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 53
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Mr. Schutzeberg was born in Hessen, Ger- many, November 2, 1824, and is a son of Will- iam and Elizabeth (Chollpiffer) Schutzeberg. who spent their entire lives in that country. In the public schools near his home, John acquired a good education, and, at the age of fourteen, began earning his own living. He spent one year in the German army, and continued to work at various employments until 1851, when, deter- mined to seek a home in America, he took pas- sage on a westward-bound sailing vessel, which dropped anchor in the harbor of New York, after a voyage of sixty-five days. He at once made his way to Erie county, Ohio, where he worked
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as a farm hand until 1853, when he rented land and began farming on his own account. His first purchase made him the owner of forty acres in Middleton township, Wood county, on which he erected a log house, and then began clearing the place. He has since added three forty-acre tracts, and now has a very valuable and desirable property, which yields to him a golden tribute in return for the care and labor he bestows upon it.
In Erie county, Ohio, in 1853, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Schutzeberg and Miss Mary A. Keithel, who was born in Hessen, Germany, in 1831. They became parents of eight chil- dren -- Lizzie, wife of George Forst, a farmer; Henry and John, who carry on agricultural pur- suits; Mary, deceased wife of William F. Brinker, of Cleveland; Christ, an oil operator; Auna, de- ceased wife of G. Rudolph, a farmer of Wash- ington township; Lorance, a teamster of Has- kins; and William, who operates the homestead farm. The mother of this family died in April, 1 892, and her death was mourned by many friends as well as her family.
In politics, Mr. Schutzeberg is a Democrat, and has served as road supervisor and school director for a number of years. He is a very active and consistent member of the German Reformed Church, and for twenty-eight years has been an elder in same. He came to this country empty-handed, but has steadily worked his way upward, and his honorable, upright life is cer- tainly worthy of emulation.
WILLIAM MASON. The handicap of early pov- erty does not prevent some energetic natures from making a success in worldly affairs, which is all the more creditable for the difficulties overcome.
The subject of this review was born in York- shire, England, March 8, 1825, the son of James and Hannah (Taylor) Mason, both of whom died in the old country. His father was a day laborer, and, as our subject was the youngest in a family of six sons and eight daughters, he had to make his own way from the early age of eight years. He worked for the first five years for five pounds, doing such tasks as his youth permitted, but as he grew older his services became more valuable. He never knew a home until his marriage, in January, 1850, to Miss Jane Fenton, who was also a native of Yorkshire, born about 1828. He had no schooling whatever in his native country; but since coming to America he has gained a practical education, his shrewd brain making the most of every opportunity. In March, 1850, Mr. . Mason and his bride left Hull on the " Rumswell," and landed at New York after a voyage of eighty- 1
five days. Their destination was Ohio, but they spent some months with Mr. Mason's brother. Thomas, at South Bend, Wis., before locating upon a rented farm in Riley township, Sandusky county. The forty pounds, which Mr. Mason had when they left Hull, was by this time nearly ex- hausted, and he worked as a laborer for two years at fifty cents a day in ordinary times, and seventy-five cents in harvest. He managed to buy a team of oxen, and forty acres of partly-im- proved land located in Scott township. Sandusky county. After two years Mr. Mason sold this farm and purchased forty acres in Section I. Montgomery township, where he now resides. The first house on the place was a log shanty, 16x 20 feet, and it has taken many years of hard work to bring the property into its present highly- improved condition. He has met with well-de- served success, and his possessions now include 126 acres of land in Wood and Sandusky coun- ties. In the dark days of the Rebellion, he mani- fested his loyalty to the land of his adoption, by enlisting in Company K, 144th O. V. I., and was one of the twenty-nine survivors of that com- pany. Politically he is a steadfast Republican. but he is not a seeker for political position.
On February 7, 1889, his home was darkened by the "death angel" when the beloved partner of his life passed from earth Her remains lie in the Bradner cemetery. Six children survive her: Charles lives in Missouri; Margaret married Sam- uel Wygant, of Madison township, Sandusky county; James also resides there; Hannah is the wife of Noble Holcomb, of Rollersville, Ohio: Edward T. resides in Freedom township; Mary is at home. Mindful of the deprivations of his own early life, Mr. Mason has given his children good educations, and two, Mary and Hannah, have taught school.
JOEL KIMBLE has justly earned the proud American title of a self-made man, and the farn! which he occupies to-day has been acquired en- tirely through his own industrious efforts. He was born in Harmony township, Morrow Co .. Ohio, February 25, 1842, and is a son of William D. and Rebecca (Stilley) Kimble, who, in April. 1864. came to Wood county. The father pur- chased 120 acres of land in Freedom township. and our subject cnt the first tree on the farm. William Kimble was born in Chester township Morrow county, in 1814, and was a son of Danie! Kimble, who removed to this State from Wash- ington county, Penn. The mother of our subject was born in Knox county, Ohio, and was a daugh- ter of John Stilley, who left the Keystone Stat
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and became one of the pioneers of Knox county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Kimble are Nellie, wife of S. J. Munsel, of Freedom township; Sarah, wife of William Bell, of Freedom; Joel; Lavina J., who died in 1868; Perry, of Monroe county, Mich :; and Josephus, of Freedom township. The father of this family died December 14, 1883, and the mother died July 10, 1887, their remains be- ing interred in Bradner cemetery. Mr. Kimble gave his political support to the Democracy, but never sought office. He made farming his work throughout life, and the success that attended his efforts was due to his own energy and persever- ance.
Joel Kimble, of this review, received only such educational privileges as the primitive schools of the neighborhood afforded. He was reared on the home farm until seventeen years of age, and then began to learn the carpenter's trade under Milton Hathaway, following that pursuit the greater part of the time for twelve years. He was married in 1868, and for five months there- after resided on a rented farm in Montgomery township. His first purchase was forty acres of wooded land in Section 36, Freedom township, whereon he built a frame house 18 x 24 feet. He lived there until removing to his present home, April 14, 1873. He purchased sixty acres of land in Section 25, Freedom township, and cleared a space for the erection of a log house, 20 x 24 feet. He was at that time $400 in debt. During the first two years he worked out by the day, and in the evenings and mornings cleared his own land. His earnest labor and persistent efforts have brought him success, and he is now the owner of a valuable farm of ninety-two acres. In 1891 he built a good barn, and in 1896 erected his present excellent residence.
Mr. Kimble was married December 24. 1868. in Madison township, Sandusky county, to Miss Eva Hanline, who was born in Section 1, Mont- gomery township, Wood county, July 31. 1844, a daughter of David and Eve (Rumler) Hanline. Their children are Geneva, now the wife of Henry Saam, of Madison township, Sandusky county; Josephus, who died at the age of five months; and Effie, wife of Frank Wolfe, of Pemberville, Ohio. The parents are members of the Lutheran Church, and in politics Mr. Kimble is a Democrat.
BENJAMIN RHODES is one of the most genial and whole-souled men of Portage township. He was born in Bingley, Yorkshire, England. Decem- ber 15, 1835, and is one of a family of ten chil- ren, four sons and six daughters, whose father was Joseph Rhodes. His parents both died in
England, the father, when our subject was only ten years old. At the age of fifteen he began learning the machinist's trade, which he followed in his native land until the spring of 1854, when he left the Old World, resolved to try his fortune on this side of the Atlantic. Thirty days after sailing from Liverpool, he arrived in New York City, a stranger in a strange land, with only $5 in his pocket, with which to begin life. Mr. Rhodes first secured work with J. S. Gwynn, a maker of rotary pumps, on 29th street, but the shops were afterward removed to Brooklyn, and with that gentleman he remained for sixteen months. He then worked for four months in the Essex Machine Shops in Lawrence, Mass., at the end of which time he returned to New York City, being employed on Cherry street by machinists. Later he entered the Sir- well White-lead Works as a fixer; but in Decem- ber, 1857, he went to Chicago, where he worked for Wimple, Kline & Co .. manufacturers of threshing machines, for a year and a half.
On August 9, 1859, Mr. Rhodes first arrived in Wood county, driving to the village of Portage from La Porte, Ind., with an ox-team, for an emigrant family who came by rail. For a time he was employed in the sawmill of Hiram Ives, of Center township; but the following spring went to Toledo, where he obtained work at his trade, in the Fulton Iron Works, at the foot of Lafayette and St. Clair streets.
At Portage, in September, 1861, Mr. Rhodes enlisted in Company C, 21st O. V. I. At Camp Vance, Findlay, Ohio, under Capt. A. McMahan, the troops received their arms, after which they were sent to Camp Dennison, Cincinnati. The first engagement in which our subject participated was at Ivy Mountain, Ky. November S. 1861, and from that time until they reached Nashville, he was with the regiment: but there he was ill for three weeks, and rejoining . his com- mand at Murfreesboro, remained with it until September 20, 1863, when he was taken prisoner at Chickamauga. He was confined in Rebel prisons in Richmond, Danville. Andersonville, and other places until paroled in March, :865. He endured all the sufferings and privations of Southern prison life, and, when liberated at Goldsboro, N. C., lay unconscious for seven- teen days, the result of the cruel treatment he had received. From Wilmington he was sent to Annapolis, and at Columbus, Ohio, was honor- ably discharged Aprile, 1965, after almost four years of arduous and faithful service.
In Fremont. Ohio, July 2. 1865, Mr. Rhodes was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Brown, a
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native of Sandusky county, Ohio, by whom he had one child, Katy, who died in infancy, and the mother died fourteen months after her mar- riage. Later, in Montgomery township, Wood county, our subject wedded Caroline Lein, and to them were born two children: Mary, now Mrs. E. E. Rickard, of Montgomery township: and Joseph A., at home. The lady, who now bears the name of Mrs. Rhodes, was in her maidenhood Miss Mary Shinew, a daughter of Francis Shinew.
At the close of the war, Mr. Rhodes made his home for a time in Portage, after which for three years he worked at his trade in Toledo, and then bought land in Liberty township, Wood county, which he operated about a year. Next he bought a farm in Montgomery township, which he cultivated until 1885, when he removed to his present farm of 122 acres. The land has been brought to a high state of cultivation, and yields in abundance the rich crops adapted to this cli- mate. He holds membership with Randall Post, No. 55, G. A. R., at Prairie Depot, and in politics he is an unswerving Republican, by which party he was elected supervisor. He is recognized as an honest man and good neighbor, and has the esteem of all who know him.
A. VAN VORHIS. There is no class of biogra- phies which is more interesting to read than that of the industrious and enterprising farmer's boy. who has risen unaided from a state of compara- tive poverty to a position of affluence and com- fort. Prominent among the men of Portage township, who have thus laboriously toiled on- ward and upward, is the individual of whom this sketch is written.
Mr. Van Vorhis was born in Whetstone town- ship, Crawford Co., Ohio, February 12, 1850, and is the eldest child of H. N. and Sarah A. (Beck) Van Vorhis, with whom he came to Wood county, at the age of fourteen years. In the primitive log school houses of that day he re- ceived his literary training, and, when not in school, he aided in the labor of the fields on the home farm until reaching his majority. He then returned to Crawford county, where for two years he was employed as a farin hand.
On Christinas Day of 1873, in Portage town- ship, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Van- Vorliis and Mary J. Long, who was born in Me- dina county, Ohio, April 22, 1852, and when quite small was brought to this county by her parents, Lewis and Polly (Yonker) Long. Five children have been born to our subject and his wife: Alice L., who is now Mrs. F. W. Lem-
brich; Aura. B., at home; a son who died in in- fancy; and Albert C. and Lewis E. , also at home. At the time of his marriage Mr. Van Vorbis had no property, but later purchased forty acres of land in Section 15, Portage township, covered with a dense growth of timber, and, after im- proving that tract for some time, purchased a farm in Section 33, Center township. While re- siding there, in March, 1886, his house was burned to the ground. He next removed to Plain township, and, in January, 1890, returned to Portage township, purchasing fifty-four acres in Section 3, which still continues to be his home. Four years later he built his comfortable resi- dence, and the neat and thrifty appearance of his place denotes that the owner is a good man- ager and systematic farmer. He has held sev- eral minor offices in the township, and his polit- ical support is given the Republican party, while religiously he and his wife are members of the Christian Church.
JOSEPH S. Exos, one of the highly-respected and representative citizens of Bloomdale, has since 1892 been engaged there in painting and paper-hanging. His father, Joseph Enos, was born September 1, 1805, near the city of Wil- mington, Del., of Welsh-Irish parentage, and, in 1837, was inarried in that city to Miss Elizabeth Shakespeare, who, though native-born, was of high English parentage. Her birth occurred May II, 1815. The parental household included seven children, two sons and five daughters. namely: Caroline E., who became the wife of Robert Cellar, died in Jerry City, Ohio, in 1874. leaving three children; Mary A. is the widow of John Bosler, and now makes her home in Toledo. Ohio; Joseph S. is the next in order of birth: George W. is a painter and paper-hanger of Fos- toria, Ohio; Jennie E. is the wife of Henry My- ers, who is engaged in the oil business at Toledo. and they have three children; Loraine S. married F. G. Horn, a furniture dealer and undertaker of Bloomdale, and they have five children: Hen- rietta M. is the wife of George Adams, an exten- sive fariner and stock dealer of Jerry City. By trade, the father was a millwright and miller. which vocation he continued to pursue until 1845. when he came to Ohio, arriving at Fostoria in November. He then engaged in farming until his death, October 2, 1856, which was caused by typhoid fever. Two years later his widow became the wife of John Cellars, who died at Bloomdale in 1883, and she now makes her home at Fostoria.
Our subject first saw the light of day at Nev
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Castle, Del., Marcli 8, 1845, and in November of the same year was brought by his parents to Ohio, liis boyhood days being passed in Perry township, Wood county. His primary education was there received at the Beech schoolhouse, his first teacher being Mary Jane Halsey, and he later attended a school taught by Frank W. Dunn. In 1862 he entered the Fostoria High School, but on the 13th of June, of the following year, at the age of eighteen, he joined the First Ohio Heavy Artillery, and served in many skir- mishes and foraging expeditions. He was an adept at the latter. For example, he once turned over a barrel, resembling an ash barrel set up to run off lye, to find four large hams roll out. At the close of hostilities he was discharged, in August, 1865, and then returned to his studies at Fostoria, which he completed in 1866. He then followed carpentering for a time, and during the years 1869 and 1870 engaged in school teaching.
On September 29, of the latter year, Mr. Enos married Miss Martha Johnson, a lady of Scotch-Irish descent, who was born October 31, 1848. Three children graced their union-John J., a painter living at Bloonidale, is married and has one child; Flora E., died at that place in 1888, from dropsy, originating in a diseased hip joint and curvature of the spine; and Glenn D., married to Scott S. Pelton, a driller of Wood county. Until 1882 Mr. Enos worked at the carpenter's trade in Perry township, and then came to Bloomdale to enter the shops of Bryant & Linhart, where the following ten years were passed. In 1892 he met with an accident which came nearly costing him his life. He caught his right arm in a saw, which completely severed the ulna bone, and partially the radius. and though he still retains that member, it is in a crippled condition. He has since devoted his time and attention to painting and paper-hanging at Bloomdale, where he has built up a good trade, and there has a pleasant home on Garfield street.
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Mr. Enos has been a lifelong supporter of the Republican party, in whose ranks he is an earnest worker, and he has held several local offices, having been constable of Perry township two terms; clerk of the same township tliree terms; assessor of Bloom township three terins; a niem- ber of the board of education also for three terms; and at present he is serving as city mar- shal of Bloomdale. He is one of the founders of the special school district of Bloomdale, and has always taken a commendable interest in educa- tional affairs. He has been a worthy member of and active worker in the Methodist Episcopal
Church of that place since 1866, and socially he is connected with Urie Post, G. A. R. For eight years he belonged to the Ohio National Guards, holding the rank of sergeant; was a mem- ber of Bloom Lodge No. 406, I. O. O. F., fifteen years; and of the Independent Order of Good Templars at Ted, Ohio, for nearly ten years. He has ever been a loyal citizen, faithful to his country in days of peace as well as when follow- ing the old flag on Southern battle fields. and he discharges every duty, whether public or private, in the most satisfactory manner.
W. C. BURDICK. The subject of this history is a man of more than ordinary intelligence and . business capacity, and now owns a good farm in Perry township. Like a large portion of the go- ahead men of Wood county, he is a native of New York, born in Cattaraugus county, March 25, 1829, and his ancestors were originally from Calais, France. His father, Seth L. Burdick, was born in Connecticut, but when a boy re- moved with his parents to Oneida county, N. Y., and at Paris Hill, that county, wedded Lydia Maltby, by whom he had six children-Charlotte, now the widow of John F. Todd. of Saco, Texas; Susan, who was married and died in Montana; Morris, formerly a printer, but now a proof-read- er of New Haven, Conn. ; Augustus P., a machin- ist of Niagara Falls, N. Y .; Lucy, widow of Henry J. Burdick, of that city; and W. C., of this review. The mother died in 1831, and in 1 836 the father removed to Niagara Falls, where the following year he witnessed the burning steamer, "Caroline," drift over the Falls, having been set on fire by the Canadians. In that city he followed the trade of millwright and there died in March, 1859.
Our subject received a common-school educa- tion, and at the age of sixteen began the mill- wright's trade under his father. He was very handy, with tools and for two years served an ap- prenticeship at the carpenter's and joiner's trade in Buffalo, N. Y., after which he went to Gene- see county, that State, where he built a tine farm house for a man named Barnes. Later he was employed at carpentering in New York City and New Haven, Conn., after which he started for Mississippi City. Miss. : but while en route he learned that yellow fever had broke out there. so changed his mind and went to Niagara Falls, where he worked in his father's sash and blind factory for several years. Going to Buffalo, he was employed by his brother-in-law, H. J. Burdick. for two years at car building, and on the expira- tion of that time went to Niagara, Canada, where
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he was employed in the same business for the Grand Trunk railroad.
Several years previous, an acquaintance of our subject, John Bradner, had come to Wood coun- ty, and through his influence Mr. Burdick located here in June, 1859. He was accompanied by the brother-in-law with whom he worked in Buf- falo, but that gentleman died a month later. It had been their intention to erect a cabinet shop, but this caused a complete change in the plans of our subject, and at Millgrove he erected the first steam sawmill, which he conducted for some time. In 1870, however, he removed to Section 4, Perry township, where he owns argood farm of forty acres, and there has a pleasant home. He is an excellent mechanic, and to some extent has also engaged in carpentering since coming to the county, many of the best farm residences in Perry and adjoining townships standing as monuments of his skill.
On October 24, 1861, in West Millgrove, Mr. Burdick was joined in wedlock with Miss Cor- nelia A. Willard, a native of that place, born August 13, 1841, and a daughter of John G. and Malissa (Peabody) Willard, the former born in Trenton, Oneida Co., N. Y., February 25, 1802, and the latter in Stonington, Conn., November 26, 1804. The father was a farmer, merchant and hotel-keeper, and, in the spring of 1837, he brought his family to Perry township, Wood county. In his family of eight children, four sons and four daughters. Mrs. Burdick is the sixth in order of birth. After completing her edu- cation, she taught in Bloom and Perry townships for $2.50 per week. Seven children have been born to our subject and his wife-Charles W., who died at the age of five years; Helen A., now Mrs. Barton Phillips, of West Millgrove; Freder- ick C., at home; Emma, who died at the age of two years; Ralph A., agent at Hatton, Ohio, for the Toledo & Ohio Central railroad; and Louis G. and Edgar B., at home.
In politics Mr. Burdick is a Republican, though at one time he was a Know-Nothing, and has served several years as school director, taking a great interest in advancing the cause of educa- tion. Socially, he is a Mason, and religiously he and his wife are members of the Congregational Church. They are frank, opened-hearted peo- ple, and have many friends throughout the com- munity.
ISAAC ACKERMAN was born in Henry town- ship. November 24, 1846, on the farm which is still his home, and is a worthy representative of an honored pioneer family. His father, David
Ackerman, was a native of Switzerland, and, on a sailing vessel, started for America with his par- ents, but they died while en route, and were buried in the ocean. After a six-months' pas- sage, David Ackerman landed in New York, and went to Lancaster county, Penn., where he was bound out to a farmer, with whom he remained . until he attained his majority. He there married Catherine Auwerter, a native of Germany, and in the fall of 1838 removed, with his family, from Lancaster county to Wood county, Ohio. The boat on which they took passage caught fire, but they reached their destination without loss of life.
The father entered eighty acres of wild land in Henry township, erected a rude dwelling of round logs, but afterward replaced it by a more sub- stantial one of hewed logs. There he carried on agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1876, his wife having passed away in 1875. He was a member of the Methodist Church, and she was a Dunkard in religious faith. Their children were as follows: Bevy, who died in childhood; Fan- nie, wife of B. L. Peters, of North Baltimore, Ohio; Mary, who died at the age of eighteen: Jacob, a farmer of Michigan; Catherine, wife of Fergus Hughes; Lydia, widow of Lewis Bloom, of Henry township; David, a fariner of Knox county, Mo .; Isaac; Phebe, wife of D. Wiley, of North Baltimore; Michael, a farmer of Michigan: and Millie, wife of John W. Sterling, of Henry township.
Our subject was reared on the home farm. and educated in the district schools. In the fall of 1865 he enlisted in Company F, 12th U. S. V. I., but was afterward transferred to the 21st U. S. I., from which he received an honorable discharge in 1868. He was engaged in doing guard duty, being stationed at Richmond, Va., at Petersburg, and at Fortress Monroe, where. for six months, he guarded Jefferson Davis. Later he was sent in pursuit of a band of rob- bers in Virginia, and was discharged at Camp Hamilton. Returning home, Mr. Ackerman fol- lowed farming, with his father, until his marriage. In Henry township, January 6, 1870, he wedded Nancy J. Slaughterback, who was born in Bloomn township, Wood county, October 10, 1849. They located on the old family homestead, and their union was blessed with seven children: Lillian G., wife of Loring Leathers, of Findlay, Ohio. Franklin E .; Lulu C .: Margaret; Calvin; and two, Arthur W. and Ray, who died in infancy.
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