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. 3 > Part 10
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mer died August 26, 1870, and the latter, Jan- uary 21, 1871; and (7) the youngest daughter in Christian Bay's family is Mary D., who is at present attending high school at Hart, Oceana Co., Michigan.
GEORGE W. HENGSTELER. As one of the prominent young self-made business men of Risingsun, and a partner in the firms of Heng- steler Bros. and Bigley & Hengsteler Bros., the subject of this sketch is well-known in financial circles, and he is also an agriculturist of note in his locality, owning a farm of 100 acres in Mont- gomery township.
He was born September 22, 1859, in West- moreland county, Penn., the son of Lewis and Mary (Bauders) Hengsteler. He was a mere child when his parents came to Ohio, and his educa- tion and training was that of the average country boy of his time. His somewhat limited oppor- tunities for schooling have made himn an active friend of educational progress, as is shown by his constant and practical efforts for that cause on the school boards of District No. 7, Montgomery township, and later in Risingsun. As a mechanic he possesses fine natural ability, and has done some carpentering; but in early inanhood his at- tention was mainly given to agricultural pursuits. In the winter of 1892 the Hengsteler Bros. en- gaged in the oil business, operating an eighty-acre lease in Scott township, Sandusky county, and placed thereon four wells. In the winter of 1894 -95 they associated with them, in their oil busi- ness, C. P. Bigley; however, the Hengsteler Bros. still constitute an independent firm.
On April 15, 1880, our subject was married to Miss Mary A. Graber, who was born in Risingsun November 28, 1866, a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Strouse) Graber. His first home was upon a rented farm in Jackson township, Seneca county, and later he spent two years on the Carey farm in Montgomery township, on leaving which place he bought forty acres in Section 35. same township, incurring a debt of $1,700. At that time there was not a building on the farm that was habitable, and the sparse improvements did not even include a well. Here he resided until the fall of 1892, when having acquired a compe- tence he purchased his present elegant residence in Risingsun, at the corner of Day and Walnut streets. He still keeps his farm, however, and oversees it, and he owns another fine building lot in Risingsun. On November 28, 1892, liis first wife was called from earth, and her mortal re- inains were laid to rest in the cemetery at Prairie Depot. Two children survive her-Lulu M. and
Jay R., both at home. For his second wife Mr. Hengsteler married Miss Christina Stoudinger, who was born March 14, 1867, a daughter of Christianand Elizabeth (Myers) Stoudinger, well- known residents of Montgomery township.
Full of public spirit, Mr. Hengsteler is always ready to encourage any enterprise for the benefit of his town. Although he is a Democrat in prin- ciple, he is not bound by any party ties in local elections, and he has served the community in various positions, including that of supervisor. At present he is street commissioner of Risingsun. He and his wife are leading members of the Church of God, in which he was superintendent of the Sunday-school for three years, and he now holds the office of deacon. Socially, he affiliates with the I. O. O. F.
BYRON H. CALLIN is one of the most able and successful school teachers of Wood county. and is a young man of genuine worth, giving a liberal aid and support to all enterprises and in- terests which are calculated to benefit the com- munity. He was born in Bowling Green, No- vember 5, 1874, and is a son of John H. Callin, a well known resident of the county. He spent his earlier years in his native town, and in 1887 removed with his father to Middleton township, where he aided in the development and improve- ment of an eighty-acre farm. In the winter months he attended the district schools of the neighborhood, and displayed special aptitude at his studies. In the winter of 1885-6 he was a student in the public schools of Leipsic, Ohio, and in 1893 continued his education in the high school of Perrysburg. In that year he was grad- uated from the common schools of the county. and in the winter of 1895-6 he attended Findlay College, at Findlay, Ohio.
When only sixteen years of age, Mr. Callin was granted a teacher's certificate by the county board of examiners. All his life he has been in- terested in educational work, and has given gen- eral satisfaction as a teacher in Wood county. In 1895 he also taught and attended Berea Col- lege, of Berea, Ky., and is a young man of broad general information. much of which he has ac- quired through extensive reading. For six years he was a correspondent to the local newspapers, and is a poet and writer of fiction of no little ability, having contributed many articles of merit and interest to the county and Eastern magazines. When fifteen years of age he joined the Presby- terian Church at Duabridge, and has since taken a very active part in Church work. He belongs to the Presbyterian Church of Berea, is a mem-
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ber of the Home Missionary Society, and is pres- ident of the Young Peoples Society of Christian Endeavor, also secretary of the A. Z. L. Society of Berea. He is a member of Randolph Palmer Camp No. 273, Sons of Veterans, of Prairie Depot, Ohio. His political support is given the Republican party. Held in the highest regard by all who know him, he has made many warm friends wherever he has gone, and his well-spent life commands the respect of all. Mr. Callin was elected Professor of History and Natural Science in Jackson Collegiate Institute, at Jackson, Ky., which position he declined. On July 18, 1896, he was united in marriage with Fannie E., daughter of John and Eliza Muir, of Scotch Ridge, Ohio. Mrs. Callin is a woman of genuine worth, is accomplished, and has a large circle of friends. ·
J. W. POWELL, senior member of the well- known firm of Stratton, Powell & Co., leading hardware merchants of Bowling Green, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, May 21, 1844. He is of Welsh descent, but his family have been in this country for several generations.
His grandfather, Peter Powell, a native of Pennsylvania, and one of the pioneer settlers of Fairfield county, died in Hancock county, in 1858, at the age of eighty-five. Our subject's father, George Powell, was born in Fairfield county, March 10, 1819, lived there until 1873, and then bought a farm in Liberty township, Wood county, whereon he spent his last years. He married Miss Sarah Beatty, also a native of Fairfield county, born in 1818, and they reared a family of six children: J. W., our subject; Martha J., now the wife of L. Smaltz, of Han- cock county; S. H., living at the old homestead; A. V., a resident of Bowling Green; C. L., who died in Weston, at the age of thirty-five; and Laura B., the wife of James Stafford, of Liberty township. The father of these, in politics, was a Democrat, up to the Civil war, when he became a Republican, and so remained until his death. In religious faith he and his wife were active and consistent members of the U. B. Church. The father died January 26, 1893, the mother on April 26, 1892.
J. W. Powell, the subject of this sketch, at- tended the common schools in his native county during his boyhood, and remained at home up to his enlistment, when he was barely eighteen years old, in the goth O. V. I., attached to the ariny of the Cumberland. He took part in a number of engagements, Perryville, etc .; at Stone River he was severely wounded, and sent
to hospital, where he spent ten months, be- ing able during the last five to perform light duties. In 1864 he was transferred to the 5th Regiment, V. R. C., and detailed to guard the Rebel prisoners at Indianapolis. He was mus- tered out July 5, 1865, and then returned home to resume his duties on the farm, so continuing until his marriage. In February, 1867, he moved to Hancock county, to his farm of eighty acres, whereon he remained six years, at the end of which time, selling his interests there, he came to Wood county and bought a 240-acre farm in Liberty township, which he improved, placing good buildings on it, and underdraining it with sixteen miles of tiling, in which latter line of im- provements he may be said to have been the pioneer in both Wood and Hancock counties. In all respects his farm is one of the finest in the State, and no other is equipped with a better class of buildings; he also owns another farm of ninety-six acres in the same township.
In 1888 Mr. Powell opened out a hardware business in Bowling Green, and in January, 1889, he moved his family into the city, in the follow- ing year building his present elegant and commo- dious residence. He owns seventeen of-wells. the first of which was drilled in October, ISSO. being the first well started in that section of the county, Mr. Powell being the second individual to lease land for that purpose in Wood county. He is also interested in oil productions outside of his own wells, in all his undertakings proving him- self to be a typical American " hustler," one who by innate grit, pluck and enterprise, has from but a small capital built up a comparative for. tune.
On October 11, 1866, Mr. Powell married Miss Isabel R. Courtright, who was born in Fair- field county, Ohio, May 14, 1844, and three chil- dren have blessed this union: Alba F. and George V. ; and a son. Herman C., who died in infancy. Of these children, Alba F. was married in No- vember, 1893, to W. H. Wyrauch, of Bowling Green, a partner in the store with Mr. Powell. his wife acting in the capacity of bookkeeper: while George V. is at present attending college at Westerville, Ohio, this being his third year thereat. With true practical philanthropy, our subject and his amiable wife have opened their hospitable doors to the children of others. \ girl, Effa Kirk, they reared from the age of ele- ven years, and she is now the wife of E. A. Saxby, a druggist of Peniberville, by whom she has one child, Florence. A boy, Tobias Miller by name, Mr. and Mrs. Powell reared from the age of four till he was seventeen, and they are a!
Isabelle R. Powell
J. M. Powell
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WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
present bringing up another little girl, named Myrtle, who is nine years of age at this writing. Mrs. J. W. Powell is a daughter of O. P. and Sarah (Harmon) Courtright, the former of whom, a fariner by vocation, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1814; he was captain of Com- pany A, 78th Ill. V. I., serving two years in the Civil war, and enjoys an enviable record as a soldier. The mother was born in Ross county, Ohio, in 1817. They were the parents of chil- diren, as follows: America P., Harmon V., Isabel R. (Mrs. Powell), Elizabeth J., and Martin L. The mother of these died in 1850, and Mr. Courtright subsequently married Mary McElroy, of Lancaster, Ohio, by which union there were nine children: James, Frank, John, Joliette, Fannie, Oliver, Robert, Walter and Stephen. The father died in 1868.
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In his political preferences Mr. Powell is a Republican; socially he is affiliated with Wiley Post No. 46, G. A. R .; in religious faith, he and his wife are leading members of the U. B. Church, toward which they are liberal in their donations, as well as to educational works and all deserving charities. They enjoy alike the esteem and regard of a wide circle of friends, not only in the city of their adoption, but in the entire county.
GEORGE W. BELL, one of the boys in blue of the Civil war, and now a valued citizen of Mid- dleton township, was born in Monroe county, Ohio, November 22, 1837. His father, Elisha Bell, was a native of Belmont county, Md., and for some years was engaged in farming there. He afterward removed to Monroe county, this State, where he spent ten years, and then took up his residence in Washington county, where he carried on farming until his death in 1871. He married Louisa Tucker, a native of Maryland, and they be- came parents of these children-Ellen, wife of George W. Miller, of Washington county; George W .; Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Aplin; Willston, a farmer of Washington county; William, an agri- culturist of Washington county; Jane, wife of Isaac Wickley; James; John and Martha, who died in childhood. The mother of this family passed away in 1894.
To the common schools our subject is in- debted for his education. He was reared on the old homestead until twenty-four years of age, when he left the farm to enter his country's serv- ice, enlisting in 1863, as a member of Company K, 36th O. V. I. He joined the service at Washington, Ohio, and participated in the battles of Gettysburg and Mission Ridge, and in the siege
of Atlanta. He suffered much from exposure, but continued at the front until the war was over, as a faithful defender of the Union cause. He then returned to Washington county, where he re- remained until 1881, when he purchased his pres- ent farm, near Dunbridge, in Middleton township.
Mr. Bell was married, in 1862, in Washington county, to Minerva Aplin, a native of Ludlow county, Md. They became parents of nine chil- dren-Joseph; Fannie, wife of John Dusing; Don; Irene; Chester; Russell; Eva, deceased wife of Dr. Baker: and William and Daisy, who died in infancy. Mr. Bell is a member of Robert Stewart Post No. 690, G. A. R., of Dunbridge. He is an energetic, industrious man who owes his success in life to his own exertions. As a citizen he is public-spirited and progressive, interested in the general welfare, and in this volume well de- serves representation.
JACOB H. HOWER, a prosperous farmer of Bowling Green, was born in Stark county, Ohio, October 24, 1829, and comes of good old Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. Jacob Henry Hower, the paternal grandfather, was born in Pennsyl- vania, and died in New Berlin, Stark county, at the advanced age of ninety-nine years. The day before his death he walked three miles and killed seven squirrels with his rifle, an old-time flint- lock, which is still retained in the family. He dressed the squirrels himself, and had his daughter prepare him a squirrel supper. He was found the next morning dead in his bed, with his arms folded upon his breast, indicating that he had passed quietly into his last sleep. He was the father of seven children, two of whom died in infancy. The others were Jesse, John, George (the father of our subject), Isaac, and Barbara, the latter of whom married a Mr. Lawson.
George Hower was born in Pennsylvania in 1801, and was united in marriage with Barbara Haines, who was also born in Pennsylvania, in 18OS. They emigrated to Ohio, living first in Stark county, and then in Medina until a short time before their death, when they moved to New Berlin, where they both died in 1884. They followed farming all their lives, and were menli- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. To them were born twelve children, three of whom died while young. The others are: Mary, who married Hiram Burr, and died in Kansas; Jacob Henry, subject of this sketch; Nancy, who mar- ried Adolph Derthick he died, and she married a second time, and is living in Clinton, Ill. ;: Jesse, who died in 186 ;; Sophia, married, and living in Illinois; Solomon, who served all through
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WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
the war of the Rebellion, and died soon after; G. W., living in Clinton, Ill .; Sadie, married and living at home; Irene, who is the wife of Jacob Bowman, and resides in Pennsylvania.
Our subject grew up with his parents until nine years old, when he commenced working on a threshing machine, and has done more or less threshing ever since, making, in all, fifty-four seasons. At thirteen years of age he went to Indiana, and worked on a farm. He picked up the cooper's trade, and also that of a machinist, and, determining to see something of the great world about him, became a royer. As soon as he earned money enough in one place to carry him away, he would leave for parts unknown, his various trades standing him in good need as he always found employment adapted to some one of them, and he went on in this way until he had traveled over twenty-three different States of the Union. He finally settled down in Wood county in 1858, and with considerable effort curbed his roving propensities. He married January 7, 1861, Miss Martha J. Mitchell, who was born in Plain township June 8, 1835, and one child was born to them: Irvin M., November 18, 1867; he is married, and has one child, Ufford Rollin. £ Our subject had one adopted child, Lulu, who is now the wife of John Holly; He was born in Auglaize county, Ohio, in 1867.
Mr. Hower joined Co. K, 185th O. V. I., in January, 1865, and served during the remainder of the war, under Capt. Black. He is now set- tled in Plain township and has fifty acres of good land under excellent cultivation, and does gen- eral farming.
ALBIRTUS RUSSELL is a wide-awake and pro- gressive business man of Plain township, whose life record well deserves a place in the history of his adopted county. He was born in Erie county, Penn., January 11, 1848, and is a son of Charles H. and Maria (Williams) Russell, the former born in New York, June 11, 1821, and the latter in Pennsylvania, in June of the same year. The father was educated in the Empire State, where for a time he followed farming; but he was mar- ried in Pennsylvania. In 1857 he brought his fam- ily to Wood county, locating ou forty acres of wild land in Washington township, where he built a log cabin, and then began the work of improving his farm. His death there occurred in February, 1882, and his wife was called to the home be- youd August 25; 1890. Their children were Mary J., born March 22, 1846, wife of P. P. Condit; Albirtus, our subject; Elijah D., born March 25, 1850, now of Fulton county, Ohio;
Viola M., who was born February 14, 1854, and died July 20, 1855; Aurora B., who was born April 20, 1859, and died April 16, 1864; Ida A., who was born December 11, 1362, and died April 30, 1864. The father was a Presby- terian in religious faith; a Republican in political belief, and for some time served as school di- rector.
Albirtus Russell is indebted to the district schools of both his native county and Wood county for his education. The first ten years of his life were passed in the Keystone State, and he then came with his parents to Ohio, locating on the home farm. In December, 1863, at the age of sixteen, he laid aside school books for the rifle, and the school-boy became a soldier of Company G, 10th Ohio Cavalry. His regiment was as- signed to the Western army, and he participated in the siege of Atlanta, and went with Sherman on the celebrated "march to the sea." On the day when the country celebrated its national inde- pendence in 1865, our hero of the Civil war re- received an honorable discharge, and started for his home with a military record of which he may be justly proud.
Mr. Russell continued to aid in the operation of the homestead until 1873, when he located on a sixty-acre farm, which he yet owns. He is, however, operating 200 acres of land which he has under a very high state of cultivation. He is also a salesman for the Plano Mnfg. Co., of Chicago. His political support is given to the Republican party. For three years lie has served as constable in Washington township, and school director for twelve years, and also clerk of the school board; he was elected trustee of Plain township in the spring of 1895 by a majority of three hundred; he served ten years as road super- visor, and was the first assessor of his precinct in Plain township. He belongs to the United Brethren Church, and to the Blue Lodge of Masons, of Tontogany, and Crystal Chapter. R. A. M., of Bowling Green.
Mr. Russell was married to Miss Julia Condit, the adopted daughter of Philip Condit, formerly of Plain' township. They have ten children: Clayton R. J., born January 14, 1869. now fore- man of the wood works in the Empire Plow Company, of Cleveland, Ohio; he married Katie Kadle. Charles H., born June 10, 1871, is a farmer, and was married January 15, 1895, to Mary Digby. Louisa M., born February 13, 1873. William, born June 8, 18;5. Rutherford Haves, born November 12, 1876; Frank F., born Oc- tober 7, 1878: Howard A., born December 12, 1880; Nellie M., born May 11, 1883; Leonard
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WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
F., born February 27, 1887, and Enos A., born December 6, 1890, are all at home. Mr. Russell justly ranks among the leading business men and representative citizens of Wood county. He is a gentleman of sterling worth, and the soul of honor in all business transactions, and a highly esteemed man in private life.
F. B. ADAMS, one of the most progressive and prosperous of the younger citizens of Portage township, is a native of the county, born May 15, 1869, on a farm in Section 2, Bloomn town- ship, a son of Henry and Margaretta (Dresser) Adams.
Our subject received all his education at the district schools of the neighborhood of his boy- hood home, excepting an eight-weeks' attendance at the North American Normal School, at Fos- toria. He acquired a good fund of general knowledge; but he was always more fond of ma- chinery than books. Up to the time of his mar- riage he lived at home, assisting his father, under whose tuition he gained a thorough insight into the mysteries of agriculture, and after that event bought his fifty-acre farm in Section 35, Portage township, where he now lives. He has never devoted himself to the cultivation of this tract, however, the farm work being done by hired help, while he gives his attention to the oil busi- · ness, acting as overseer for Fowler Bros., of Bradner. He is interested in the Lone Star Oil Co., which carries on operations in Portage township. Mr. Adams was formerly interested in a picket mill operated in Portage township, and though young he has been very successful in all his ventures. He is steady-going and ambi- tious, and bids fair to become one of the well-to- do citizens of his community.
On March 19, 1892, Mr. Adams was married, in Perry township, to Miss Mary Longacre, of Portage township, daughter of H. R. Longacre, and one child has blessed this union, Olen J., born April 23, 1894. Our subject is a Democrat in political faith, but usually supports the best man without regard to party lines. Socially he is affiliated with Petroleum Lodge No. 499, K. of P., of which he is a charter member. .
WILLIAM BROOKS. As an example of what may be accomplished by industry and "grit. " the life of the man whose name opens this sketch is worthy to be recorded in a work of this kind. With no advantages in early youth, landing in a strange country with a meager sum of money, and no friends but his strong hands, and no assistance
but a steady purpose to make his way in spite of all obstacles, Mr. Brooks' career teaches a lesson by which other young men would do well to profit.
Our subject was born April 10, 1829, in Lincolnshire, England, the fifth son and sixth child in a family of nine children born to Benja- min and Jane (Hall) Brooks. The father sup- ported his family by day labor, and both parents spent their entire lives in their native land, the father dying at the age of sixty-two, and the mother when eighty-seven years old. When a mere child, only eight years old, William was put to work driving a team, and such other work as his tender youth was capable of, his wages being the munificent sum of four cents a day and his dinner. He afterward worked on a farm until he was twenty two years old, his highest wages in all this time being $59 a year.
This slow way of getting on in the world was not at all to the liking of the ambitious young Englishman, and he determined to seek in the New World the opportunities denied him in the old country. Accordingly, having out of his scanty pittance saved enough to pay for his pas- sage, he shipped, on April 14, 1852, at Hull, on the sailing vessel "Fingal," bound for Quebec, which he reached after a tedious voyage of six weeks, and with six sovereigns in his pocket. He remained in that city for a day and a half, then came to Grafton, Lorain Co., Ohio, and worked there and in the vicinity as a farm hand for four years. In the fall of 1853 Mr. Brooks came to Wood county and bought eighty acres of timber land in Section 19, Perry township, all but six acres of which had been slashed. He then returned to Lorain county, and for some three years worked hard to raise the money, $450, to pay for his land. In 1856 he again came to Wood county, and settled upon his land, keeping " bachelor's hall " in an old log cabin on the place, and began at once to clear up and improve the property. His industry and thrift have met with their reward, and he now owns 250 acres of land, which, from its primitive condition of wild forests, has been made to bloom and "blossom as the rose, " and which as a farm has few equals in the county. All the improvements on it are the work of his own hands, and he can now enjoy in case and comfort the results of his hard laber and privation in his early days.
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