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 37
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JACOB KROMER, a farmer living in Plain town- ship, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, Oc- lober 6, 1835. He is the son of Michael and Barbara (Klett) Kromer, both of whom were born in Germany, the former in 1804.
Our subject came to America in 1854, land- wg at New York City. He was a butcher by trade, but not being able to speak the English
language, he found it difficult to get employment in that business; so, going to Philadelphia, he procured a situation on a farm close to that city. He remained there two years, learning something of the language in the meanwhile, and then went to Cleveland, Ohio, where, being out of money, he went to work on a farm in Cuyahoga county, staying there three years, and then com- ing farther west to Lime township, Huron county. In 1861 he came to Wood county, and bought forty acres of land near Weston, which he subse- quently sold, and, in the fourth year of his resi- dence in the county, purchased his present eighty acres. This land, which is now in such a high state of cultivation, and so highly productive, was then covered with timber and underbrush. and was a veritable swamp. Through it bears wandered, the dismal howl of the wolf made the nights hideous, and bats infested the murky un- dergrowth and dark recesses, while the owls hooted at the apparently futile efforts of man to make it a habitable abode. But, with a strength of purpose that could not be shaken, Mr. Kromer cut his way through the primeval forest, and. clearing up a small patch of ground, erected a small log house. He commenced with almost no means, cleared land for others by day, and worked on his own by night. Midnight found him at work there, and at the first streak of dawn, he was away to put in a hard day's work for some more fortunate neighbor, who could pay him a few cents for his labor. Words can- not tell the hardships Mr. Kromer underwent during his first years Mh Wood county, nor can the present generation realize it, but, suffice it to say, that he triumphed over all adversity, and is to-day a well-to-do farmer, with an nnincum- bered estate, and is in great contrast to the time when he worked for four dollars a month on a farm.
Mr. Kromer was married in Wood county, in 1863, to Miss Eva Todd, who was born in Craw- ford county, Ohio. She was not spared to enjoy the fruits of their labor, but was called to her re- ward nineteen years ago. Mr. Kromer has pre- served her memory sacred, and has not married since. Their children are: John, a pamper in the oil field; Mary, the wife of Moses Lane, a prosperous farmer of Plain township, and they have two children, Joseph and Cora: Sadie. the wife of Milo Porter, of Wood county, and they are the parents of three children, Archie, Claude and Ina; Rosa, unmarried and living at home. Fred, at home; and Bertha, who died when baby.
Michael, the father of our subject, was a ian }
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owner, farmer, and stock dealer. He died in 1848. Both he and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church. They were the parents of the following children: Casper is now living in Stark county, Ohio; Catherine is married, and lives in Germany; Jacob is our subject; Julia came to America, and married a Mr. Haufenback (she died near New Philadelphia, Ohio); Henry joined Company K, 21st O. V. I., in 1861, and was killed in battle at Stone River; Magdelena mar- ried P. Wetzel, and they live in Stark county, Ohio.
CHARLES W. MCCOLLEY, a leading hardware merchant at Tontogany, was born December 16, 1857, in Washington township, where his grand- parents settled in the spring of 1839.
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Capt. John McColley, his grandfather, a Scotchman by birth, followed the ocean in early life, and was captain of a packet plying between New York and Savannah. He was a man of heroic mold, over six feet in height, and possessed remarkable strength. He died near Tontogany, at the age of eighty-four years. His wife was a Miss Hart, a lady of English descent, and for some years they lived at Derby, Conn., where R. L. McColley, our subject's father, was born in IS34. He was only five years old when his par- ents came to Wood county, and he was educated here, married here to Miss Margaret Crom, a de- scendant of an old Pennsylvania-Dutch family. and for many years he was engaged in business here, farming and acting as local agent for agri- cultural machinery, and Sther articles. He en- listed during the war in the hundred-day service. serving in the 144th Regiment, O. V. I. He and his wife now reside in Florida, where he is an ex- tensive fruit grower. In politics he is a Repub- lican, and he belongs to the G. A. R. Our sub- ject was the younger of two children. The other, Jennie, formerly Mrs. Louis Kuder, died in September, 1894.
Charles W. McColley is a genuine " Wood county boy," reared on one of her fertile farms, educated in her schools, and he was married, in 1884, to one of her charming daughters, Miss Susie Walters, who was born in Weston town- ship, in 1859. They have six children now living: Eva, Fern, Hope, Hazel, Herbert, and Ruth. A younger son, John, died when one year old.
Mr. McColley lived at the old farnt and sold agricultural implements until eight years ago, when he moved into the village. Three years later he established his present prosperous busi- ness, dealing in hardware and all sorts of farm-
ing tools and machinery. He is an carnest worker in religious and philanthropic lines; is a Good Templar; votes the Prohibition ticket: is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and the as- sistant superintendent in the Sunday-school. He is also a member of the I. O. O. F. and K. of P.
M. L. SEIPLE. Among the self-made men of Wood county, men who have accumulated a sufficiency of this world's goods through their own energy and thrift-may be reckoned the gentle- man whose name begins this sketch. He is a resident of Portage township. where he owns a fine farm of ,127 acres in Section 6, and where he is engaged in general farming, meeting with great success in his chosen calling. He is a na- tive of Pennsylvania, born in Northampton county, July 29, 1857, and in the spring of 1865 accompanied his parents, Edward and Elizabetlı (Lambert) Seiple, to Scott township, Sandusky Co .. Ohio.
His paternal grandfather. John Seiple, was a man of considerable wealth, and bought land . extensively in Scott township, where he died at the age of eighty-two years. The father of our subject was one of the four children who ac- companied him to Sandusky county, and always lived thereafter in Scott township. To Edward Seiple and his wife were born five children: Quintus, a farmer of Scott township, Sandusky county; M. L., of this review: Alice, wife of Frank Moses, of Washington township, Sandusky county; Susie, wife of Chauncey Schull, of Cen- ter township, Wood county; and Ida, now Mrs. Lee Henry, of Helena, Ohio. In early life the father operated a gristmill, but his last days were spent as a farmer. He has served as elder and deacon in the Reformed Church, to which he was a liberal contributor, and took consider- able interest in politics, voting with the Repub- lican party. He passed away at the age of fifty- seven years, and his remains were interred in Helena cemetery, Sandusky county. His widow now makes her home in Helena.
Our subject obtained a fair education in the district schools, learning rapidly, and the knowl- edge thus acquired has been greatly supplemented by reading and study in subsequent years. He remained at home almost continuously until his marriage, which was celebrated on Christmas Day of 1877. Miss Mary Oppermann becoming his wife. Her birth occurred in Washington township. Sandusky colts, January 23. 1850. and she is a daughter of Wiliam and Ruth Perringtent Oppermann the former of whom, a native of Germany, has been a prominent farmer
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of Sandusky county for forty years; his wife is a native of Ravenna, Portage Co., Ohio). By her marriage she has become the mother of two chil- dren-Geneva and Frank A.
Until the fall of 1884, Mr. Seiple operated the home farm in Scott township, Sandusky county, and then removed to a farm in Webster township, Wood county, which he leased for seven years. At the end of that time he pur- chased eighty acres in Section 15, Center town- ship, where he lived until March 27, 1895, at which time he removed to the Jacob Eberly farm in Section 6, Portage township. There he owns 127 acres of rich and fertile land, well im- proved.
The first vote of Mr. Seiple was cast for the Republican party, but since 1891 he has been a stalwart Prohibitionist, on account of his views on the liquor question. He is an active and faith- ful member of the United Brethren Church, and is one of the trustees of Center Church, where he belongs. Ambitious, industrious and systematic, he has made a success of his life work, and is des- tined to become one of the substantial agricultur- ists of the locality. He and his estimable wife are refined, intelligent people, who occupy a re- markabliy high position in social circles.
CONRAD BOBEL, a representative agriculturist of Washington township, Wood county, is a na- tive of Germany, born in Prussia, on March IO, 1817, and is a son of Adam and Catherine (Schmidt) Bobel. The father was a farmer of Germany, and by his marriage had five children. The eldest, John, served for fourteen years as a soldier in the German army, after which he came to America, where his death occurred. Augustus is also deceased; and Minnie, Conrad, and John complete the family.
The education of our subject was acquired in the Fatherland, where he followed farming until coming to the United States, in 1853, it requir- ing ten weeks to complete the voyage, which was made in a sailing vessel. Before leaving his na- tive land, Mr. Bobel had wedded Ricka Pfluger, whose birth occurred there November 8, 1818. and in Germany seven of their ten children were born. John, who was a veteran of the Civil war. died in 1887; Christ, Augustus, and Martha have also passed away. CHRISTOPHER, born in October, 1846, is now, in connection with his father, engaged in the operation of their fine farm of eighty acres; in 1872 he married Catherine Wey, who was born in the same place in Ger- many where her husband's birth occurred, and they have three children -- Minnie, Lizzie, and
Lena; Christopher Bobel is quite prominent in the community where he makes his home, and has served his fellow-citizens for five years as supervisor, and for three years as school director. The next child of the family, Lena, was born in Germany, May 4, 1850, and, on February 23. 1874, became the wife of John Hildebrand, by whom she has three children -- Christina, Lewis, and Katie. Adam is next in order of birth. Christina, by her marriage with Christ Bower. has become the mother of three children. john is a carpenter and contractor of Chicago. Con- rad completes the family.
On coming to this country Mr. Bobel first located in Lorain county, Ohio, where for nine months he worked on the railroad, after which he bought twelve acres of unimproved land in Wood county. Iu the winter of 1854 he made his home in Milan, Ohio, and then cleared his land, which he later sold. For one year he then rented forty acres, and later leased eighty acres south of his present place, which he has since purchased. All of the improvements found thereon are the work of his own hands, and he is accounted one of the enterprising and progressive farmers of the county. He and his son are firm adherents of the principles of the Republican party, and the family are consistent members of the German Reformed Church.
CHARLES W. BRANDEBERRY. Few people re- main long in Wood county without becoming fa- miliar with this name, which is borne by one of its mnost enterprising citizens, who has passed his entire life in Perry township. In Section 23 his birth occurred June 6, 1859, and he is a son of Isaac and Nancy ( Fish) Brandeberry. His edu- cation was obtained in District No. 1, but the schools of that day were not as good as they are at the present time; his first lessons in farming were under the instruction of his father.
In Seneca county, Ohio, on the earth of Feb- ruary, 1880, Mr. Brandeberry was united in marriage with Miss Nelia Cochard, who was born in Jackson township, that county, on the cend of October. 1860. Her parents, Daniel and Mary A. (Shafer) Cochard, were natives of Pennsyl- vania, were married in Crawford county, Ohio, and to them were born thirteen children, five sons and eight dangliters. The mother passed away at the age of fifty-five years, but the father Is still living in Jackson township, Seneca county, at the age of sixty-four. In their family Mrs. Brandeberry was the third in order of birth, and in her childhood attended the district schools in the neighborhood of her home. Two children
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were born of, her union with our subject -- Charley, who died at the age of ten months; and Orlo, who was born July 25. 1881.
For a while after his marriage, Mr. Brande- berry operated the old homestead in Section 23, Perry township, and the first property he owned was his present farm in Section 22, where he're- moved in 1884. His place comprises 121 acres of valuable land, and by industry and good man- agement he has brought it to a high state of cul- tivation. Besides general farming he also en- gages in threshing and teaming with success. In his political affiliations he is an inflexible adher- ent to the doctrines and principles of the Repub- lican party, but has no aspirations for popular preferment, as his time is fully taken up by his business affairs. He and his wife are earnest members of the Methodist Church, and he belongs to the Maccabees of Fostoria, and the Fraternal Legion. He is a wide-awake, progressive farmer. and enjoys the esteem and confidence of his neighbors to an unlimited degree.
ANTON WILLIAMS, one of the popular and well-to-do farmers of Washington township, Wood county, was born in Nassau, Germany, on August 9, 1837, and is the only child of Lewis and Mar- garet (Danzer) Williams, both natives of the Fa- therland, where the father followed the trade of weaving. There the mother died, and Lewis Williams wedded, for his second wife, Louisa Fisher, and to themn was born a son, George, who now makes his home in Middleton township, this county. The father died in Germany in 1858, and two years later his widow, with her son, came to America, where her death has since occurred.
Anton Williams received his education in the public schools of his native land, where he later worked for three or four years in the mines. At about the age of seventeen, however, he decided to try his fortunes in the New World, where he hoped that better opportunities were afforded young men. On his arrival in this country he located in Huron county, Ohio, where for four years he worked at farm labor, receiving from seven dollars to eight dollars per month for his services. In 1859 he came to Wood county, where he purchased fifty acres of land, which he at once began to improve and cultivate.
On August 28, 1362, Mr. Williams enlisted at Tontogany for service in the Union army during the Civil war, becoming a member of Company K, 67th O. V. I., under Capt. Lewis and Col. A. C. Voris. He first proceeded to Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, from there was sent to Suffolk, Va., and then stationed at Fort Wagner. He
participated in many skirmishes, and at the end of two years, on account of rheumatism, he was sent to the hospital at Cleveland, Ohio, there re- maining from May to September, after which he was transferred to the V. R. C. at Washington. He received an honorable discharge May 31, 1865, after three years of faithful service, aiding in the defense of the old flag, and the cause it repre- sented. On leaving the army he was still suffer- ing much from rheumatism.
After his return home, Mr. Williams sold his fifty-acre tract of land, purchasing the forty acres of land he now owns, to which he afterward added fifty acres, and, in 1895, purchased eighty acres more, which has since been leased to the ir Line Oil Co., of Tontogany, and on which there is now one producing oil and gas well. He now has a farm of 183 acres, on which he is engaged in general farming. His labors have met with a well- deserved success, and his place indicates the super- vision of a careful and painstaking manager.
At Haskins, in 1868, was celebrated the mar- riage of Mr. Williams and Elizabeth Asthmus, who was born in 1848. They have become the parents of nine children-Carrie M., born July 24, 1869; George J., born September 27, 1870; Charles T., born November 19, 1872, and died at the age of two years; Lewis E., born October 15. 1874: Anna . C., born March 30, 1877: Frank M., born December 28, 1879; Liza F., born October 27. 1882; Marie M., born March 6, 1886; and Helena M., born September 6, 1890. Mr. Williams is a Democrat in politics, and for several years has served as school director. Religiously he holds membership with the Lutheran Church, and all moral and educational interests have in him a friend and supporter.
JOHN D. FELLERS, deceased, who was num- bered among the progressive and highly esteemed agriculturists of Wood county, was born April 13. 1847, in Eagle township, Hancock county, Ohio. a son of Daniel and Mary (Donaldson) Fellers The father, who was a farmer, died in Henry township in August, 1886, aged seventy-five years: the mother passed away February 12, 1886, m Hancock county.
Mr. Fellers acquired his education in the district schools, and was reared on the old family homestead. His father had purchased 100 acres of land in Henry township, and deeded it to him. with the understanding that he was to pay a small stin for it. This he commenced to improve about two years before his marriage, and create ! thereon a small frame residence. On November 9. 1873, in his native township, our subject w -
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joined in wedlock with Miss Mary Smith, who was born in that locality November 3, 1850, a daughter of Isaac and Mary (Bishop) Smith. natives of Fairfield county, Ohio, where their marriage was celebrated. They afterward re- moved to Seneca county, Ohio, and subsequently to Hancock county, where Mr. Smith purchased 240 acres of land in Eagle township, making his home there until his death, in August, 1865, when he was fifty-six years of age. His wife survived him about fifteen years, dying when about sixty- three years of age. They had ten children, namely: Eve, who died in childhood; Mirs. Catherine Himrod, of Indiana; George, who died at the age of seventeen; Mrs. Annie Lanning, of Hancock county; Jacob B., who was a farmer and minister in Hancock county, and died in June, 1896; John, who died, leaving a wife and three children; Henry, who has a family of seven children, and resides on the old homestead in Hancock county; Mrs. Fellers; Sidney Ann, who died in childhood; and Mrs. Emma Hartman, of Hancock county.
Mr. and Mrs. Fellers began their domestic life on a 160-acre tract of heavily-timbered land in Henry township; but with characteristic energy our subject began to clear and improve this. He tilled and fenced the place, transformed the raw land into richly cultivated fields, and in 1888 erected a large brick dwelling, the finest home in the township. He was a very energetic and progressive man, and carried forward to success- ful completion whatever he undertook. At the time of his death he owned 400 acres of land, having purchased 240 acres after his marriage.
To Mr. and Mrs. Fellers were born eight chil- dren-Charles S., who died at the age of twenty years; Daniel K., who died in childhood: Eliza Ani, who died in infancy ; Oliver Albert, Henry Edmund, Emma Jane and Virgie Evaline, all at home; and one who died in infancy. Mr. Fellers was an unswerving supporter of the Democratic party, and a public-spirted and progressive citizen. He passed away December 10, 1894, and his family mourned the loss of a loving husband and father, while his many warin friends shared with then in their grief. Mrs fellers and her children still reside on the old home place, but the land is now rented.
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JAMES JOHNSTON, a resident of Haskins, was born in Connecticut, November 5, 1843.
His father, John Johnston, was a native of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, born September 15, 1815. He came to America in 1834, and lo- cated first in New York State, where he met,
and March 5, 1841, married Margaret Anderson, who was born in Ireland February 9, 1816. Re- moving to Connecticut, they there remained un- til 1847, when they came to Wood county and settled in Middleton township upon some swamp land, out of which they developed, in the course of time, a fine farm. They were consistent members of the Presbyterian Church, and in poli- tics, Mr. Johnston, who took an interest in all public questions of the day, was originally a Whig, later a Republican. He died November 3. 1891, his wife April 17, 1889. Of their four children, two are now living: John R., who re- sides in Bowling Green, and James. The others were Thomas, who was a farmer by occupation, born August 5, 1846, and died April 11, 1889, and Margaret, born January 30, 1856, and died January 28, 1862.
The subject proper of these lines was reared upon the old farm, attending neighboring schools during his boyhood. He was married September 4. 1869, to Miss Henrietta Crook, a native of Perrysburg, born March 28, 1844, and they have three children: Edith, at home; Grace, who mar- ried W. Garrett, and has four children-Hazel, Helen, Henry and Bliss. After his marriage, Mr. Johnston located in Haskins, and engaged in the general mercantile business, later opening a hardware store, and making a success of both enterprises. In May, 1895, he disposed of his interest, and retired from active business. He was a soldier during the war, as member of Company B, ILIth O. V. I., serving in Tennes- see and Kentucky for about nine months, when he was discharged on account of disability. He is an ardent supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and is one of the leading inen of his community. Socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F., and of the G. A. R., Henry Carter Post No. 56, Haskins.
W. G. M. AVERY, one of the honored pioneers of this county, now residing at Bowling Green, was born in Ellisburg, N. Y., February 10. 1820. He is of Welsh descent, and his ancestors were early settlers in New York State, where his father, W. R. II. Avery, spent the greater part of his life. He married Miss Poliy Towsler, also a native of New York, and came to Medina coun- ty, Ohio, in 1833, where he died in 1880, at the age of eighty-four. He was a soldier in the Rev- olutionary war, and drew a pension during his later years. An active, intelligent til. . even in old age, he took great interest in publ achats and was an ardent believer in the principles of the Democratic party. His wife ched in Medina
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county in 1853, at fifty-seven years of age. They had twelve children: Betsey, who married A. Selkirk, of Wood county-both are deceased; Gil- bert, a resident of Plain township, Wood county ; Sallie, deceased, formerly Mrs. Shubal Stevens, of Orleans county, N. Y .; W. G. M., our sub- ject; Eleanor, the wife of Daniel Noyce, of Bowl- ing Green, both deceased; Lucy, who married John Hardin, of Medina county, and died there; Melissa, the wife of John Shaw, of Medina coun- ty, both of whom died in Wood county; William and Thomas, now residents of Plain township, Wood county; Mary, deceased, formerly the wife of John Meeker, of this county; and John, who died at two years of age.
Our subject was thirteen years old when his parents moved to Medina county, where he grew to manhood. In 1841 he began to make hunt- ing trips to Wood county during the autumn and winter, and on one of these excursions he met Miss Narcissa Meeker, who was born in Hamil- ton county, March 5, 1826. They were married November 16, 1844, and for two years following lived in Medina county. In 1846 they came to 1 Center township, Wood county, and settled in the woods, far from any road, where Mr. Avery cleared over 200 acres of land. For a number of years he was engaged in stock raising upon a farm of 140 acres, but he retired from active bus- iness in 1892. He still owns two small farms. Mr. and Mrs. Avery's descendants number seven children and forty grandchildren, namely: (1) Alice A., born October 17, 1846, married John Dalley, and had seven children: Owen, Alena, Mr. Forrester took an influential part in all local affairs. and was school director and super- visor for many years. His death occurred Feb- ruary 1. 1892. His wife survives him, and with her sister, Miss Margaret Davidson, resides at the old homestead. Mrs. Forrester can recount many interesting reminiscences of the early days, when wolves and Indians roamed near her home, and she recalls the time when Capt. Wilkison re- moved the remnant of the aborigines from Ohio to the Indian Territory. Mina, Gertrude, Jennie, Cora and George. (2) Albert, born November 22, 1848, lives in Plain township, and is married to Miss Rosa Hughes, by whom he had three sons: Harley. Homer, and Allen. (3) Evaline, born November 5, 185!, mar- ried Daniel Barr, of Center township, and had ten children: Narcissus, Arnold, Libbie, May, Jennie, Nannie, Willis, Clarence, June, and Mer- rit. (4) Martha Adelaide, born February 9, 1854, married M. Witherow, of Plain township, and had nine children: Earnest, Walter, Mary, Lura, WALTER FORRESTER, the sixth, or youngest. son of this worthy pioneer couple, was born Octo- ber 29, 1861, in Webster township. He was the "home boy," and being enterprising and indes- trious, he gradually came into the management of the old homestead, which he still conducts. Shortly after his marriage, in 1886. his father gave him the deed of forty acres of the okdl hoale- steal, on which he just a small res knee w. r. he still resides 1. movements in his vicinity, has been school direct- Washington, Sadie, Owen, Orlie, and John. (5) Betsey Ann, born November 18. 1857, married James Franklin, and died March 18, 1886. Two children of this union are living - Lovenia and Charles - a third, Howard, died in infancy. (6) Ella, born July 29, 1859, married George Barr. of Center township, and had six children: Arthur, Allen, Alice, Ethel, Robert, and Rolly. (7) Wash- ington G., born February 4, 1861, married Viola Snyder, of Bowling Green, and lives in Center township; they have three children: Cland, for, filling the office to the satisfaction of the
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