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 47
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98
£
112-1
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
where he always welcomes his friends with hearty good cheer. . He can boast of never having had the toothache, nor a tooth extracted, but posses- ses all of his second teeth intact.
A. A. SIMMONS, a well-known liquor dealer of Prairie Depot, was born in Elk county, Penn., January 3, 1842, and came to Prairie Depot in 1875. He is the son of Anthony and Eliza (Gross) Simmons.
Anthony Simmons was a minister in the Lu- theran, and, later, in the Christian Church. He was reared between Albany and Schenectady. When our subject was fifteen years old, Mr. Sim- mons moved to Berlinville, Erie Co., Ohio, where he preached thee Gospel. He was blind for five years, on account of a cataract, but an operation restored his eyesight. To him and his wife these children were born: Ann, who is the wife of Na- than Vining, of Berlinville; Lorania, now Mrs. John Allen, of Horton, Kans. ; Thomas, a carpen- ter in Adrian, Mich. ; Moriah, the wife of L. W. Drake,'of Elyria; A. A., our subject; and Jane. now Mrs. Schrader, of Jamestown, N. Y. In politics Mr. Simmons was originally a Democrat, but, later, became a Republican, although he only took a voting interest in such matters. He died in Berlinville at the 'age of sixty-five years. and his wife in Toledo, aged seventy-five. Both are buried in Berlinville.
Our subject attended the common schools, and lived at home until a young man. When only fifteen years old he was obliged to go to work, as his father had but limited means. Mr. Simmons first bought a small farm in Erie county, for which he was obliged to go in debt. It was at this time that his father was stricken with blindness, and dependent upon for support, and he supplied him with a home, and by industry succeeded in pay- ing for the little farm, supporting his parents un- til their death. At the age of twenty-two he was married in Erie county to Miss Mary Roberts, a native of that county, and a daughter of John Roberts, a farmer. In April, 1861, Mr. Simmons enlisted at Huron for three months' service in EDWARD W. HICKS, who is now serving as trustee of Ross township, to which office he was elected in 1895, was born in that township. in 1859, though it was then known as Perrysburg. and he is a son of William W. and Elizabeth Brockbent) Hicks, the former a native of Luck- port, N. Y., and the latter of England. Lawson Hicks, his paternal grandfather, was also born in the Empire State, uol at an early day bronghi his family to Lucas county, Ohio, where his last days were spent. There the parents of our sub. Company E, 7th O. V. I., under Capt. Sprague. After serving his teri, without leaving the State, he was discharged at Camp Dennison and re- turned to Erie county. In the fall of 1861 he en- listed under Capt. Shipman, in Company C, 55th O. V. I., which went into camp at Camp Mc- Clellan, Norwalk, Huron county, and then pro- ceeded to Grafton, W. Va., where their first fight was a skirmish at Moorefield. Mr. Simmons con- tinned with his regiment, and fought all through the battles of the Shenandoah Valley, Cross Keys, I ject were married, the mother's people bavirs
and the second battle of Bull Run. After the latter fight he was stationed at brigade headquar- ters most of the time, serving as forage master, and in this capacity was with Sherman on his march to Atlanta and the sea. He was present at the Grand Review at Washington, D. C., was mustered out at Louisville, Ky., and on July 20. 1865, was finally discharged at Cleveland, Ohio. He was never wounded, and was only in the hos- pital during his first enlistment, when he had the measles.
After the war Mr. Simmons returned to Erie county, and bought a hotel, the " Berlinville House," for which he went in debt $1, 300, which he subsequently paid. He was eight years in the hotel business, and then sold out and moved to Prairie Depot, where he was acquainted. He bought out a liquor store, which he conducted for six years, and then converted it into a drug and grocery store, taking J. W. Graham as a part- ! ner, to whom he sold out after a co-partnership of two and a half years. Mr. Simmons retired for several years, and then bought staves and ship timber in Ohio. In January, 1894. he again en- gaged in the liquor business, with John Fuher as a partner, buying him out January 1, 1896. He also purchased the building, and is now sole owner. One child has been born to our subject and his wife, Cora M., who is now Mrs. Eugene West. of Prairie Depot. Mrs. Simmons died in 1879, and was buried in Berlinville. Our subject is a Republican in political sentiment, and a stanch member of the party. He has been a member of the city council in Prairie Depot, and while in Berlinville was elected justice of the peace, but declined to accept the office. He joined the Masons at East Townsend, Ohio. He is a self- made man, a well-to-do citizen, and a kind- hearted and benevolent man. He owns sixteen and a half acres in the corporation of Prairie De- pot, out of which he has platted an addition to the town, has a good home, and is one of the respected residents of the place.
1125
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
also been pioneers of that county. On coming to Wood county they located upon a farm in Ross township, where they still reside, and there the father has served as treasurer and justice of the peace. Four children were born to them, but only two are now living. Edward W .; and Olive, wife of Thomas Rideout, of Ross town- ship.
Our subject spent his early life in the usual manner of farmer boys, acquired his education in the district schools near his home, and early be- came familiar with agricultural pursuits, to which he has devoted his attention in later years. He now owns a good farin of twenty-five acres, which is highly cultivated, and besides general farming is also engaged in fruit raising.
In 1884 in Lucas county, Mr. Hicks was mar- ried to Miss Mary Rideout, who was born in that county, where her parents, James and Julia (Brown) Rideout, located at an early day. There her father died, and her mother now makes her home at Toledo. Around the hearthstone of our subject are gathered four children-Lilah, Ray- mond, Clyde and June. He is one of the repre- sentative men of his township, and an important factor of the farming and business community, being a wide-awake, energetic man, willing to aid in any work that will assist in developing the resources of the township. He affiliates with the Republican party, and, besides the office of trus- tee, he has also been supervisor of his township.
FRANK O. BARNETT. Farming in Wood county would be a very unprofitable business were it not for the progressive methods of tiling and ditching; and there is probably no man in the county who has done more to make the land cultivable and richly productive through the means of ditching than the subject of this review. His life record is as follows: He was born on a farm in Medina county, Ohio, April 12, 1854, and is a son of James Barnett, a native of Eng- land, who emigrated to America in 1836, and took up his residence in Medina county, where he purchased a farm of fifty acres. This he cleared and cultivated for six years, then returned to England in 1842, and worked in a brewery in Shropshire. In 1851 he married Eliza Collins, and soon after sailed with his bride from Liver- pool to New York, and again located on his fart in Medina county, Ohio. In addition to this pur - suit he also operated an old sawmill on Rocky river for a few years. In 1865 he sold his inter- ests in Medina county, and removed to Lucas county, Ohio, where he purchased 160 acres of land, to which he afterward added eighty acres.
continuing to operate that place until his death. He lost one finger in a shingle machine, and this incapacitated him for service in the Civil war. His death occurred in 1890, and his wife passed away in 1875. Their children were Mary and Frank O., twins, the former now the wife of James Pollock, of Lucas county, Ohio; Henry, a farmer of Lucas county; Arthur, who follows farming there; and Emma, wife of Thomas Pollock. of Lucas county.
Mr. Barnett, of this sketch, was educated in Medina and Lucas counties, and in 1871 entered the seminary at South Toledo, where he re- mained for a year. He was reared as a farm boy, and remained at home until twenty-five years of age, assisting in clearing 240 acres of land. In the winter of 1878 he went to Kansas, accompanied by William Hodgman, making the journey by team as far as Galesburg, Il !. In the West he first operated a farm for one-fourth the crop. After two years he went to Silver Cliff, Colo., where he was employed in a silver stamp-mill at $3 per day. He remained there nearly a year. living in a shanty and cooking his own meals. With several others he then started for Arizona: but after going a short distance the weather became so bad that they returned to Kansas, and soon after Mr. Barnett made his way home to Lucas county. For four months he was employed on a narrow guage railroad. and for three months on the Continental railroad. He afterward went to Bairdstown. Ohio. and pur- chased a butcher shop; but after ten days sold at a loss of $200. His next purchase made him, in connection with his brother, the owner of thirty acres of timber land, on which they lived for a year, cutting all kinds of timber, including saw- logs, railroad ties and cord wood. Frank Bar- nett then moved to Jackson township, and pur- chased eighty acres of land, on which he built a shanty, and commenced to clear his property, which was then an unbroken wilderness. He has not only developed this, but has added to it eighty acres, and the entire quarter-section is now under a high state of cultivation.
Mr. Barnett was married in Waterville town- ship, Lacas Co., Ohio, April 10, 1883. to Miss Lucinda Hartman, who was born in Lancaster county, Penn., August 22, 1855. They lived with her parents until the following December. and then removed to their own home; but the water was so high upon the land that it almost seemed that they would be forced to abandon the property. However, by ditching, he has trans- formed this into a valuable property, which is now highly cultivated. The home is blessed by
1126
WOOD COUNTY, OIIIO.
the presence of two children-Guy Etta, born August 5, 1834; and Leah, born May 31, 1895. Mr. Barnett is a stanch Republican, and takes quite an active interest in political affairs.
DAVID L. DULL is one of the most enterpris- ing and substantial agriculturists of Wood county, and his fine farin, situated in Weston township, gives evidence of his excellent management and progressive ideas.
Peter Dull, the father of our subject, was born in 1813, in Perry county, Ohio, son of Samuel Dull, and came with his parents to Wood county in 1837. He purchased 214 acres of land in Weston township, and eightyacres in Washington township, which he cleared and otherwise im- proved, and which became valuable property. In 1837 he was married to Miss Susanna Crom, who was born December 4, 1816, in Harrison county, Ohio, daughter of Rev. John Crom, who moved to Wood county about 1829. Six children were born of this union, four of whom are living: Hiram is a farmer in Huron county, Ohio; Mary C., wife of Levi Bassett, of Pottertown. Wood Co., Ohio, who died in 1868; Ephraim Wesley died while serving his country in the Civil war; John L, re- sides in Weston; David L. is our subject; and one died in infancy. The mother passed away Janu- ary 15. 1884.
David L. Dull was born in Weston township, December 5, 1851, and when a boy attended the McKee District School in the winter season, the rest of his time being employed in the various duties which fall to the lot of a farmer's son. His school days were cut short, however, by the death of his father, which event occurred in 1870. From that time he was obliged to give his whole time and attention to the management of the farin, and the care of his widowed mother. That he has fulfilled both these trusts faithfully and well, is well-known in the community.
Mr. Dull's farm at present comprises 191! acres, eighty being purchased by himself, the re- mainder being a part of the old home bought by his father, who at his death divided the farin be- ! tween his two sons. Of this, 160 acres are under cultivation, and the place is supplied with sub- stantial barns, windmills, and the most improved appliances for tilling the soil and taking care of the crops. He has been a progressive farmer. and for five years gave his attention to raising Berkshire hogs, with such success that he has carried off premiums at various county fairs. . i fine dwelling, which cost $3.000, and one of the best in the township, is pleasantly situated on the estate, and here Mr. Dull and his family en-
joy the result of their labors, and dispense a gracious hospitality to their large circle of friends.
Mr. Dull was united in marriage, March 9. 1875, with Miss Alice L., daughter of the late Jacob Walters, of Weston, and four children have come to bless their happy home, their names and dates of birth being as follows: Pearl M., October 4. 1876; Charles E., January 13. 1878; Myrtle L., November 22, 1879: Gertrude R., November 29, 1881.
In politics Mr. Dull is a Prohibitionist. He gives his best endeavors to promoting the inter- ests of that party which he believes to be the best for the welfare of the country. He has been assessor in his township for three terms, and was a school director several terms for Sub-District No. 4, always doing all in his power to advance the cause of education. He has also held the office of supervisor for a number of years. In re- ligious belief he and his family are members of the United Brethren Church, in which he has been a trustee about fifteen years, and they take an active part in Church work, he being a class- leader. and steward, and superintendent of the Sunday-school. He is also secretary and one of the five trustees of the Sandusky District of the United Brethren Church, which has the general superintendency of the district. For five success- ive years he has been elected and served as del- egate to the Sandusky Annual Conference. He is a liberal contributor to all worthy enterprises, and is justly estecmed as an upright man, a de- voted son, a kind husband and father, and a good citizen. Mrs. Dull is a most estimable woman. beloved by all who know her. She also is much interested in Church work. and has been an active member of the Sandusky Branch of the Woman's Foreign and Home Missionary Society for five years, now serving as treasurer of her branch.
JACOB SPACKEY, an industrious, respected farmer of Portage township, is one of the sub- stantial thrifty German citizens who have settled in Ohio, and by hard work have made comfort- able homes for themselves and families. He was born April 19, 1849, in Bavaria, Germany, son of Henry and Margreta Glickner) Spackey. farming people, who came to the United States when Jacob was a boy of six years. The ocean voyage lasted twenty-six days, being a remark- ably short time for those days, and after landing. the family came west to Ohio, settling in Seneca county. Here he rented land for intins. 'ler moving to Portage township, Wood county. where he bought forty acres, and here he i the remainder of his days, dying at the
1127
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
fifty-one years; he was laid to rest in Perry town- ship. The mother now inakes her home with our subject. Their family consisted of three sons: Philip, of Webster township; Jacob; and Adam, of Jerry City.
Our subject attended the district schools dur- ing the winter months until he was about sixteen years of age, when his father died, since which time he has earned his own living. He was reared to farming, and when about nineteen years of age he began to work for others. also follow- ing the shoemaker's trade, which he had learned from his brother Adam. He also spent three years in Dell, Oregon, employed about steam- boat docks. On January 19, 1882, he was mar- ried, in Bloom township, to Miss Lucy Rebecca Smalley, who was born October 1, 1863, in Port- age township, daughter of John W. and Rebecca (Snyder) . Smalley, and to this marriage have been born seven children, namely: Laura M .; Myron J. ; Theresa E. ; Bertha M. ; Lucy A. ; and Elza R. and Elsie F., twins, all living.
At the time of his marriage our subject owned a twenty-acre tract in Bloom township, where he resided five years, removing thence to his present home in Portage township, which com- prises forty acres of good land in Section 23. He carries on a profitable general farming busi- ness, and is well and favorably known in his sec- tion. At present he is serving as trustee in Portage township, but he is no office seeker, and beyond taking a loyal interest in local affairs, de- votes all his time to his agricultural interests. Politically he is a stanch Republican.
CHRISTIAN STOUDINGER, an agriculturist of Montgomery township, whose straightforward methods of doing business have gained him a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, February 24, 1833, son of John Stoudinger, who was also a farmer by occupation. Of the family of nine children, five grew to adult age-four sons and one daugh- ter, our subject being the eldest son. He secured his education in his native land, and in the spring of 1854 bade farewell to the friends of his youth, and on the "Satellite" sailed from Havre, France. After forty-two days spent upon the ocean he arrived in the New World, and at once proceeded to York county, Penn., where he had friends living. In that county he worked until the spring of 1861, when he came to Wood county, an old schoolmate in Geruguns. Fred- erick Bower, having induced him to locate here. He had at that time a few dollars, which he had saved from his carnings. On August 18, 1863, 0
he enlisted in Company I, ILIth O. V. I., and remained with his regiment until March 1, 1865. at which date, in North Carolina, he was seized with typhoid fever. From the hospital a Kins- ton, in that State, he was sent to Goldsboro. and afterward was in other hospitals, being in Newberne, N. C., at the time of his recovery. Rejoining the regiment . at Salisbury, that State, he remained with the command until honorably discharged on June 27, 1865, when he returned to Wood county. .
On October 25, 1865, Mr. Stoudinger was married to Miss Elizabeth Myers, a native of Switzerland, who was born June 9, 1849, in Can- ton . Schaffhausen, daughter of Christian and Magdalena (Switzer) Myers, who set sail for the United States in 1855, arriving after a long pas- sage. They made their first location at Canton. Ohio, thence removing to Scott township, San- dusky county, where the father still lives. The inother's death occurred in August, 1895, when she was seventy-five years of age. She was a well-preserved old lady, not having a gray hair in her head at the time of her death. They had three children: Albert, a farmer of Scott town- ship. Sandusky county; Elizabeth, wife of our subject; and Wilhelm, also of Scott township.
The first property owned by Mr. Stoudinger consisted of twenty acres in Section 27, Mont- gomery township, a timbered tract, which he purchased of Frederick Bower, and thereon built a hewed log-house, which, although a rude affair. was the first home he could call his own since leaving Germany. In 1881, he purchased twenty acres more, adjoining, and upon that farm he has since resided, now having a substantial and
pleasant dwelling. The eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Stoudinger are: Christina, now Mrs. George Hengsteler, of Risingsun, Wood county; Conrad W., a farmer of Montgomery township, married to Clara Keefer, of Perry township, this county; Rosa B .. wife of C. P. Bigley, of Risingsun; Christian H., an agricultur- ist of Montgomery township; and Jacob F .. Lewis F., Magdalena and Wilbur, all four at home. Our subject and his wife are members in good standing of the Lutheran Church, and Mr. [ Stoudinger is connected with the G. A. R. . t Prairie Depot. Though not bound by party ties. he usually supports the principles of the Deme- cratic party. His life has been an honorable one, and is well worthy of emulation. On arri- ing in America he was a stranger in a strany land, with neither capital nor influential fritt is. he valiantly served his adopted country duing the dark days of the Rebellion, has reared an ci-
1
.
1128
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
cellent family, of which he may be justly proud, and now ranks among the most reliable and in- fluential citizens of Montgomery township.
JOHN C. BOWER. There are few men more worthy of representation in a work of this kind than the subject of this biography, who is passing the later years of his life on a comfortable home- stead in Montgomery township. His has been a long and busy career, rich with experience, and he has established himself in the esteem and con- fidence of all who know him. His family history is of more than ordinary interest.
Mr. Bower is a native of Germany, his birth having occurred in Wittenberg, September 16. 1825, and he is a son of J. C. Bower, a wagon- maker of that country. His education was there obtained, and, at the legal age, he entered the ariny, remaining in the service for six years. He learned the baker's trade, at which he worked in his native land, and saved some capital, knowing that if he secured a home of his own it must come through his own efforts. Some friends, who had come to the United States, wrote him of the excellent chances for securing a competence here, and, in April, 1853, he bade good-bye to the Fa- therland, and the friends and scenes of his early - life, sailing for America. After a voyage of sixty- three days he landed at New York, whence he came to Sandusky county, Ohio, and at Tiffin was ill with bilious fever, which seemed quite strange, for while crossing the ocean he had not been sea- sick. His ticket was for New Orleans, where a cousin and former army comrade was located; but, on account of his illness and a lack of funds, he was compelled to remain at Tiffin-a stranger in a strange land, with no money, but willing to work, when his strength would permit. His first employment here was as a laborer on the railroad. .
seemed good; but misfortune overtook him in the death of his excellent wife. To them had been born seven children -- John C., Sophia, Frederick, Louisa, William, Amos, and Ella-all of whom are still living.
After the death of his wife, Mr. Bower sold his farm, with all his stock, etc., and, after pay- ing all his debts, had left $3.000: He then pur- chased the old Dieter homestead, in Section 27, Montgomery township, where he now makes his home, and has the place entirely free from debt. He has practically laid aside active business cares, resting in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. He has ever been straightforward and hon- orable in all his dealings, has made the most of his advantages, and has fought life's battle un- aided, so that he well deserves the success that has come to him, and the regard and confidence which are so freely accorded him by all. Polit- ically he is an earnest Democrat, and religious- ly he is a faithful member of the Evangelical Church.
WV. O. KING. the leading liveryman of Pem- berville, was born in Jackson township, Sandusky Co., Ohio, October 2, 1854, and is the youngest son and child of William and Susan (Lesher) King. His father died during the infancy of our subject. and the mother afterward married again.
Our subject remained with his stepfather until eighteen years of age, and worked on the home farm, where he early displayed the habits of industry and steady application that have characterized his entire life. He then left home. liis capital consisting of a scanty wardrobe: be- gan cutting cordwood, and in the spring of 1873 he went to Vienna, Mich., where he spent the summer. In the fall he returned home, and at- tended school through the winter, after which he spent one suminer in Toledo in the livery barn of his uncle, Joe Lesher. He next learned the tinner's trade at Fostoria, Ohio, under Mr. Al- cott, and, after his term of apprenticeship, con- ducted a tinshop at Prairie Depot.
In the fall of 1853, at Tiffin, Mr. Bower was united in marriage with Miss Barbara Hemminger, who was a native of the saine province in Ger- many as himself. Soon after their marriage they removed to Fostoria, Ohio, where our subject In December, 18;S, at that place, Mr. King married Miss Phila Gould, daughter of Timothy Gould, a soldier of the Civil war. They there began their domestic life, and in the spring of 1879, Mr. King rented a farm of 120 acres in Section 19, Montgomery township, where he 1 continued to make his home until January, 1896, when he came to Pemberville, havias previously purchased the livery business of Emery Pember. He has here a large number of excellent hors's, and vehicles of various kinds, and has largely it- worked as a laborer for several of the prominent citizens, including the father of ex-Gov. Charles Foster. By strict economy he was enabled to save something, and, going to Liberty township. Seneca Co., Ohio, he there rented a farm for sixteen years. At the end of that time .he pur- chased 130 acres in Scott township, Sandusky Co., Ohio, at a cost of $1,200, of which on ciht he paid down $1.ooo. He had a rather Vooral supply of stock and tools, and the chances for 1 him to realize what he had come to America for | creased his business, so that it yields to him
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.