one of the stanch supporters of the Democratic party, has always been prominent in public affairs, and has served creditably in nu- merous township offices. The last years of his . father, who lived to be over eighty years old.
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WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
were made comfortable in his home, and four children were reared to maturity: Alice (Mrs. Jason J. Carpenter), of North Yakima, Wash .; Harlan L., our subject; Emerson, a farmer in Franklin county, N. Y. ; and Jennie (Mrs. Theo- dore Fitch), of the same county.
Dr. Byington was born on a farm in East Constable township, Franklin Co., N. Y., April 22, 1851, and passed through the usual experi- ences of a farmer's son, attending the district schools and helping at home with the " chores " and on the farm. Later he studied at Franklin Academy, and at eighteen began to teach, follow- ing the profession successfully some four winters. He then pursued more advanced studies at Ma- lone, N. Y., and, as he always had a desire to follow the medical profession, took especial in- terest in anatomy and hygiene while there. He was too proud to ask his father for money to continue his studies in this direction, and, shortly after attaining his majority, he started for Omnalia, Neb. He had only ten dollars in his pocket when he left home, as his father was a believer that a little hardship would be good for him, and this sum was soon exhausted. He stopped, while en route, in Erie county, Ohio, where an uncle lived, and found employment as a locomo- tive firemen on the Sandusky division of the B. & O. R. R., and later fired on the construction train on the main line of the same road, which was then being laid west from Chicago Junction, the completed portion at that time reaching At- tica, Ohio. He then began teaching in Perkins township, Erie county, and determining to study medicine he took a preliminary course with Dr. Knestrick, of Bloomingville. During the sum- mer he studied in the mornings, and worked on a farm in the afternoons in order to pay his ex- penses. In the fall of 1874 he entered the Phy- sio-Medical College at Cincinnati, and was gradu- ated in February, 1876, standing third in the class. His professional career was begun in Fostoria in the fall of 1876, against a formidable array of old practitioners. As a total stranger he experienced the usual trials of a young phy- sician, but he succeeded in establishing a good practice. In the fall of 1880 he removed to Risingsun where speedy recognition of his abili- ties brought him a large and lucrative practice. The Doctor successfully removed eight pieces of skull-bone from the left temple of George Jonas which had been thrust into his head two inches by the kick of a horse, and covered the opening with a silver plate, which he prepared from a coin he took from his purse, it being nearly as large as a silver dollar. He also performed several
successful delicate and difficult perineal oper- ations, and others of a general nature, by which he gained an enviable reputation as a surgeon.
On September 6, 1882, Dr. Byington was married in Fostoria to Miss Emma E. Shaw, a native of Hancock county, Ohio, and a daughter of Thomas and Eliza Shaw. She is a lady of fine mentality, was well educated in the schools of Findlay, Ohio, and taught successfully in Fostoria. The Doctor has a pleasant home and office, built by himself. Of their three sons the second died in infancy; the others are Warren S .. born June 17, 1885; and Ralph, born September 26, 1895.
The Doctor contributes liberally toward the Churches of his locality, although not a member of any, and he is always ready to encourage and assist movements for the benefit of the thriving little city where he has made his home. As a citizen, not as a politician, he served six years as a member of the Risingsun conncil, but he has frequently declined nominations to political posi- tions. In August, 1893, he was appointed a member of the Board of Pension Examiners, and still holds that office. In principle he is a Demo- crat, but occasionally supports men of other parties. A man of practical ideas in business as well as in professional life, he has acquired a fine competence, and is regarded as one of the sub- stantial men of the place, owning extensive in- terests in oil holdings, and engaging largely in loaning money, and buying and selling notes. Despite his varied lines of work, he is fond of travel, recreation and hunting; has been in sixteen different States, Canada and old Mexico, and several seasons have found him in the game haunts of the West and South. Socially he was a charter member and first chancellor commander of Lodge 329, K. of P., at Risingsun.
WILLIAM ECKERT, one of the intelligent, pro- gressive agriculturists of Portage township, was born April 20, 1847, at Buffalo, N. Y., son of Martin Eckert, a native of the "Fatherland." who was born February 2, 1808.
Martin Eckert came to the United States when a young man, lived for a time in Eastern Pennsylvania, and made his first permanent lo- cation in Buffalo, N. Y. Here he married Mar- garet Zimmerman, who was born in Alsace. Germany. and came to the United States, where her parents also passed their remaining days. Mr. Eckert had learned shoemaking in Germany. and he followed his trade in Buffalo, also engas- ing in market gardening, in which he continued for a number of years. They lived near Cold
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Im Eckert May
Eckert
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WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
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Springs, a suburb of Buffalo, and their produce was taken to Washington Street Market. In the panic of 1857, however, Mr. Eckert lost much of his property, and in the fall of 1861 he came west to Offio, living in Scott township, San- dusky county, where he rented land. He was a large active man in his younger days, and after coming to Ohio he engaged in farming, but from 1867 until their deaths he and his wife made their home with our subject. He died at the latter's home in Portage township in February, 1891, his wife preceding him to the grave in April, 1882, and both are buried in Bradner cemetery. They reared a large family, all of whom were born in Buffalo, as follows: Jacob, who is a farmer of Portage township; Ellen (Mrs. John V. Hall), of Buffalo, N. Y .; George, a carpenter, who died in Boston, Mass .; Martin, Jr., of Mont- gomery township, Wood county; Sarah (Mrs. William Wilson), who lives in Buffalo; Charles, who died of cholera in Buffalo; Louise (Mrs. Jacob Bowers), of Scott township, Sandusky Co., Ohio; and William. Mr. Eckert was originally a Whig in politics, but on the formation of the party he became a Republican, and was an ardent sup- porter of its principles.
William Eckert received all his education in the schools of his boyhood home, and was thoroughly trained to farming, remaining at home, with one month's exception, until his enlistment in the Union army, on March 26, 1864, at Roll- ersville, Ohio. He became a member of Com- pany I, 72nd O. V. I., the regiment at that time being home on veteran furlough, and returned with them to the field, seeing his first active service at Paducah, Ky. He participated in the battles of Brice's Cross Roads (or Guntown), Tishomingo. Tupelo, Oldtown Creek, Abbeville, Little Harpeth, Nashville, Spanish Fort, and Mobile, the command marching from that city to Montgomery. En route they learned of Lee's surrender, and soon after of Lincoln's assassina- tion. They remained in the service, doing guard duty and repairing railroads, until September II, 1865, when they were mustered out at Vicks- burg, and received the final discharge at Colum- bus, Ohio. Mr. Eckert is now a member of Randall Post No. 53, G. A. R., at Freeport. During his service our subject was never absent from duty on account of injuries or sickness, but he was separated from his regiment a short time after the battle of Brice's Cross Roads, in which they were defeated; he and many others worked their way through the woods to Memphis, and during the journey it was, naturally, difficult for them to keep together.
In the spring of 1866, Mr. Eckert began to do farm work for others, and after six months rented a farm in Montgomery township, Wood: county, from Conrad Shefler, which he worked: for two years, and after that rented more land .. until he bought his present farm in Portage town- ship. At the time of his marriage he had $200. besides a limited supply of farming implements, and he lived on different places in Wood and Sandusky counties until April 20, 1878, at which time he settled on his place of eighty acres in Section 15, Portage township, which he had bought four years previously, and which he had improved to some extent after it came into his possession, it being new land when he bought it. He now owns 160 acres, ninety of which are under cultivation, and which he has taken from its primitive condition. He has improved the land with buildings, and has placed over 1, 200 rods of drain tile in the land, which has increased its fertility considerably. He is known as a most thorough, systematic farmer, and has the respect of all who know him for his industry and integ- rity. He is a thoroughly self-made man, having commenced life with no capital but his own energy and ambition, and he is now in prosperous circumstances, and able to support his family in comfort. In 1892 he built a fine barn, 40 x 72 feet in dimensions, and all the other improve- ments on the place are in keeping.
On November 30, 1871, Mr. Eckert was mar- ried, in Scott township. Sandusky county, to Miss Lenora Sheseley, a native of that township, who was born March 30. 1850, daughter of John Sheseley, who came hither from Pennsylvania. Children have been born to this union as follows: Clarence R., September 9, 1872, who is a teacher : Adda, January, 26, 1874; Mabel, November 20. 1875 (died in August, 1879); Laura, April 28. 1877; Wilmer, August IS, 1878; Rolland W., July 23, 1883; Ralph E., January 26, 1885: Florence M., January 20, 1889; Floyd H., Au- gust 12, 1890; and Benjamin F., February 9, I893. Mr. and Mrs. Eckert are members of the Methodist Protestant Church, in which he holds the office of trustee. He is a Republican in pol- itics, and never fails to cast his ballot; but aside from that takes no active part in politics or pub- lic affairs, although he has served as school di- rector in District No. 9. Socially be is a nem- ber of I. O. O. F., Prairie Depot Lodge, No. 646
ENEA DUCAT, one of the most prominent of the retired agriculturists who have made their home in the pleasant city of Bowling Green, was born of French-Canadian parentage, on the
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WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
Ohio and Michigan line, near Toledo, February, , 18, 1828.
His parents, Joseph and Victoria (Jacob) Du- cat, were born in Detroit, Mich., the former in April, 1805. Eleven children were born to them, our subject being the second. Joseph, the eldest, is now living in East Toledo, at the age of sixty- eight. The third, Alexander, born in 1830, died June 27, 1874. Julius, born March 10, 1834, died September 12, 1895. John is a resident of Rudolph, Wood county; Gilbert, of Bowling Green; Theodore, of Toledo; Marshall, of Bowl- ing Green; Frank, of Ducat, Wood county; and the two youngest, Frederick and Victoria, died in childhood. Mr. Ducat's parents moved to Liberty township, Wood county, in 1851, and settled upon a large tract of land which is now very valuable. His mother died in Ottawa county in 1864, his father at the homestead in Liberty township, in May, 1871.
Our subject enjoyed the usual experiences of a healthy country boy during his youth, and be- came in time one of the most successful farmers in the locality, cultivating a tract of 200 acres of land which he still owns, although of late years he has left the active work to other hands. He was married May 6, 1851, to Miss Elizabeth Momee, of Toledo, who was born February 8, 1836. They have had nine children, as follows: Elizabeth, born June 1, 1852, died August 27, 1858; the second, born June 1, 1853, died the same day; Mary V. born April 15. 1854, was married December 4, 1873, to Paul McCrory. and died November 8, 1874: Peter Exea, born June 8, 1856, married Josephine Mantal, and has one son-Clarence; Thomas Jefferson, born March 12, 1859, married Emma Gano, and has four children living; Charles Henry, born October 14, 1863, died aged fifteen; Matilda Jane, born November 26, 1864, married Quincy Mercer, of Wood county; Lucy Ann, born June 7, 1871, died a year later; Fulton Daniel, born May 4, 1874, married Alta V. Bordner, and has one daughter. Mr. Ducat is a highly esteemed citi- zen, and uses his influence in quiet but effective ways to forward every measure which has for its object the good of the community. He is a leading member of the Christian Church, and in his political preferences of late years has been an ardent Prohibitionist.
NATHANIEL L. HANSON. New Hampshire was first visited by Europeans in 1614, the first settlements being made at Cochecho (Dover) and Portsmouth, in 1623. Thomas Hanson, senior, was among the early settlers and lived at Coche-
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cho (Dover), was taxed 1654-55, received from the Crown; or Protector, a grant of one hundred acres of land near Salmon Falls, N. H., dated November 11, 1658, was admitted a freeman, April 5, 1661, died 1666, and his will was ap- proved June 27, 1666. His widow was taxed 1666-1672, and killed by Indians, June 28, 1689. These people were English. Their children were Tobias, Thomas (2), Isaac, Timothy and two daughters. Of the last four no record is left. Tobias was killed by the Indians May 10, 1693. his wife having been made captive June, 1689. at the time his mother was killed.
Thomas Hanson (2), second son of Thomas. Sr., was born 1643, first taxed 1664 to 1677, at Cochecho (Dover), and his will bears date Feb- ruary 10, 1710. His children, of whom any record is left, were Thomas (3) and John (1). Thomas (3) was born in 1680, built a house at " Knox Marsh " near Dover in 1700 (still occu- pied-1883-by William Twombly). His chil- dren were (by Margaret Maul) Thomas (4), Rob- bert. Timothy (2) (see " Timothy hay," Stan- dard dictionary), Maul, Jonathan and Samuel: (by Hannah Newell) Solomon, Ebenezer and Abigail. He died 1728, his will bearing date September 18, 1728, and it shows the ownership of slaves in New Hampshire at that date.
John (1), brother of Thomas (3), married Elizabeth Meador, May 23, 1703, and lived at "Knox Marsh." His children were Hannah, Sarah, Elizabeth, John (2), Isaac (2), Daniel. Ebenezer (2), Caleb, Mercy and Abigail. On June 27, 1724, their home was attacked by In- dians; John (2), Isaac and the father being in the field, and Hannah, being at church - all escaped harm. Ebenezer and Caleb (youngest of the boys) were dashed against a stone and killed. Sarah, Elizabeth, Daniel, Mercy (fourteen days old), the mother and the nurse were all taken captive, and, by forced marches for hundreds of miles through the then unbroken wilderness and swamps of the wildest section of our land, were taken into Canada. Pursuit proved fruitless. Without doubt the boys were killed because too young to make the march, and too large to carry. while the mother was spared for the larger ran- som expected. Though still feeble, she was compelled to carry her fourteen-day-old babe, but was treated with some barbaric tenderness, shar- ing the chief's food, and by night his tent, and allowed to prepare nourishment for her babe when no longer able to nourish it herself. The following year the husband and father proceeded to Canada, and ransomed his wife and three of the children. He returned to Canada again in 1727
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WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
to redeem the remaining child, Sarah, and per- ished at Crown Point, N. Y., on his return. Mercy Hanson, the fourteen-day-old captive, born to John (1) fine 13, 1724, was among these ransomed children, and lived to marry one Nathaniel Hanson (1), and became the mother of seven children, viz. : Paul, John (3), Nathaniel (2), Ebenezer (2), Caleb (2), and two daughters. Of these children, Ebenezer Hanson (2) was born April 12, 1759, married Abigail Caverno Septem- ber, 1789, lived in Strafford, N. H., and died May 26, 1826. The children of Ebenezer (2) and Abigail Hanson were Caverno, Paul, John (4), Ebenezer (3), Hannah, Judith, Nathaniel (3), Caleb (3), Abigail, Sarah and Jeremiah. All these lived to an advanced age.
Nathaniel Hanson (3), father of our subject, was born in Strafford, N. H., May 11, 1807, married Marjorie Evans, of the same place, dwelt at Barnstead and died October 5, 1891, his wife having preceded him on March 9, of the same year-both having lived more than four- score years. The old home stands in shadow; the sunshine falls less sweetly among the many reminders-the reverently folded garments, the hat, the cane, and the old family Bible that lay on the stand. The immediate family of Nathan- iel (3) and Marjorie E. Hanson, consisted of eight sons and one danghtor, viz .: John (5), Caleb W., Levi H., Nathaniel L., Ebenezer, Lewis F., Joseph B., George and Jennie B.
Nathaniel L. Hanson, fourth of the above named brothers, submits this genealogy by re- quest, interesting chiefly in the fact that it covers a period of nearly three hundred years, embrac- ing eight generations inclusive of his own family, and in that it shows something of the trials of the earliest settlers of our land. The names of those constituting the collateral branches of the family in the different generations, as gathered by him from court and other records, are here omitted.
The names of his own children are George Murray, Myra Hamilton, Elizabeth Murray, Fred Green (died in 1876), Raymond Evans, Luther N. and Ralph Trowbridge.
Our subject, Nathaniel L. Hanson, was reared in New Hampshire, quit the farm at fifteen years of age, and the shop at eighteen, was privileged to attend the public schools but twenty-five months in all this time, and one or two terms at the "select" school. In 1857 he entered the academy at New Hampton, N. H., taking the Latin and Greek course, having made a good start in the former in the shop, without an instructor. He graduated from this academy in June, 1860, second in a class of thirteen
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gentlemen, all but two of whoin entered college. In the fall of the same year, with just funds enough in hand to meet the expenses of the first term, and obliged to rely absolutely upon his own resources, he entered upon a four-years' course at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H., having been admitted on examination prior to gradua- tion at the academy, taking the 25th position in a class of eighty-one members, which by later accessions enrolled an even hundred. Divers causes, chiefly the Civil war which broke out the following spring, left but fifty of this class to answer roll-call on gradua- tion day, four years later, Mr. Hanson be- ing among them. He had already been elected principal of the Grammar schools at Troy, Ohio, and came west soon after graduating in 1864. The following summer he was elected superintendent of schools at Sidney, Ohio, which position he filled for three years. In 1 868 he was elected principal of the State street schools, Columbus, Ohio, succeeding T. C. Mendenhall, now president of Worcester (Mass.) Polytechnic Institute, and formerly at the head of the U. S. geodetic coast survey. At the holi- days of this year Mr. Hanson received what he regards as two flattering propositions, viz .: An addition of $500 in salary ($1,700 per annum), to take the principalship of the Ludlow street schools, Dayton, Ohio: and the hand of Miss Lida McC. Murray, of Sidney, Ohio, in marriage; both of which he accepted, retaining the latter to this day (1896), and the former until the fall of 1871, three years, when a coveted opportunity to go into business presented itself, and he came to Perrysburg, Ohio, to accept a subordinate position in the Exchange Bank, then just starting under the auspices of Dr. E. D. Peck, as presi- dent, and F. R. Miller as cashier. He continued with this firm until the spring of 1879, when. Dr. Peck having deceased, the firm retired from banking, and Mr. Hanson established the Citi- zens Bank, continuing the business under that title until the spring of 1892. when it was re- organized as a State Bank and incorporated as the Citizens Banking Company, with a sub- scribed capital stock of $50,000.00; he became the cashier and responsible manager, and con- tinues such to the present time.
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