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 22
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LESTER A. PETTEYS. Among the well-known and greatly respected pioneers of Weston town- ship, who have won success and independence through their individual efforts, none is more de- serving of praise than the subject of this sketch. He was born December 6, 1850, on the fainily homestead in Weston, the son of David and Huldah (Bassett) Petteys.
David A. Petteys, the father of our subject. was born in New York, and when a boy came to Huron county, where he followed the occupation of a farmer. He was married to Miss Huldah A. Bassett, and five children were born to them: Lester A., our subject; Alice, the wife of David Gundy; Albert N., who is a farmer in Washing- ton township; David, Jr., a farmer in Weston township; and one child that died in infancy. Mr. Petteys moved to Weston township. Wood county, in 1848, where he bought 136 acres of land, which he improved and lived on until 1870, when he gave up active business and removed to Tontogany, where his death occurred March to, 1886. His wife still survives him, and lives in Tontogany.
Lester A. Petteys was reared on the family homestead and attended the district schools. securing such education as the boys of these days conld obtain. When his father left the farm. our subject rented it, continuing so to do notil two years after his father's death, when the farm
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became his by right of purchase. He continues to reside thereon, and has improved and fitted up the place, until he has one of the most beau- tiful homes in the township, with all the latest improvements in the way of barns, onthouses, etc. His reputation as a breeder of fine Jersey cattle has spread throughout the county.
On September 30, 1873, Mr. Petteys was married in Weston to Miss Sarah E. Walters, a daughter of the late Jacob Walters, of Weston township. Of this union two children have been born: Lula E., December 11, 1876, and Howard L., May 5, 1882. Our subject is a Prohibition- ist in politics, and has been clerk of the board of education four years. He is a firm adherent of the United Brethren Church, to which he is a liberal contributor. He is unassuming in de- meanor, genial and affable by nature; progressive in thought and action, and is well-read. keeping abreast of the times by a judicious reading of all that is the best in current literature of the day.
HENRY RIDEOUT is pleasantly located on a fine farm of fifty-three acres in Ross township. The improvements which we see to-day, have been effected by his industry and good manage- ment, and he has brought the soil to a fine state of cultivation. The farm buildings are neat and substantial, and, with their surroundings, present the picture of the complete country home, where peace and plenty abound. Upon this place he has made his home since 18So.
The birth of Mr. Rideout occurred in Oregon township, Lucas Co., Ohio, in 1852, and he is a. son of Jantes and Julia E. (Brown) Rideout. His father was born in England, but, when only nine years of age, came with his father, Isaac Ride- out, to Ohio, first locating at Massillon, but aft- erward coming to Perrysburg township, this county, where the father's death occurred. In 1849, in Oregon township. Lucas county, was celebrated the marriage of the parents of our subject, and there the father secured a farm for $1.25 per acre, to the improvement and develop- ment of which he devoted his time and attention. In 1864 he joined the Union army, becoming one of the "one-hundred-days' men." He held the office of assessor of Oregon township, where his death occurred in 1867. His widow now makes her home in East Toledo, Ohio. A record of their children is as follows: Carolina died in Oregon township. Henry, the subject proper of this sketch, is next in order of birth. James died in Oregon township. Mrs. Jessie Brown is living in East Toledo. Mary is the wife of Edward Hicks, of Ross township, this county.
On leaving the home farm, our subject was employed for nearly six years by H. Eggleston, after which he came to his present farm. In Ross township, in 1876, was celebrated the mar- riage of Mr. Rideout and Miss Alice Coy, daugh- ter of George and Rebecca (Packer) Coy, the former a native of England, and the latter of New York. Her parents were among the early pioneers of Ross township, and both are now de- ceased. Nine children have been born to our subject and his wife-James, Bertha, Alice (de- ceased in 1881), Harvey, George, Emma, Clar- ence (deceased in 1889), and Ray and Roy, twins.
Industry and shrewd common sense have been important factors in the success of Mr. Rideout, and he has been identified with much of the de- velopment and upbuilding of Ross township. He is an earnest supporter of Democratic princi- ples, and has served as constable.
JEROME H. HILL is a native of Allegany county, N. Y., born in 1856. His father, born in the same State in 1835, was reared on a farm, and received good educational privileges. He was married in Cattaraugus county, N. Y., to Aceseh Gail, and for a short time resided in Ma- chias, N. Y., but soon removed to Delavan. in the same county, then known as Yorkshire Cen- ter, where he engaged in the lumber business. He was a prominent citizen, taking an active part in public affairs, and. for sixteen years prior to his death, he served as highway commissioner. He died in 1891; his widow is still living in Delavan. They had six children-Jerome H. ; Jessie, widow of Phillip Hooper; Frank E., a fireman at Buf- falo, N. Y. ; Lillian, wife of George E. Pierce, of Delavan, N. Y .; Myron, a lumberman of Wis- consin; and Charles, an oil man, of Montpelier, Indiana.
Our subject spent his boyhood days in Dela- van, N. Y., and there acquired his education. At the age of eighteen he left the school room and began working in his father's lumber yard. being thus engaged until he had attained his majority. when he went into the oil fields of Me Kean conn- ty. Penn. While thus employed he returned to Delavan, and was married to Miss Adella M. Bull. who was born in New York, January 20, 1869. He then took his bride to the home which he had previously established. Her death occurred there in 1886, and a year later Mr. Hill came to Ohio, living in Findlay for about eighteen months. In June, 1889, he came to Woodcounty, and assumed charge of the Ohio Oil Company's interests, in Sections 28, 29 and 33, Liberty township.
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On the 12th of April, 1890, in Findlay, Ohio, Mr. Hill was again married, his second union be- ing with Rosa M. Phillips, who was born in Pe- terborough county, Canada, October 27, 1864, a daughterof James M. and Zilpha (Hoard) Phillips, the former a native of Pennsylvania, the latter of Canada. They were married in Rochester, N. Y. Mrs. Hill was six months old when her parents located in Titusville, Crawford Co., Penn., and was a maiden of fourteen when they went to An- dover, New York. In 1888, they came to Han- cock county, Ohio, and the mother now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Hill. Her father is in Elkhart county, Ind., and is engaged in the jewelry business. In the Phillips family were the following members-Ida, wife of Jefferson Brewster, of Andover, N. Y .: Nettie, wife of George Delcomp, of Liberty township; Emma. wife of Abraham Sealy, of Pemberville, Ohio; Charles, an oil man, of Findlay, Ohio; Mrs. Hill; Earl, who died at the age of fifteen years; and Lola, wife of Bradly Keen, of Findlay, Ohio.
By his first wife, Mr. Hill had three children, but Earl and the second child died in infancy, and May L. died at the age of twelve years. There is one son by the second marriage, Cassius Myron, born December 30, 1890. Upon his second mar- riage, Mr. Hill located on his farm of sixty acres, which he has since greatly improved, making it one of the valuable and desirable country homes in Liberty township. He started out in life for himself at an early age, and diligence, enterprise and a laudable ambition have been the important factors in his success, In politics, he is a stalwart Republican.
WILLIAM WERNER. The subject of this sketch was born in Brunswick, Germany, February 19, 1842, and is a son of Henry Werner, who died in Germany of Asiatic cholera, was a shoemaker by trade, and left his widow in fairly good circum- stances. Six children were born to them : Will- iam, Fred, Theo, Henry, Charles, and Caroline. Mrs. Werner came to the United States in 1854 with lter children; the daughter had married in Germany, but came with her inother, and located at Albany, N. Y., where she now lives. The trip to America was made in a sailing vessel, and oc- cupied forty days. Their destination was Mis- souri, where Mrs. Werner had an uncle; but on reaching Norwalk, Huron county, their money gave out, and they were obliged to stop there. Mrs. Werner rented property in that city, and Henry went to Missouri, where he entered land in Franklin county, and was joined later by his
mother, Theo, the youngest child, leaving our subject and Frederick in Norwich.
Upon being left to his own resources, Will- iam secured employment with a Mr. Redfield, a railroad contractor, with whom he remained for two years, receiving his board and clothes, and his first English schooling. During this time he had saved some money earned by driving cows to pasture; and with that took his brother Fred with him to Missouri, where they joined the other mem- bers of the family in Franklin county. Our subject took up the tinner's trade, and served a two- years' apprenticeship thereat. His work con- sisted in putting up spouting along the Missouri & Pacific railroad, and he was often obliged to sleep out on the prairie. He became very ill, and his employer, thinking he was dead, hired another man in his place, thus throwing him out of his position. He secured work as a dry-goods clerk for a time, and in the winter of 1859-60 his mother, and two brothers, Theo and Fred, re- turned to Ohio, and located in Fostoria. They secured work, and remained there until the spring of IS61, when they enlisted in the Civil war, the mother going to Albany, N. Y., to live with her daughter until the close of the conflict, returning then to Fostoria, where she died in 1880.
On October 16, 1861, our subject enlisted in Company B, 55th O. V. I .; Fred., Theo. and Charles enlisted in the 49th O. V. I., and Henry in a Missouri Battery, M, and all served full terms of enlistment, all coming home alive. William's regiment was organized at Norwalk, Ohio, its . captain being A. S. Bement, and was sent to New Creek. W. Va .; their first fight was at Morefield, W. Va. Our subject remained with the regiment until his discharge, suffering numer- ous minor mishaps, but was never absent from duty. After the expiration of his first term of service he veteranized, and he was honorably dis- charged at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1865. Returning to Fostoria, he was employed as a dry-goods clerk with the firm of Foster, Olmstead & Co., with whom he stayed seven years.
On June 10, 1869, Mr. Werner was married in Fostoria to Miss Jane Brandeberry, who was born August 25, 1848, in Perry township, daugh- ter of Isaac and Nancy (Fish) Brandeberry. Mr. Werner had saved some money from his army pay, and this, with his salary, enabled him to secure the home, the first one of his own since. he left Germany, in which he and his wife went to housekeeping in Fostoria. Failing health caused by his confinement to business compelled him to give up his positionin thestore, andin March, 1872, he returned to Perry township, where he
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William
erner
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lived for a time on a farm of his father-in-law. On April 7, 1875, he moved to his present farm, m Section 15, which was the first farm he had ever owned. It consisted of seventy-five acres of land along the Perrysburg road, on which was a log house, and they lived in that during the erection of their elegant brick house, which they occupied in the fall of 1875. Mr. Werner now owns over 140 acres of land, and has erected all the buildings on the farm. He and his wife are the parents of the following children: Minnie M., born May 20, 1874; Isaac W., born April 11, 1886; Ruby L., born March 24, 1891: five children died in infancy. Our subject has always been a Republican, and has served three terms as township clerk, resigning during his third term, has also served two terms as school direct- or. He is a member of Norris Post, G. A. R., at Fostoria, and with his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has held the office of steward, class leader, and re- cording steward. Mr. Werner is included in the State roster of soldiers from Wood county, but really belongs to Seneca county. He was in Missouri during the Kansas trouble (when it was not safe to proclaim oneself an Abolitionist), and saw scores of armed men going west "to kill Jim Lane" (so they said). He also distinctly renem- bers one particular night, when the Democrats had a torchlight procession, and how he and his brothers, Fred. and Theo. accidentally interfered with their transparencies while the procession turned in " to join " (take a drink), and how the brothers went into hiding for a few days.
A. C. ERSKINE, a prominent resident of Bowl- ing Green, is descended from a family long fa- mous in the history of Scotland. In the year 1720, two younger brothers of Lord Erskine, of Edinburgh, came to America and settled in Bos- ton. One of these brothers, James, died young; the other, John, had a son John (2), who was our subject's great-grandfather. His son, John (3), the grandfather of our subject, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war under General Stark; and took part in the engagements at Bennington, Lexington and Yorktown.
Our subject's father, Salmon Erskine, was born at Warwick, N. H., in 1785. He married Betsey Hastings, who was born in Barre, Mass., in 1789, and settled in Plattsburg, N. Y., where he engaged in business as a mechanic. He was a man of great physical strength and active mentality, and always took a leading place among his associates. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and, at the battle of Plattsburg, his shop
happened to be situated between the opposing armies and was shot to pieces. When he was re- lieved from service he moved his family to Mid- dlebury, Vt., and then to Otsego county, N. Y .. traveling over the mountains in a one-horse wagon which contained all his earthly possessions. Later he removed to Otsego county, N. Y .. where he spent his last days. His wife died. and four years afterward he also departed this life. Both were consistent members of the Methodist Church. Of their seventeen children. all but one lived to maturity, and ten are still living. Their names in order of birth are as follows: Edward, deceased; Amasa, deceased, formerly a resident of New York; Salmon, living in Oswego county, N. Y .; Eliza (Mrs. Seth Dunbar); Phoebe, Mrs. Henry Chantney; A. C .. our subject; John; Ma- tilda, Mrs. Wm. Hathaway; Betsey, Mrs. C. Nor- ris; Sarah, Mrs. Edward Norris Hastings, a resi- dent of Oswego county, N. Y .; Charles, who mysteriously disappeared; Cyrus, living in Os- wego county; Alonzo, who lost his life in defense of the Union, at Baton Rouge. La .; Azubia, de- ceased; Caroline, deceased in youth; Sarah and Susan.
A. C. Erskine was born near Richfield Springs, N. Y., February 3, 1819. At the age of fourteen he came to Ohio, and took charge of a live-stock farin, holding no communication with his family for seven years. He then returned home and went to school for three years in the Rensselaer (now Mexico) Academy, at Mexico, N. Y. In 1846 he located in Wisconsin, where he lived for seven years, after which he spent fourteen years in New York State before coming to Wood county, Ohio, in 1867. Here he lived upon a farm in Plain township for fourteen years, and then moved to his present residence in Bowling Green. He was married, in 1847, to Miss Louise Emer- ick, a native of New York State, who died in 18SI at the age of sixty-one. They had four children: (1) Charles, married Louisa Evers, and has one son-Clarence; (2) Emmett, who en- listed in Battery G, Ist N. Y. Artillery, and died in the army; (3) Emma, deceased, formerly the wife of Charles Place, of Bowling Green: and (4) Fred, deceased.
Mr. Erskine, despite his advanced age, has excellent health, and is active both physically and mentally. At the age of seventy-two he made a number of articles of furniture for his new home, which are models of fine workmanship. He is an inventor, and has handled many patent rights for himself and others. His latest invention. which he considers his best, is a gas generator. in which oil is utilized. This is pronounced by ex-
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perts to be the only perfect design of the sort in the market. Politically Mr. Erskine is a Repub- lican.
SAM LANE, a representative farmer and resi- dent of Wood county, Ohio, was born in Green- field township, Huron Co., Ohio, February 6, 1859, and is the son of Moses and Ruth (Lun- brick-Goodenough) Lane. Mr. Lane, Sr., was born in Somersetshire, England, where he learned the blacksmith's trade, which he continued to follow after coming to America and settling in Huron county. He married, in that county, the widow of Robert Goodenough, and they had seven children, four of whom died while young, the others being: Sam, our subject; Moses, a farmer in Plain township; Ella, wife of William Leverton. Mr. Lane was a clever workman at his trade, which he gave up after coming to Wood county, and followed farming as an occupation. He was a member of the Baptist Church, in Hu- ron county, and of the Methodist Episcopal, in Wood county. Grandfather John Lane lived and died in England, where he also followed the trade of a blacksmith.
Our subject was about five years old when he came with his parents to Wood county. He grew up on the farm, and attended first the dis- trict school, then went to the high school at Weston, Ohio, and finally took a course of com- mercial studies at a business college in Toledo, Ohio; thus it will be seen that his educational advantages were much above that of the average farmer's boy. He, however. determined to fol- low farming as an occupation, and he did so in a systematic manner. He now has 182 acres of land, on which are situated three oil wells. Mr. Lane was married December 5. 1888, to Netta I. Hendricks, who was born in Plain township. May 5, 1866. They have two children -- Fred and Ruth. Mr. Lane is a Republican, a public- spirited man, and is much respected in Wood county as a straightforward, intelligent citizen.
EDWARD DAVIS, a highly respected agricult- urist residing near Grand Rapids, was born in England, August 24, 1824, a son of David and Sarah (Newell) Davis. It is seldom that one finds, even in this country, which boasts of its self-made men, one who has made his way to wealth through such depressing circumstances as those which surrounded our subject in early life.
Edward Davis never attended school, and at the age of eleven years was sent to work upon a farm, receiving for his first six months' labor the sum of twenty shillings, and he continued in the
same employment until he was twenty-six years old, with a small increase in wages each year. In 1850 he came to the United States, landing with forty dollars in his pocket, and came to Erie county, where he worked on a farm for thirteen years, remaining the entire time with one em- ployer, and saving $1, 300. With this amount he bought eighty acres of land in Weston town- ship, the greater part of which was unimproved: to this he later added fifteen acres more, and cleared and improved almost the entire tract; in 1875 he sold this farm. and bought eighty acres of land in Grand Rapids township, where ne still resides. He has made many valuable improve- ments, and by his steady industry he has brought the whole to a high state of cultivation.
Mr. Davis was twice married. In 1363 he was united to his first wife, Jane Martin, daugn- ter of James Martin, a well-known citizen of Weston township. To them were born two chi !- dren: James Waldo, a farmer in Grand Rapids township, born August 7, 1866, married. May 21. 1896, Ivy Reaker, who was born May 21, 1874: and Seth, who died in infancy. Mrs. Davis died in 1866, and on December 27, 1868, Mr. Davis mar- ried Mrs. Julia A. Bassett, who was born March 26, 1838. in Jackson county, Ohio. To them have been born five children: Edward, a farmer in Grand Rapids township. November 15, 1870, was married December 25, 1895, to Ada L. Bar- ton, who was born September 16, 1877. and they have one child; Mary Estella. December 13. 1872; Howard M., May 21. 1875; Bert C., March 8. 1879, died March 3, 188): and Arthur C .. born March 17, 1883. Mr. Davis is a Repub- lican, and although he never seeks political ot- fice he gives hearty support to every beneficial public movement. He takes special interest in educational affairs. He is a member of the Pres- byterian Church, and belongs to the Grange, and in his native country was one of the fraternity of Odd Fellows.
ALONZO C. JUDSON, deceased, who was a pio- neer coal operator of the Buckeye State, resided upon a farm near Grand Rapids. He was born August 7. 1824. in Woodstock, New York.
The family is of English origin, and the first of the American line was among the earliest set- tlers of New England, later generations moving to the vicinity of Woodstock, where they followed agricultural pursuits. Our subject's father. A. C. Judson, was born there. and mariei Miss Sallie Wilcox, by whout he had three chil iten: Nathan, Otis, and Alonzo C., all now deceased. The father died a few years after his marriage.
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and his widow was married, in New York, to Cle- ment Fay. They moved to Athens county, Ohio, of which he was a prominent citizen. By occu- pation he was a millwright.
A. C. Judson enjoyed the usual district school advantages of the American youth in pioneer times, his active mind enabling him to supple- ment this by reading and observation, and to acquire a wide range of information. He learned the millwright's trade during boyhood, but on reaching the mature age of seventeen, he engaged in coal mining. being the first to open the well-known Nelsonville mines. With the ex- ception of a short time in Henry county, where he at one time owned a farm of forty acres, he continued in the coal business until IS53, when he came to Wood county, and bought a tract of ninety acres of land in Grand Rapids township. This he sold later. and bought 160 acres from Henry Kimberlin, November 14, 1854, upon which he made extensive and valuable improve- ments, including fine barns and a handsome resi- dence, so that they were well prepared to enjoy the fruits of their hard labor in their declining days. About 1882, feeling the approach of old age, he concluded to give up active business, and turned the management of this beautiful home over to his son Horace G., with whom he made his home until death. This son also tenderly cared for his mother and an invalid brother, un- til the reaper of death called them home. In 1864, Mr. Judson joined the one-hundred-days' service and went to the front, but was relieved from duty because of an injured limb, and return- ing home, he sent a substitute at the suggestion of George Laskey.
Mr. Judson was married February 11, 1847. at Nelsonville, Ohio, to Miss Harriet C. Older, who was born October 12, 1829. Thirteen chil- dren were born of this union: Samuel O., born December 11, 1847, died March 16, 1869: Alonzo C., boru February 26, 1849, married Elizabeth Looman, and has seven children; William Henry. born August 6, 1850, married Miss Sarah E. Fields, and they have one child (he died January (0, 1876); John Wesley, born February 24. 1852, died June 25, 1895; Lorenzo Dow, born Novem- ber 29, 1854, married Harriet E. Carson, Janu- ary 13, 1887, and has one child, Florence S., born October 25. 1887; Christopher C., born September 30, 1856, married Loucina Walters, February 9, 1882, and has one son 'Merl, born August 5, 1890): George W., born October 4. 1857, married Miss Louella Basset, June, 1880 he died January 6, 1892): Horace G., born June 28, 1859, was married March 16, 1882, to Miss
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Lizzie Weihl, who was born December 6, 1862, and they have two children (Gertrude, born May 18, 1883, and Mabel, born February 10, 1886). Joseph R., born January 29, 1861, married Miss Annie Weihl, November 3, 1888, and has. two children (one who died in infancy, and Elsie Maree, born June 26, 1893); Mary M .. born March 4, 1862, married Jay Carson October 2, 1884, and they have three children (Alta H., born August 17, 1885; Carrie J., born May 28, 1889; and Alice L., born June 3. 1895); Thomas G., born February 6, 1864. died April 2, 1864; Simon C., born July 26, 1865, married Miss Ella Walters, and has three children: Cora B., born June 25. 1867, married Dan Ducat, and has three children : Lula, Bernard and Ray).
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