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 41
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Our subject was a child of two years when his parents came to America. He received but limited educational privileges, for his services were needed in the farm work, and he remained at home until 1873, when, in Fremont, Ohio, he led to the marriage altar Miss Eliza Ann Roush, who was born in Sandusky county. With his bride he located on what is known as the Jack- son Prairie, having purchased a farm prior to his marriage. The following named children were born of their union. Joseph who was born De- cember 21, 1873-the first white child born on Jackson Prairie -- married Louisa Heers, who was born in Hancock county, Ohio, February 17, 1875 (a daughter of Henry and Minnie (New- man) Heers, natives of Germany, who came to America in early life), and to them have been born two children: Henry John, born July 5. 1893, and Dema Ellen, born July 22, 1896. Heury is now following farming in Henry town- ship, Wood county. The other members of the family are Thomas, born October 29. 1875: Har- riet Rebecca, March 28, 1878; Mary A., June 5. ISSO; Rosie, April 24. 1883: Bertha Alice. Oc- tober 17, 1885; Eliza Jane, March 24. 1888; John and George, twins, who were born July 17. 1890, and died in infancy; and Samuel, born September 15, 1892.
To his original purchase. Mr. Herringshaw has added forty acres of land in Section 31, Lib- erty township, and twenty acres in Section 30.
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He built a plank house on his original purchase, and, in 1891, replaced it by a substantial and pleasant frame residence. He is now actively engaged in agricultural pursuits, and is meeting with good success in his undertakings. In poli- tics he is a Republican, and for many years served as school director and supervisor, dis- charging his duties in a most capable and satis- factory manner.
MILES MONTGOMERY was born April 15, 1844, in Portage township, Hancock Co., Ohio. His father, George Montgomery, was a native of Wayne county, Ohio, and with his grandfather removed to Hancock county, where he was reared on a farm. He there wedded Mary Chase, a na- tive of New York, and after her death married Dorothy Culp, by whom he had three children- Angeline, of Hancock county; Rachel, wife of Samuel Snively, of Nebraska; and Henry Wel- lington, a postal clerk on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. The parents of our subject had the fol- lowing named children-Miles; Jane, wife of Martin Ensley, of Hancock county; Ben S., an oil man of Findlay, Ohio; Mrs. Elsie M. Archer, of Hancock county; David, a farmer of Hancock county; Susan Irene, wife, of William Hicks, of Indiana; Mary S., wife of Henry Ferrall; Martha . S., twin sister of Mary, and the wife of Philip Baucher, of Indiana; and George C., a farmer of Hancock county. The father, who was born Oc- tober 11, 1823, died October 5, 1895. His grand- father, Michael Helmica, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The mother, who was born April 30, 1826, died November 30, 1861.
Mr. Montgomery, of this review, was reared on a farm, and educated in the district schools. At the age of fifteen he began work in a gristmill, where he was employed for two years. On March 16, 1862, at Lima, Ohio, he enlisted in Company H, 57th O. V. I., and going to the front, partici- pated in all the engagements from Lookout Mount- ain to the coast. At Atlanta he was captured, but escaped alinost immediately thereafter, and was twice captured on the march to the sea. He was twice slightly wounded, and was honorably discharged at Little Rock, Ark., July 8, 1865.
For a year after his return, Mr. Montgomery followed farming, and then began work in a saw- mill, with which business he was connected until 1891, when he was forced to abandon that work on account of ill health. He operated a mill in Liberty township, Wood county, for twenty-four years, when it was destroyed by fire. He then removed to Stewartville, Hancock county, and in July, 1885. he took up his residence in Denver,
Ohio. Two years later he established a grocery store in Denver, which he has since conducted, and now has a good business and comfortable home.
In Hancock county, September 29, 1865, Mr. Montgomery married Arabel Jane Culp, who was born September 2, 1848, in McComb. Han- cock county, one of the two children of Samuel and Susan Jane (Todd) Culp. Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery have four children-Amanda E., wife of Grant Smith, of North Baltimore; Mary J .. wife of W. H. Cook; Nellie V., wife of W. H. Ingram; and Bertie Arthur. In politics, Mr. Montgomery is an unfaltering Republican, and has served as school director for six years. So- cially he is connected with the Grand Army Post at North Baltimore.
JAMES CARR, an agriculturist and owner of sev- eral oil wells in Bowling Green, is a native of Ashland county, Ohio, where he was born March 25, 1847. The Rev. Joshuah Carr, our subject's father, was born in Ashland county January 27. I Soo, and was married to Miss Mary Ingmund. who was born in Virginia in 1803. They were married in Ashland county when twenty-eight and twenty-five years old respectively. He ac- cepted religion at the age of seventeen, and bought a small Bible at that time, which is still in the possession of our subject He joined the minis- try of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ash- land county, and came to Wood county in April, 1848. settling on the Sand road in Plain town- ship. What is now known as Carr's Church was named after him. He was one of the chief contributors to the Church, and his was the first funeral to take place in it. During his life he al- ways attended conference, and helped to preach in the circuit that included Bowling Green and Grand Rapids. He ceased preaching during the latter part of his life, as his health would not per- mit him to do so. He was a man of extensive learning, and a great reader, and was well known among his friends as a man with an earnest, con- scientious purpose in life. He died in Wood county December 10, 1875, and his wife followed him to their last resting place ten years later. To this couple nine children were born, namely : Ed- mund, who died in 1893; Luke, who served in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion. uow resides in Bowling Green; Thomas, who also was in the Civil war on the Union side, and now lives at Portage, Ohio: John was in the area, and is now deceased; James is our subject ; Marie, why is the wife of Henry Thomas, lives in Dakot. with her husband; Charlotte is deceased-she was
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the wife of George Parsons, who was auditor of Wood county, and died while holding that office; Margaret is the wife of Daniel Whitehead, of Lucas county; and Mary is the wife of Richard Conklin, of Lucas county.
Luke Ingmund, the maternal grandfather, came from Virginia and settled in Ashland county, where he died, at the age of ninety-two. At the age of eighty he was strong and hearty, and could do many athletic feats.
The subject of this sketch was an infant when his parents came to this country, and he was ed- ucated in the common schools. He was married August 10, 1868, to Miss Eliza Goodenough, who was born in England, January 17, 1848, and is the daughter of Robert and Ruth (Limerick) Goodenough, who is mentioned in the biography of Henry Goodenough in this volume. Mr. Carr and his wife are the parents of four children: Edmund, born October 10, 1871 (he married ยท Miss Hattie Fox, who was born in Wood county February 20, 1879, and they have one child, Dwight Cook); Dwight Cook, born October 23, 1873, died December 10, 1877; Joshua, born January 8, 1876, lives at home; and Emma, born July 4, 1882, also lives at home. Mr. Carr settled in Plain township after his marriage, and pro- ceeded in a methodical manner to follow agricult- ural pursuits. He bought his farm, seventy-five acres, in 1889, which is in the oil belt, and he leases the oil rights, and gets a bonus and inter- est in the wells. So far they have returned him over $2,000.
Mr. Carr is a Prohibitionist, belongs to the Disciples Church, and is one of the most respected men of his township.
SAMUEL PRUDEN is one of the worthy citizens that England has furnished to Wood county. He was born in Cambridgeshire, May 11, 1825, and is a son of Thomas and Mary ( Carter) Pru- den, whose family numbered four children, Sam- uel being the youngest. He attended the pub- lic schools until nine years of age, and then worked on his father's farm until the age of six- teen, when he began work as a farm hand at three pounds per year. At the age of nineteen he was made overseer of the farmn. in which ca- pacity he served for two years, and during that time saved enough money to bring him to Amer- ica. In 1852 Mr. Pruden crossed the Atlantic, and took up his residence in Monroeville, Huron Co., Ohio, where he remained for fourteen years, being employed in the capacity of farm hand. He then came to Wood county, and pur- chiased 160 acres of land in Middleton township,
and twelve years later added forty acres to this. He has cleared and improved the entire amount, and good buildings now stand in the midst of well-tilled fields, which indicate to the passerby the thrift and enterprise of the owner. He has been the architect of his own fortunes, and has made all that he possesses through enterprise, diligence and resolute purpose.
In 1849, in England, Mr. Pruden married Margaret Whaley, widow of William Sopp. To them were born the following named children: Willian, a farmer of Van Wert county, Ohio: Thomas, an agriculturist of Middleton township: Mary A., wife of Daniel Thompson; John. a farmer of Van Wert county; Sarah, wife of William Diviet, a farmer of Perrysburg township: Jane, wife of Henry Lloyd, of Perrysburg; David, who operates the homestead; Jane, Robert and Alvia, all of whom died in childhood.
Mr. Pruden holds membership with the Meth- odist Episcopal Church, and in his political faith is a Democrat. He is well-known throughout the county, and held in high regard by all who know him. His word is as good as his bond, and he is an upright man, who, in all life's rela- tions, has merited the confidence universally given him.
J. H. LINDOWER, one of the substantial farin- ers of Portage township, is a native of Ohio, born March 28, 1859, in Hancock county, son of John and Annie (Bowers) Lindower. The father of our subject entered the army when the latter was a mere child, and he does not remember him. Mrs. Lindower married, for her second husband, Jacob Esterly, and they moved to Wood county when J. H. was only six years old, settling on the farm in Section 23, Portage township, which he now owns and occupies.
Mr. Lindower received his education in thie district schools, but he was always fond of agri- culture, and cared more for his farm than for his books. He has always made his home on his present farm (excepting for a year and a half. during which time he worked the place. but lived elsewhere), which consists of eighty acres of good land. in a fine state of cultivation. well improved with buildings, etc. On August 8, isso, he was married, in Portage township, to Miss Ida E. Kelsey, a native of New York, and they are the parents of six children, viz. : Edna. born July 22, 1881; Ella, born December 21, 1883, died in 1893, Nettie, born July to. 1805: Katie, born July 3, 1887, died July 12. 1800: Henry, born August 7, 1889: Winona Belle, born November 21, 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Lindower are members
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of the German Baptist Church. In political af- filiation he is a Republican, and he has served as supervisor of his township; but he is not an office seeker, attending strictly to his private affairs, which he has managed with great care. He is everywhere respected for his straightforwardness and honesty, and his "word is as good as his bond."
BENJAMIN F. SIMONS, one of West Mill- grove's leading citizens and merchants, was born near Arcadia, Hancock Co, Ohio, March 15. 1846, and is a son of William and Mary (Bair) Simons.
Our subject was reared beneath the parental roof, on a farm, and attended the district schools of the neighborhood, in which he acquired his education. He was early initiated into the mys- teries of hard work attendant upon a life devoted to agriculture, and remained upon the farm until his enlistment in the Union service during the Rebellion. On May 16, 1863, he became a member of Company C, 86th O. V. I., with which he served eight months, and on March 19, 1864, joined Company E, 49th O. V. I. On May 27, 1864, he was wounded at the battle of Pickett's Mills (where his brother, Lieut. Silas Simons, was killed), and for three months was confined to hospital. At Chattanooga he re- joined the regiment; but November 25, 1864, at the battle of Columbia, Tenn. , he received a gun- shot wound in the left thigh, so that on the 3d of June, following, he was discharged on a sur- geon's certificate of disability.
On returning home Mr. Sinons worked for his father for awhile, after which he went to Fos- toria, Ohio, being employed by J. C. Johnson, a lumber dealer. Later he farmed one year, and then engaged work as a teamster on the con- struction of a railroad. He was also employed on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad when it was being built near Bloomdale, Ohio. The first property he owned was twenty-four acres of the home farin in Seneca county, on which he built a log house, and began the operation of the land. Later he traded this for property in Risingsun, Ohio, which lie afterward disposed of, becoming owner of real estate in West Millgrove. There he opened a small store, his stock consisting of drugs and groceries; but from that beginning has grown his present business, and he now enjoys a liberal patronage. His goods are first-class in every particular, and, by his courteous treatment of customers, well merits a fine trade.
At Fostoria, Ohio, in 1865, Mr. Simons was united in marriage with Miss Mary Vosbing, a |
native of Montgomery township, Wood county, and a daughter of Theodore Vosburg. In poli- tics our subject is a steadfast Republican; while a resident of Seneca county he served as consta- ble of his township, which office he also filled for over six years in Perry township, and has been corporation treasurer and marshal of West Mill- grove. He is a charter member of Conley Post, G. A. R., of the latter place. In disposition he is genial and social, is a public-spirited and en- terprising citizen, and a business man of more than ordinary ability. He is a lover of horses, and has owned some very fine, well-bred an- imals."
JACOB MILLER, a farmer of good standing in Lake township, successful as a tiller of the soil. and one who has been prominently identified with local affairs, is the proprietor of a good farm in Section 1. He was also one of the valiant de- fenders of the Union during the Civil war. His birth occurred in Baden, Germany. in February, 1825, where his parents, Michael and Louisa (Burkler) Miller, were also born, lived and died, the former passing away in 1836, and the latter in 1844. In their family of seven children, two became residents of Ohio-George, who located in Sandusky county, and died there in 1894; and Jacob, the subject of this sketch.
Jacob Miller was reared in Baden, where lie received excellent school privileges, also for two years attending a seminary at Carlsruhe, and after completing his education he taught in his native land until 1849, when the revolution broke out, and he served in the army of the rev- olutionists for a time. In the fall of that year, however, he went to Switzerland, and the same year embarked on a sailing vessel at Havre, France, for the United States, which he reached after a voyage of eight weeks. On landing at New York, he went direct to Philadelphia, whence he proceeded to Pittsburg, Penn., where he was employed for a time in a brewery. It was in 1851 that Mr. Miller came to the Buckeye State, first locating in Fremont, Sandusky county, where he remained until 1856, when he went to Toledo, and was there for a year. He then re- sided in Lucas county until January 1. 1861. when he erected a house upon his farmi in Lake township, this county, where two years previous he liad purchased eighty acres of timber land. and has since made that place his home, devot- ing liis time to its care and cultivation, with the exception of when he was in the Union army. At Toledo, he enlisted February 21, 1865. in Company B, 189th O. V. I., for one year, or
BJ Simons
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until the close of the war, and was mustered into ervice at Camp Chase, Ohio. He was stationed at Huntsville, Ala., and later at Bellefonte, where he did garrison duty until the close of hos- ulities, when he was honorably discharged at Nashville, Tenn., September 25, 1865, after which he returned home.
Mr. Miller was single on coming to Ohio, but in Sandusky county, in 1853, he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Korbler, a native of Fredericktown, Md., daughter of George and Catherine Korbler, who was born in Darmstadt, Germany, but removed to Maryland as early as 1825. Coming to Ohio, they located first in Seneca county, and in the early '40s became residents of Sandusky county, where the father died in 1863, and the wife in 1891. Mr. Miller has been called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the home farm in October, 1892. They were the parents of four children: (1) Franklin married Laura Scott, by whom he has three children-Eva, Harry and Clarence. He makes his home in Findlay, Ohio, and is line- man on the T. O. & C. railroad, (2) Mrs. Mary Taylor, of Ottawa county, has three children- Stella, Charley and Milton. (3) Tena is the wife of George Ayres, of Toledo, and they have two children- Raymond and Edith. (4) Albert was married April, 1892, to Miss Maud Siglar, a native of Genoa, Ottawa county, and a daughter of Charles M. and Mary (Cheney) Siglar, the former born in Geneva, N. Y., and the latter in Macedonia, Ohio. At Genoa, this State, her father enlisted, in 1863, in the 14th O. V. I., un- der Gen. Sherman, and served until the close of the war, and he had previously been a member of a New York regiment before his removal to the Buckeye State. He still makes his honie at Genoa.
In politics, Mr. Miller is identified with the Democratic party, and for two terms served as trustee of Lake township, while, socially, he is a member of George Douglas Post, G. A. R., at Millbury. He has identified himself with the welfare of the county since his arrival here, and bas mnade many friends among the intelligent and hospitable people of Lake township.
REV. MICHAEL GEORGE VOLLMAYER is the es- (emed pastor of St. Louis' Catholic Church At Custar. He was born March 19, 1857, in Toledo, Ohio, son of Michael Vollnayer, a na- tive of Germany, who, ou coming to America, in !$46, took up his residence in Cleveland, Ohio, whence, in the following year, he removed to i Toledo. He died on his farm near that city in
1857. There his widow resided until 1889, and then removed into the city, where her death oc- curred in 1893. They had four children-John, a merchant of Toledo; Mary, now Mrs. Glueck- stein, of Baltimore, Md .; George, notary public, and ticket agent for the foreign agency at Toledo; and Michael George, the subject of this review.
The last named attended the German Catho- lic parochial and high schools of St. Mary's at Toledo, until sixteen years of age. Soon after he was engaged as clerk in the German Savings Bank at. Toledo, and, in 1874, entered the Jesuit College, at Buffalo, N. Y. He pursued a five- years' classical course as a preparation for the seminary course. His eyesight failing, he went to Baltimore for treatment. As soon as possible he re-entered college, and on the completion of his classical course, entered the seminary in Cleveland, where he remained four years. He was ordained to the priesthood in July, 1885, and coming to Custar, assumed charge of St. Louis' Catholic Church. The house of worship was then a small frame structure, but, through his instrumentality, a large brick church in Gothic style has been erected. He is a man of scholarly attainments, and enjoys the respect, not only of his parishioners, but also of the people of other denominations.
WILLIAM HUFF. Quite a number of the leading and prominent citizens of Wood county are of alien birth, and have transported to this land of fertility and plenty the thrifty habits of their native country. Among these there is no one better known or more widely respected than the gentleman whose name here appears. In England, beneath the roof of his parents, Will- iam and Aun (Hardy) Huff, who were natives of Lincolnshire, our subject was born, in 1833, one of a family of six children, namely: Mrs. Mary Alexander, who died at Perrysburg. Ohio. it 1853: Stephen, now a resident of Van Wert county, Ohio, who, during the Civil war, en- listed in Allen county, Ohio, in the First Ohio Squadron, and served three years in the Union army; Jane, a resident of Missouri; Mrs. Ann Mills, of Perrysburg; William, subject of this review; and Mrs. Hannah Liverton, of Bowling Green, Ohio. In 1837 the family came to America, first locating in Pennsylvania, where they remained until 1840, when they removed to Plain township, Wood county. There the mother died in 180g, after which the father married a Mrs. Clark. He was born in 1829. and died in 1877.
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Our subject was about six years of age when he arrived in Wood county, and in Plain town- ship he was reared and educated. In 1862 he first located upon a farm in Lake township, which he continued to cultivate and improve until in August, 1862, he enlisted at Millbury, Ohio, in Company K, ILIth O. V. I. At Toledo he was mustered in and assigned to the Western army, with which he participated in the following
engagements: Huff's Ferry, Campbell's Station, siege of Knoxville, Dalton, Smoke Creek Gap, Resaca, Burnt Hickory, Pumpkin Vine Creek, and Kenesaw Mountain. On becoming ill, he was sent to the hospital at Knoxville. Tenn., and, later, was placed on the Invalid Corps at Washington, D. C., where he received an honorable discharge, June 26, 1865, after three years of arduous and faithful service. Re- turning to Wood county, he engaged in farm- ing in Perrysburg township until 1880, when he removed to the farm in Lake township, which he now carries on. In 1859, in Perrysburg township, he married Miss Isabel Simons, a native of that township, and a daughter of Pearl and Cassina (McCarty) Simons. Her father was born in Con- necticut, but at a very early day became a resi- dent of Perrysburg township, where he was married, in 1833, to Miss McCarty, a native of New York, and to them were born children as follows: Mrs. Delia Cook, of Perrysburg; Arabel and Oscar, who both died in childhood; Mrs. Huff; Byron, who died while young; Lewis, who died at the age of thirty-five years; Celia, who died in childhood; and Frank, a resident of Lake township. By trade the father was a cooper, which occupation he followed in Perrysburg, where his death occurred in 1884, and his wife died three months later. He had served as county recorder one terni.
To Mr. and Mrs. William Huff were born eleven children, three of whom are now deceased. viz .: Delia, who became the wife of Charles Pin- niger, and died December 17, 1889: Ella, who was the wife of William Taylor, and died Deceni- ber 29, 1892; and Jennie, who died Jannary 3. 1 1864. Those living are: Maggie and Mary (twins). the former being now the wifeof Oscar Nicodemus. and the latter Mrs. Richard Fralic, of Perrysburg; Ernest, a resident of Cummings, Ohio; and Car- rie, Charles, Grace, Mabel and Robert, all at home. Mr. Huff is a prominent member of George Douglas Post No. 183. G. A. R., of Mill- In Jackson township. Seneca county, July 5. 1863, Mr. Dicken welded Miss Sarah Elder. Ww was born December 8, 18:0, near Center." Bedford Co., Penn., daughter of Achor and Lit .. bury, in which he has served as officer of the day, and his wife belongs to the Woman's Relief Corps. In politics he affiliates with the Repub- lican party. He is one of the representative ; (Cessua) Elder, the former a native of Cumber-
men of the county, and a credit to the land that gave him birth.
JOSHUA H. DICKEN, deceased, was one of the brave volunteers who so gallantly fought for the Union cause during the war of the Rebellion. He was a native of Ohio, born in Liberty township. Seneca county, December 28, 1838, and was a son of David and Anna (Luman) Dicken. The father was born at Bean's Cove, Bedford Co .. Penn., and was a son of Jonathan Dicken. When their eldest daughter, Sarah, was but an infant, the parents removed to Seneca county. when Tiffin was a small hamlet, containing only a few rude buildings. They were numbered among the earliest settlers of Liberty township, and experienced all the trials and hardships of pioneer life, but succeeded in making a home of their wild-timbered tract. There the father died at the age of sixty-two; the mother survived him abont two years and a half. In their family were the following children: Sarah, widow of Amos Overmyer, residing in Toledo, Ohio; John, who makes his home near Tiffin; Nancy, now Mrs. Jacob Martin, of Jackson township, Seneca county; Joshna H .; Jesse, of Fostoria, Ohio; Isaac, who died in Louisville, Ky., November 8. 1861, having enlisted September 5, of that year. in Company K, 49th O. V. I., and was buried in the citizen's cemetery there: Henry, who, in Sep- tember, 1863, became a member of the 9th Ohio Cav., and died in Nashville, Tenn. : Albert. who died in Liberty township, Seneca county, at the age of nineteen years; Egbert, of Kansas Station, Seneca county; Angeline, now Mrs. William Spront, of Seneca county; and Geletta, now Mrs. George Sanders, of Fostoria.
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