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 67
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His first wife died December 20, 1860, and was laid to rest in the cemetery at Fostoria. She was a Christian woman, and died happy. To them had been born the following children: Silas, the eldest son, enlisted August 12. 1861. in Company E. 49th O. V. I .. and was killed at Pickett's Mills, Ga .. May 27. 1864. while serving as first lieutenant of Company H, in the same regiment, to which company he was transferred
WILLIAM SIMONS (deceased), who, after the labors of a long and useful life, passed his later years in ease and retirement in the village of West Millgrove, this county, was born in Genesee county, N. Y., January 31, 1814, and ! June 18, 1863, being at that time made second was one in a family of eight children, four sous | lieutenant. On the roth of March, 1864, he was
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promoted to first lieutenant, and died as a gallant and brave officer. Elizabeth, the second child, is the wife of John Nobles, of Fostoria. Benja- min F. is a merchant of West Millgrove. Nancy is now Mrs. A. D. Stewart, of Toledo, Ohio. Martha died at the age of nineteen years. Sarah is the wife of William Robbins, of Jackson town- ship, Seneca county. Amos died in Putnam county, Ohio, in 1894. For his second wife Mr. Simons wedded Martha J. Faylor, a native of Stark county, Ohio, and a daughter of John and Sarah (Pitchard) Faylor. Five children graced that union, only one of whom grew to maturity ---- Nellie M. The mother died October 2, 1894. and was buried at Fostoria. In her youth she united with the Presbyterian Church, but some ten years later became identified with the Meth- odist Church, of which she remained a consistent member until her death, which was a happy one. Her funeral waspreached by Rev. Andrew Hayes. Our subject later married her sister, Mrs. Mar- garet McClelland, widow of A. J. McClelland, by whom she had four children: Clarence, who died at the age of four years; Arthur, a resident of Hillsdale county, Mich; and Ada and Ida, twins, the former now Mrs. Ulysses Jenkins, and the latter now Mrs. D. A. Tanner, both of Hills- dale county, Michigan.
In March, 1879, Mr. Simons removed to West Millgrove. For a short time when young he voted the Democratic ticket, but later supported the Republican party, and for nine successive years was school director. For over forty years he had been a faithful member of the Methodist Church, to which his widow also belongs. He was among the self-made men of the county, hav- ing accumulated all that he possessed by his own energy and thrift, and was also one of its most highly respected citizens. His death occurred April 6, 1896, and from the obituary notice the following is extracted: " William Simons, aged eighty-two years, two months and twenty-five days, died at his home in this place, of pneu- monia, on the 6th inst., after a brief illness. Deceased was a retired farmer, well respected, one of the foremost members of the M. E. Church, and a good citizen. We laid the remains away to rest in the Fostoria cemetery till the general reunion."
GEORGE C. EMMERICH, one of the most suc- cessful oil operators in Wood county, and a thoroughly representative German-American citi- zen, progressive and prosperous, was born Oc- tober 3, 1862, at Gittersdorf. Hessen-Cassel, Prussia, where his parents, Conrad and Anna
(Aple) Emmerich were born, were married, and passed their entire lives. In their family were seven children: Anna Catherine, wife. of John Smith, by whom she has a son, Henry, now (1896) aged thirteen years (they make their home in Gittersdorf): Henry married, and carrying on farming at that place; Conrad, married, and fol- lowing agricultural pursuits in Ottawa county. Ohio; George C. is next in order of birth; Gus is married, and farms in Washington township; Anna Lizzie is making her home with our sub- ject; and Barbara is still a resident of Gittersdorf.
Our subject received his education at the common schools of his native place, was leader of a singing school there, and also drill master in the military department of the school. It was the wish of his parents that he should attend a higher school, graduate, and then become a teacher; but he preferred to come to America, and accordingly in IS78, when sixteen years old, he set sail from Bremen. After a voyage of some eleven days he landed at New York, whence he at once came to Wood county, arriving with just sixty-five cents in his pockets, twenty-five of which he found in New York City. After work- ing as a farm laborer some seven years, he rented land for about four years, and in the fall of 1888 purchased thirty acres of good land of Henry Aple, to which in the following fall he added forty- six and one-half acres obtained from Clark Cum- mings. In 1892 he bought ten acres of George Kidd, and has since purchased 240 acres of D). R. Haylor-who was trustee for the Bowling Green Fence Co .- but all his farm land he rents. He has fourteen producing oil wells, seven of which he drills and operates himself, and he is developing many other wells. His land and wells are very valuable, and he derives therefrom a handsome income.
On April 9. 1885, Mr. Einmerich was married at the residence of Jacob Wenig, in Washington township, to the latter's daughter. Miss Dena M .. and to them was born October I, ISgo, a son -- Howard W. With his little family. on April 28, 1895, Mr. Emmerich set out for the Father- land to visit the home and friends of his child- hood, also the principal cities of Germany. After spending four enjoyable months, he returned t. America. Public-spirited to a great degree, he takes an active interest in every measure calcu- lated to benefit the community, using his right of franchise in support of the Republican party. and hell the office of school director of MilBe- ton township, one term. He attends the Evan- gelical Church of Tontogany, of the Sunday -school of which he was superintendent five years.
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...
HOWARD W.
Geo. C. Emmerich Dena M. Emmerich
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Jacob Wenig, father of Mrs. Emmerich, was born August 25, 1833, in Gittersdorf, Hessen- Cassel, Prussia, and was one of the three chil- dren of Henry and Catherine (Amnes) Wenig, the others being Martha, widow of Henry Opper, a farmer of Plain township, Wood county, and Katie, wife of Charlie Sales, of Huron, Erie Co., Ohio, by whom she has four children-John, Libbie, Charles and Lyda. Mr. Wenig received his education in Germany, where he worked in a factory, and at the age of twenty-two, in 1855, set out from Bremen on a sailing vessel for America, arriving at New York four weeks later. He located in Huron, Erie Co., Ohio, where for five years he was employed as a farm hand, and on April 5, 1861, he arrived in Wood county. His first location was in Middleton township, where he rented land for a year, and then pur- chased twelve acres, which he afterward sold, and then, removing to Plain township, rented land there for three years. In i867, he purchased forty acres of his present farm in Washington township, to which he added twenty acres in 1871, and now has one of the most highly im- proved farms in his section of the county. His pleasant dwelling was erected at a cost of $1, 200, and his barn cost $400 in addition.
On November 9, 1858, at Huron, Erie coun- ty, Mr. Wenig was married to Mary Bachstin, who was born in Ana, Hessen-Cassel, Prussia, May 18, 1840, and they have nine children; John; August; Charlie: Henry; Dena M., wife of Mr. Emmerich; Libbie, wife of Joe Reams, of Wash- ington, by whom she has one child, born July 28, 1893, named Earl W. : Linda, wife of J. H. Good; George, a school teacher; and William J. The father, who is a Republican in politics, has been supervisor and school director, and is a worthy member of the Evangelical Church, of which he has served as trustee and been steward and class leader.
C. B. HEDGE is one of the steady-going young men and prosperous farmers of Montgomery township, where he was born October 11, 1866, in Section 17, at the home of his parents, George B. and Kate (Crawfoot) Hedge. His education was such as the district schools of the neighbor- hood afforded, his first teacher being Miss Mollie Smith, and he completed his literary studies at the age of nineteen years.
inained a member of the parental household until his marriage, which important event in his life was celebrated October 4, 1888, in Bowling Green, Ohio, Miss Elsie Gobble, the daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Echelberger) Gobble, be- coming his wife. Her mother is now the wife of George Amos, a prominent resident of this coun- ty. Three children have come to the union of our subject and his wife-Nora M., born Sep- tember 21, IS91; Elva, born July 9, 1893; and Harry, born April 28, 1895. After his marriage Mr. Hedge located upon a portion of his father's farm, where he yet owns a house and an acre of ground. In March, 1892, he removed to his present residence, and is now engaged in opera- ting his father's place, also devoting considerable time to teaming. He is a wide-awake, progressive young business man, public-spirited and enter- prising, and no doubt a successful future awaits him. He is an excellent farmer, and just such a citizen as the name Hedge in Montgomery town- ship suggests.
DANIEL GUYER, a veteran of the Civil war, and a valued citizen of this county, was born in Pennsylvania, August 14, 1829, and is a son of Gabriel and Elizabeth (Long) Guyer, also natives of the Keystone State. The father was a miller by trade, and followed that business in Pennsyl- vania until 1832, when he came with his family to Wood county, making the journey with ox- teams, and camping along the roadside by night. He purchased forty acres of land in Weston town- ship, built a log house with a bark roof and floor, and at once began to clear and cultivate his land. His death occurred here in 1865, and his wife passed away three years later. They had a fam- ily of nine children-Gabriel, who was a soldier in the ILIth O. V. I., and died in 1866; Susan. widow of George Adelman; Joseph, who served in the 144th O. V. I., and died in 1873: Polly, now deceased, who was the wife of Levi Bartell. and after his death became Mrs. Frankfurter; Daniel; John and Emanuel, both of Weston; and Washington, who is living in East Toledo.
Our subject was a child of two years when he came with his parents to Wood county, and was educated in the district schools of Weston town- ship. When about twenty years of age he learn- ed the trade of carpentering, which he followed until after the breaking out of the war. He pur- chased 160 acres of land in Weston township. which he sold in 1861. The following year he offered his services to the government as a de- fender of the Union, and joined Company 1.
The boyhood days of Mr. Hedge were spent upon his father's farm, and when not in the schoolroom he assisted in its cultivation, and was also employed in his father's mill: but farming and teaming were his principal pursuits. He re- | 144th O. V. I., with which he continued until
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after the cessation of hostilities. He was a faith- ful defender of the old flag and the cause it rep- resented, and returned home with an honorable war record.
In 1865 Mr. Guyer resumed farming, pur- chasing eighty acres of land in Milton township, on which he built a log cabin. The work of improvement was at once begun, and has been steadily carried forward. He tiled and fenced the place, planted an orchard, and in 1885 erec- ted a large dwelling. In the spring of 1892 he exchanged this property for his present farm of 120 acres in Section 6, Milton township, and in 1893 erected his residence.
Mr. Guyer was married in September, 1859. to Miss Emma Older, and to them have been born six children -- Della now the wife of John McGill, of Milton township; Cora, wife of Emory Burson, of Milton township; Edward, who wed- ded Mary Baunigardner, and resides at the old homestead; Albert, who wedded Mary Beaverson, and lives in Milton township; Pearl, wife of D. C. Wolf; and Maud, wife of Thomas Pugh, of Weston, Ohio. Mr. Guver has always been a warm friend of the cause of education, and while serving on the school board has been effective in its promotion. He belongs to the Evangelical Church, and, in his political views, is a Repub- lican.
A. V. POWELL, the well-known undertaker at Bowling Green, is a native of the Buckeye State, born in Fairfield county, July 20, 1855.
His family is of Welsh origin, and the ances- tors of the American branch settled in Pennsyl- vania at an early period. His grandfather, Peter Powell, was born there, and his father, George Powell, was born there in 1829. The latter mar- ried Miss Sarah Ann Beaty, also a native of that State, and a few years later came to Ohio with his family, locating first upon a farm in Fairfield county. His father accompanied him, and spent his last days in this State. In the spring of 1873. our subject's parents came to Wood county. traveling the entire distance by wagon, and driv- ing their stock before them. They bought a farm in Liberty township, Wood county, where they made their home for nearly twenty years, and then retired to Bowling Green, where Mrs. Powell died April 27, 1892, at the age of seventy- four years, and her husband in. 1803, aged seventy-three. They were faithful and devout members of the United Brethren Church, Of their large family of children six grew to adult age: John W., a resident of Bowling Green; Martha J., the wife of L. D. Smaltz, of Han-
cock county; Silas H., who occupies the old homestead; A. V., our subject; Chester L., who died July 6, 1893, at the age of thirty-seven, and Laura Belle, who married James Stafford, a farmer of Wood county.
Our subject attended the public schools of Fairfield county during his boyhood, and on com- ing to this county obtained a position as clerk in a store in Bowling Green, and later went to Findlay in the same capacity. He then entered into business for himself, making several experi- ments before settling down at his present nove! and prosperous enterprise. He was for two years in the hardware business in Fostoria, Ohio. before coming back to Bowling Green, where he conducted first a grocery for two years, and then a restaurant, and, in 1889, opened a novelty five and ten cent store, which he has since sold, and is now engaged in the undertaking business, hav- ing the largest and best equipped establishment of the kind in Wood county.
He was married November 22, 1877, to Miss LaVandee Sargent, who was born in Wood county, April 6, 1859. They have had six chil- dren: Frank Sargent, Alice Lillian, John Avery, Gerald A., William McMann and Vivian. Po- litically Mr. Powell is a Republican, and he is among the most enterprising and public-spirited of the young men of the community. He is a inember of the K. of P. and of the I. O. O. F .. Green Encampment No. 626, and Canton Al- pine No. 26, Uniform Rank, and of the Order of D. of R.
JACOB BOVIE, an enterprising farmer of Mont- gomery township, pleasantly located in Section 9, has identified himself with the representative and progressive citizens of Wood county. His birth occurred in that township on October 20. 1847, at the home of his parents, Adam and Mag- dalena (Friedinger) Bovie, natives of Germany. who came to America at the same time, and were married in this country, after which they located in Wood county, Ohio, where they spent the re- mainder of their days. The mother passed away July 6, 1877, and the father, who was born in ISIT, died at a ripe old age in April, 1893. They were both buried at Prairie Depot, Ohio.
To this worthy couple were born eleven chy! dren, five sons and six daughters, and with the exception of Margaret, who was burned to death at the age of six months, when their dwelling was destroyed by are, all lived to adult 1. They were as toll Aus Magdalene marrie : 10 drew Zimmerman, and died in Montgomery town ship, in 1890; Caroline became the wife of \
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WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
thony Hirscherberger, and died at Clyde, Ohio; Adam was a member of Company A, 144th O. V. I., during the Civil war, and died in prison at Salisbury, N. C .; Jacob is next in order of birth; Catherine became the wife of M. Swape, and died in Missouri; Margaret is now Mrs. Joseph Hess, of Fostoria, Ohio; Peter is a resident of Portage township, Wood county: David lives in Gratiot county, Mich., near Ithaca; Lavina is the wife of A. Swape, of Missouri; and George died at the age of five years.
As his parents were in limited circumstances, the educational privileges enjoyed by Jacob Bovie were rather limited, and he early began assisting in the labors of the farm, being a great help to his parents. In Fremont, Ohio, on November 1, 1876, he was united in marriage with Miss Lydia A. Girton, who was born near Bellevue, Ohio, January 19, 1856. Her parents, Asa and Elizabeth (Wales) Girton, located in Montgoin- ery township, Wood county, in 1863, where the father died October 20, 1865, leaving his widow with five children, namely: Luther, now post- master of Tromley, Ohio; Mary C., who wedded N. Wise, and died in Kansas, December 28, 1879; Lydia A., the honored wife of our subject; John W., a resident of Bloom township, Wood county; and Margaret, who died unmarried June 14, 1894. Another child, George, died at the age of five years, before his father's death. Dur- ing his younger years Mr. Girton had taught school, but by trade he was a mechanic, and was employed as a spinner in a woolen-factory. His health was always poor, and he never accuinu- lated much property. His widow married Charles J. Wickenheiser, who is now deceased, and she now makes her home in Bloom township. The education of Mrs. Bovie was mostly acquired under the instruction of her father, who taught his family at home, and she learned very rapidly. At the time of her marriage she was working as a domestic. Two children grace the union of our subject and his wife-Frederick Raldo, born September 29, 1877; and Randal R., born De- cember 26, 1887.
Upon his marriage, Mr. Bovie located at Prairie Depot, where he owned a house and lot, and worked as a farm hand and laborer. On leaving that place lie rented a farin for a year, after which he lived upon his father's farm until his removal to his present homestead in Section 9, where he had purchased forty acres of land on which was a rather dilapidated bons, and he ? To D. M. and Sarepta (Hopkins) Long were went in debt for the same. However, he has , born the following named chikleen: Sarah B. since paid off the indebtedness. and added twenty | (Mrs Hunter); Mrs. M. I .. Walters; S. L. Long acres to the original tract, all of which is now bE. L. Long; Mrs. E. J. Callihan, who lives in
highly cultivated. He erected his present sub- stantial and comfortable home in 1887, and has made many other useful and valuable improve- ments on the place. In politics he usually sup- ports the principles and candidates of the Demo- cratic party, but is not strictly bound by party . ties.
MARTIN L. WALTERS is a native and resi- dent of Weston township, born September 26, 1855. He comes of one of the pioneer families of the locality, his grandparents having settled .here in an early day. They migrated to Ohio from Pennsylvania, and made their first location in Harrison county, thence after a few years' residence moving to Wood county. They were of Pennsylvania-Dutch lineage.
Jacob Walters, the father of our subject, was born June 20, 1828, in Harrison county, Ohio, and was three years of age when the family re- moved to Wood county. Here he was reared, and obtained his education, which included a thorough training in agricultural pursuits, to which he gave his principal time and attention during his entire life. During the Civil war he served one hundred days in the Union army. He died September 6, 1892, of cancer. In re-
ligious faith he was a Presbyterian, in political sentiment. a Republican. Jacob Walters married Catherine Huffman, and they became the parents of six children, namely: Sarah Ellen, Martin Luther, Louisa Alice, Lucina Ann, Emma Ange- line, and a son who died in infancy.
On September 26, 1877, M. L. Walters was married to Miss Mary E. Long, who was born March 7, 1859. in Illinois. Their union has been blessed with three children: Rollie Jacob Dan- iel, born October 1, 1878; Bessie Ann Janet, born February 11, 1881; and Cora Belle, born July 23, 1883. Mrs. Walters is a member of the Methodist Church. Socially they belong to the Patrons of Husbandry.
Mrs. Sarepta (Hopkins) Long, the mother of Mrs. M. L. Walters, was born in Sandusky county, Ohio, from there removing in carly life to Illinois, where she married Mr. Long. He was a native of Guernsey county, Ohio, was a Republican in politics, and a Methodist in re- ligious connection. Mrs. Long died in 1875. a member of the Methodist Church. Her father was of Yankee descent; her mother was a Penn- sylvanian, and a Methodist in religions faith.
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Toledo, and has one son, Daniel; Mrs. J. B. Stafford, who resides in Deshler, Wood county; Ida (Mrs. Brown), who lives at Waterville, and has two children -- Gracie and Ethel; and J. D. Long, who is a resident of Findlay. The eldest son died when two years old, the youngest daughter when one year old.
L. K. SOULE. The present prosperous con- dition of Wood county is largely due to the class of men who came here during its earliest history. One of these, now a worthy representative of the agriculturists of Bloom township, was born near Buffalo, N. Y., May 11, 1837, a son of Lo- renzo and Ann C. (Fink) Soule. They were na- tives of Germany, where they were married and their two eldest children were born. About 1832 the family crossed the Atlantic, and after a long voyage, landed at New York. For a time the father followed the trade of a wheelwright in the Empire State, later removed to Huron county, Ohio, and in the fall of 1843 come to Wood county, where he purchased forty acres of land in Section 1, Bloom township. Here was erected a log house, 18x20 feet, with puncheon floor and clapboard roof; but it was a hapyy home, as it was the first the family owned in the New World, and they moved into it before it was completed. It seemed that civilization had scarcely begun in this region, the land being mostly in its natural state, covered with a heavy growth of timber and very wet, and wild game could be had in abundance, while the family had to go as far as Fremont, Tiffin or Perrys- burg, to mill. Here the father died at the age of seventy-four, while the mother passed away June 22, 1894, and they were buried in the Mennonite cemetery, in Perry township, Wood county. . He was first a Whig and later a Repub- lican; was an industrious, hard-working man; well versed in the Scriptures, and a consistent member of tlie Evangelical Church. In the family were the following children: Elizabeth, widow of John Walker, of Bloom township; Conrad C., who died in Jerry City; Bernard, of Fostoria; L. K., subject of this sketch; Ann, wife of John Faylor, of Henry township, Wood county; Martha, who died at the age of twenty years; Amelia, who became the wife of Leonard Harsh, and died on the old home farm; Harriet, who died at the age of eighteen years; Mary, widow of Jacob Mowry. of Risingsun, Ohio: and Sarah, who wedded Reuben Munday, and died in Fostoria, Ohio.
Not until he was fourteen years of age was L. K. Soule able to attend school, but he became an apt scholar, particularly good in mathematics, and
continued his studies during the winter months until twenty years of age, the remainder of the year being mostly passed in work upon the home farm. He later learned the carpenter's trade, at which he and his brother, Conrad, were employed for several years. In September, 1862, in Port- age township, Wood county, Mr. Soule married Miss Caroline Graham, a daughter of William Graham, one of the pioneers of that locality. They began housekeeping with his brother Bern- ard, but about that time our subject purchased forty acres of timber land in Section 2, Bloom township. In less than a year, however, the wife died, passing away in July, 1863, and her remains were interred in the Mennonite cemetery, Perry township.
Mr. Soule took an honorable part in the Civil war, enlisting in October, 1864, at Toledo, Ohio, in Company K, 182nd O. V. I. The troops were ordered to Nashville, taking part in the second engagement at that place, and remained in that vicinity until the close of the war. Our subject received his discharge in July, 1865, but since June he had been ill in Cumberland Hos- pital, and was unable to leave until the following September. During his absence he had hired some of his land cleared, and on his return began the improvement of his farm, while he also worked for others on shares.
Mr. Soule was again married, in Portage township, in May, 1866, this time to Miss Matilda Hillard, a daughter of Daniel Hillard, and to them was born a son-Clarence G., a farmer of Bloom township. At the end of five years of married life Mrs. Soule died, and her remains were interred in the Mennonite cemetery, in Perry township. Our subject later wedded Mary O. Hopkins, of Liberty township. Wood county, by whom he had four children-Earl \\' .. Cora E., Ira L. and Armen J. The last named was an infant when his mother died, and he was taken to the home of an aunt, with whom he still resides. The present wife of our subject was. in her maidenhood, Miss Melissa Phillips, of Center township, a daughter of Daniel Phillips.
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