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 86
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W. M. WICKHAM is president of the Cham- pion Oil Company, which was established in 1894, and began operations in Freedom town- ship, Wood county, near the Sandusky county line, where they have opened up two wells that are still flowing. Five men compose the com- pany, S. P. Hathaway being secretary-treasurer. On coming to Wood county, in June, 1893. our subject located at Luckey, where he served as agent for the Toledo & Oliio Central railroad. and also dealt quite extensively in grain and stock. Previous to this time he had been em- ployed by the same road for three years at Mccutchenville, Wyandot Co., Ohio.
Mr. Wickham is a native of Ohio, born in Crawford county, in 1858, and is a son of Wil- lard and Phoebe (Pennington) Wickham, the former a native of New York, the latter of Vi - ginia. In 1836, the father had located in Cri- ford county, where he was married, and where he still resides, a widower, his wife having
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died there in 1889. Seven of their ten chil- dren are still living, namely: G. W., of Craw- ford county, who there enlisted in 1861 in the 123rd O. V. I., and, after a three-years' service, he became a veteran of the same company and regiment; Mrs. Maggie. Hoffman, of Crawford county; M. W., who belonged to the one-hundred-days' service during the Rebellion, and now makes his home in Crawford county; Anson, of Bucyrus, Ohio; Mrs. Mary Banks, of Crawford county; W. H., a physician and sur- geon of Sycamore, Wyandot Co., Ohio; and W. M.
After attending the schools of Crawford coun- ty, our subject took a scientific course in the Otterbein University, at Westerville, Ohio, where he was graduated in June, 1883, and then began teaching in his native county. He was after- ward employed in the graded schools of Melmore, Seneca county, and Deunquat, Wyandot county, being for about fifteen years a teacher in those three counties. For a time he then studied law at Bucyrus, Ohio, but as his health began to fail, he secured a position as traveling salesman in In- diana, Illinois and Ohio. Not liking that busi- ness, however, he learned telegraphy at Sycamore, Ohio, in the office of the Toledo & Ohio Central railroad, by which he was employed until coming to Luckey, in June, 1893. In 1895, in his native county, he was married to Miss Florence Biggs, who was born in Wyandot county, and is a daughter of John and Emily (Longwell) Biggs, the former a native of Maryland, and the latter of New Jersey, but in this State they were mar- ried, and became early settlers of Wyandot county. The father died in Traverse City, Mich., in 1895, at the age of seventy-two years, and there his widow still resides. In 1883, Mr. Wickham served as class president at Wester- ville, Ohio, and has ever taken an active interest in educational matters. Socially, he holds mem- bership with Blendon Lodge, F. and A. M.
SILAS POWELL, a worthy representative of the agricultural interests of Henry township, was born March 6, 1857, in Eagle township, Han- cock Co., Ohio. His father, Ben Powell, was a native of Pennsylvania, whence when a child of four years he was brought to Ohio, and was reared and educated in Eagle township, Hancock coun- ty. He is now living on a farin of eighty acres there. His father, Daniel Powell, had entered a large tract of land from the government, and when his son Ben grew to manhood gave him the eighty-acre tract. The latter was married in Hancock county, to Mary Jane England, a
native of Fairfield county, Ohio. They had children as follows: Lewis, a farmer of Hancock county; Mary Jane, at home; Martin, who died in 1892; Sarah Ellen, wife of Jacob Crossley, of Hancock county; Charles, who died in 1894; .Amanda, wife of Thomas Fox, of Hancock county; Idella, wife of Roy Nepper, of Hancock county; and Silas.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the district schools near his home, and was reared as a farmer, but has followed both black- smithing and carpentering, having learned both pursuits without aid. At the time of his mar- riage he located on a farm in his native county. which he operated until coming to Wood county in November, 1885. Having sold his other property he here bought eighty acres of land in Section 31, Henry township, of which all but ten acres Was covered with timber. At the present time there are only eight acres unimproved. He has tiled and fenced the place, planted a good orchard, erected a comfortable home, and now has one of the finely-developed farms of Wood county.
In Hancock county, Mr. Powell was joined in wedlock, December 26, 1882, with Miss Clara Loy, who was born in Eagle township, Hancock county, August 17, 1862. Three chil- dren grace this union: Melvin Ray, Cora and Hazel. Mr. Powell is a Democrat, and takes an active part in political affairs. He is now serv- ing as trustee, to which position he was elected in the spring of 1893; socially, he is connected with the Knights of Pythias, of Hoytville. Hc is well known throughont the locality, where his many excellencies of character, and his sterling worth, have gained for him high regard.
ISAAC ZIMMERMAN. Many of the leading cit- izens of this county have served their country during the dark days of the Rebellion, making a record honorable and glorious. One of these brave " boys" is now a farmer of Portage township. and is highly respected as a representative of one of the pioneer families of Wood county. He was born in Webster township, December 25. 1843. and is a son of William and Isabel ( Householder) Zimmerman, the former a native of Virginia, and the latter of Ohio. From Pennsylvania the father came to the Buckeye State, becoming an early settler of Webster township, Wood county. but he and his wife have both passed away.
Until his enlistment in the Union army, Isaac Zimmerman remained under the parental roof. securing his education in the district schools of Webster township, and by one term's attendance
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at a select school taught by Alfred Kelley. On July 10, 1863, he became a meniber of Company L, 2nd O. H. A., and from Camp Dennison went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was assigned to his regiment. The first active engagement in which he participated was at Strawberry Plains, and from that time he remained with his command continuously until the close of hostilities. He was discharged at Nashville, Tenn., August 23, 1865, after which he returned to Wood county, and began business for himself as a farm hand. In September, 1868, in Webster township. Mr. , Zimmerman was married to Miss Hulda Tefft, who was born in Bloom township, Wood county, April 1, 1848, one of the family of eight children -four sons and four daughters-born to William and Jane (Baird) Tefft. Her father owned and operated a sawmill in this county. Four chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Zimmer- inan: Cora, who became the wife of J. E. Shinew, and died in Center township, Wood county; a daughter who died in infancy; and Asher and Charles, both at home.
For a time Mr. Zimmerman rented land in his native township, and then purchased fifty acres of timberland in Section 9, Center township. the improvements consisting of only log buildings. Although he secured the land on easy terms, it required considerable effort to meet the pay- ments, as the land was all wild. He later owned another farm in Center township, in Section 34; but in 1890 he removed to his present place, which constitutes fifty-nine acres of rich and arable land in Section 6, Portage township. He has made many improvements upon the farm, and is numbered among the well-to-do farmers and best citizens of the community. He has always led auf honest, honorable life, is ever ready to extend a helping hand to the needy, and is held in de- servedly high repute by all in the township. Until 1884 he was a Republican in politics, but now is a strong supporter of the Peoples party. With Wiley Post G. A. R., of Bowling Green, Ohio, he holds membership.
FRED J. MATZINGER, a prominent lumber dealer of Perrysburg, enjoys the distinction of being the youngest man now conducting an in- dependent business of any magnitude there. He is a native of that town, born October 5, 1872.
Our subject's father, the late Joseph Matzin- ger, came from Switzerland at the age of twenty- two, and after making an extensive prospecting tour settled in Perrysburg, where he opened a furniture factory, which he carried on until his death, in 1873. He was a devout Methodist in
religious faith, and in politics he was a stanch . Democrat, never failing to show an intelligent interest in all matters affecting the welfare of his adopted country. He married Miss Amelia Eber- ly, a native of Perrysburg. who survives him, with their only child, our subject. Fred J. Mat- zinger received an excellent education in his early youth, supplementing his studies in the public school with a course at Cleary College, Ypsi- lanti, Mich., where he was graduated in 1889. He then obtained employment at Jackson. Mich., in a sash, door and blind factory, and familiarized himself with the lumber business in general. . On January 22, 1894, he estab- lished himself in business in his native town. opening a lumber yard, where he has already de- veloped an extensive trade. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity; in politics is a Republic- an, and is one of the leaders among the young men of the community, his early demonstrated ability and energy giving him influence unusual for one of his years.
ELIAS HANELY is one of the most genial and wholesouled men of Wood county, and in Sec- tion 34, Lake township, has built up a fine home- stead. His tastes have always inclined him to agricultural pursuits, and he has been quite suc- cessful in his life work. A native of Lancaster county, Penn., he was born September 30, IS17. at the home of his parents, Michael and Susanna (Stoner) Hanely, who were born in the same county, tlie former in 1793, and the latter in 1795. There they were reared and married. and in 1830 brought their family to Stark county. Ohio, where the father opened up a farm in the midst of the wilderness, on which he died in 1865. The mother's death occurred in Defiance county, Ohio, in 1884. Our subject was the eldest in their family; of the others, we have record of the following: Moses, who, for many years resided in Richland county, Ohio, where he died in 1893; John, who died in Stark county, in 1861; Jonas, a resident of Troy township. Wood county; and Andrew, who makes his home in Defiance county.
When thirteen years of age, Elias Hanely ac- companied his parents to Ohio, and, in Stark county, completed his education, which was begun in Pennsylvania. There he remained until (846, the year of his arrival in Wood counts. locating in Lake township, when the nearest market was at Perrysburg, and purchased 100 acres of wild land covered with dense forest He battled bravely for a number of years with the elements of a new soil, and, looking upon
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Fred &Matzinger,
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his possession to-day, it is hardly necessary to state that he has made good nse of his time, and been remarkably fortunate. The land has been brought under a high state of cultivation, and yields rich harvests in abundance. In Ash- land county, Ohio, in 1844, Mr. Hanely was married to Miss Susanna Shriner, a native of Stark county, where her parents, John and Mary (Hoover) Shriner, located in 1829. They were born in Pennsylvania, and passed their last days in Ashland county, this Statc. The home to which our subject brought his wife in this county was a log house: but there they passed many
happy days. For forty-seven years they trav- eled life's journey together, sharing in its joys and sorrows, adversity and prosperity; but in June, IS91, the loving wife was called to her final home. Of their union were born the fol- løwing children: (1) Mary Ann is the wife of of Joseph Crago, of Lake township: (2) Samuel married Elizabeth Myers, by whom he has eleven children --- William, Albert, Libbie, Laura, Elias, Bertha, Pearl, Mary, Walter, Herman and Stella; (3) Andrew wedded Caroline Crago, and they have five children-Roland, Grover, Bessie, Ed- die and Chester; (4) Fiana is the wife of Samuel Baker, of Lake township, and they have one child now living-Alice; '(5) John, also a resident of Lake township, married Sabine Schwemley, and to them have been born three children -- Dora, Clarence, and Frances.
For over half a century Mr. Hanely has been a resident of Wood county, during which time he has watched with interest the wonderful changes that have taken place, and assisted ma- terially in its development. He is now, proba- bly, the oldest settler in Lake township. where he has gained many warm friends, and all respect and honor him for his sterling worth. In re- ligious faith he is a member of the Lutheran Church of Stony Ridge. He has been super- visor, and for several terms has served as trustee of the township, and, in politics, he votes inde- pendently.
WILLIAM CARIS, a representative, self-made farmer, of Portage township, is an Ohioan by birth, having first seen the light January 17, 1820, in Brown township, Carroll county.
The parents of our subject, John and Susan- nah ( Banghman ) Caris, were both from North-
: umberland county, Penn., and in pioneer days : migrated to Ohio, where they passed the re- mainder of their useful lives. In 1849 they set - tled in Liberty township, Crawford county, where the father purchased 120 acres of partially-in-
proved land, and he died on that farm at the age of seventy-five years, Mrs. Caris living to the ad- vanced age of ninety-five. They had a family of ten children, William being the second youngest. During his youth he attended the primitive log schools then in vogue, with their rnde benches and other simple appliances, and he approves heartily of the numerous improvements that have been made in the public-school system. He was thoroughly trained to agriculture on the home farm, and lived with his parents up to the age of thirty-three years. In 1850 he was married. in Crawford county, Ohio, to Miss Catherine Heck- ard, and ten years later removed to Portage township, Wood county, on land which he had bought and paid for two years previously. The farm consisted of eighty acres of swampy ground lying in Section 34, the nearest road on the east at that time being two and one-half miles distant, and, on the west, three miles distant. He cut the first road to his farm, which was then all in the woods, and he was obliged to cut away enough trees to make room for his dwelling, a plank house. It took three yoke of oxen to haul their household goods from Jerry City. Mr. Caris at once set to work to improve this land, and he has drained it and brought it to a high state of cultivation. working incessantly to convert the place into a comfortable property. He has erected every building that stands on the place, and has reason to be proud of its thrifty appear- ance and general air of neatness and prosperity. In spite of the many years of hard labor which he has devoted to farming, Mr. Caris is a well- preserved man, and he has won the esteem of all by his industry and uprightness.
To William and Catherine Caris were born children as follows: Eliza ( Mrs. Christ Aum- augher), of Portage township; Elizabeth ( Mrs. William Dusler), of Liberty township; Oliver. who died at the age of six years; Daniel, who died at the age of twenty-three years; Susan (Mrs. John Tippit), of Portage; Philip, of Port- age township; and Jane (Mrs. Lincoln Wickard), of Jerry City. The mother of these was called . to her long home February 19, 1894, and for his second wife Mr. Caris wedded Mrs. Sarah ( Fay- lor) Soule, widow of C. C. Soule; she is a native of Richland county, Ohio, daughter of John and Sarah ( Pritchard ) Faylor, who came to Wood county when she was only a child. Our subject is a Republican in political sentiment. He has been an active man in his community. ont has served faithfully as trustee and supervisor of his township, for over twenty-five years as school director of District No. 6, and for a number of
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years as clerk of the district. In religious con- nection he is a member of the Liberal U. B. Church.
H. E. LEEDY. Among the agriculturists of Wood county who are numbered among Ohio's native sons is this gentleman, whose birth oc- curred in Knox county, Angust 21, 1848, his parents being Jacob and Susanna (Bostater) Leedy. His father was a native of Bedford county, Penn., and during his boyhood accom- panied his parents to Knox county, where the - grandfather, Abraham Leedy, purchased land, and had, at the time of his death, 800 acres of very rich land. Jacob Leedy succeeded his father on this place, and there lived until remov- ing to Hancock county, Ohio, in the early '50s. He purchased 120 acres of land six miles from Fostoria, and later added seventy-five acres, which he continued to cultivate until his death, October 20, 1872. His widow is now living with her children. The family record is as follows: Aaron, who died in infancy; Ezra, who married Alice Need, and is living on the old homestead; H. E .; Lavinia, who became the wife of George Ruch, and died at West Independence, Ohio; Mary, wife of Abraham Bowers, of West Inde- pendence; Elijah, who wedded Mary Crocker, . and is living on the old homestead in Hancock county, and Byron, who married Ella Bowers, and makes his home in Independence, Ohio.
Mr. Leedy, of this review, was a child of seven summers when he went with his parents to Hancock county. There he attended school until he had attained his majority, after which he worked on his father's farm until his marriage. On the 13th of June, 1872, in Seneca county, Ohio, Mr. Leedy was joined in wedlock with Mary J. Lawhead, who was born in that county July 28, 1851, and is a daughter of James W. and Catherine (Diebley) Lawhead, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Canton, Ohio. They were married in Hancock county, and afterward removed to Seneca county, where the father purchased 120 acres of land, also 120 acres near Freeport, Ohio. His death occurred about the year 1888, and that of his wife July 21, 1891. The former had one son by a first mar- riage-William. The children of the second marriage were Ella, Lewis and Ehner.
Mr. and Mrs. Leedy began their domestic life on a rented farm, and in the spring of 1874 removed to Seneca county, where they also rented land until the fall of 1878. In February, 1879, they emigrated to Missouri, and rented a farm of 120 acres in Vernon county, where they
remained until October following, when they re- turned to Ohio. Mrs. Leedy and her children accomplished the journey by rail, while Mr. Leedy drove across the country, reaching Inde- pendence, Ohio, on the 5th of November, I879. He there rented a house until the following spring, when he purchased his present farm of 160 acres in Liberty township. Wood county, removing his family to this place April 12, 1880. He has since carried on agricultural pursuits, and is a substantial farmer.
Mr. and Mrs. Leedy have three children ---- Clara, born September 16, 1873; May, born October 9; 1881; and Verda Cleo, born July 2, 1891. The parents are active workers and faith- ful members of the German Baptist Church. In politics, Mr. Leedy is a Democrat. He has served as township trustee for nine years, and assessor for one term, discharging his duties with credit to himself and satisfaction to all concerned.
SAMUEL SHOOK, a worthy and honored repre- sentative of the early pioneers of Wood county, is a true type of the energetic, hardy, and cour- ageous men who actively assisted in the develop- ment of this region. Deer and other wild game had not yet fled before the advancing steps of civilization, and most of the land was still in its primitive condition. In the transformation that has taken place, he has born an important part, and is now numbered among the prominent farm- ers of Troy township, residing at Stony Ridge.
Born in Franklin county, Penn., in 1831, our subject is a son of John and Sarah (Koon) Shock, also natives of that county where the father car- ried on farming. In 1855 they came to Troy township, Wood county, where the father died about 1868, and his excellent wife in 1873. Their family consisted of these children: Joseph. who arrived in Troy township about 1850, was a merchant of Stony Ridge, where he died in 1892; Mrs. Ann Stoner died in that township in ISSo; Catherine is the deceased wife of James Mc- Cutchen, Sr. ; Mrs. Polly File has also passed away; Samuel is next in order of birth: Martin is a merchant of Stony Ridge: John, a resident of Lake township, Wood county, enlisted in Troy township during the Civil war, and served until its close; and Mrs. Fannie Newcomb makes her home in Seneca county, Ohio.
Our subject received the benefits of a common- school education in his native county, and was otherwise fitted for the battle of life. £ In :SAS he left Pennsylvania for Mansfield, Richland Co Ohio, where he remained for a year, at the ex- piration of which time he located in Stony Ridge.
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Wood county. For about ten years he was there engaged at his trades of plastering and brick laying, and from 1872 until 1882 conducted the "Empire House." He then erected a two-story brick store building, where for some eleven years he carried on the grocery business, but now de- votes his entire time and attention to the culti- vation and improvement of his fine farm in Troy township,
At Sylvania, Mich., in 1850, Mr. Shook mar- ried Miss Clarissa Smith, a native of Perrysburg, Wood county, and a daughter of Joshua and Huldah (Alger) Smith, the former born in Kings- ton, R. I., October 19, 1789, but reared in New York, and the latter born June 17, 1792, at Albany, N. Y., where they were married October 29, 1812. About February, 1817, the parents removed to Bellefontaine, Ohio, where they re- sided until coming to Perrysburg in 1830. In connection with the manufacture of brick, the father also followed farming in Wood county, and in 1835 became one of the first settlers of Stony Ridge, where he died August 16, 1858. There his wife also spent her last days, dying in January, 1879. In their family were seven chil- dren: Lucy, now Mrs. Julius Blum, of Perrys- burg, Ohio; Maria. who died in New York, February 10, 1817, when a young girl; John Lee, who died of cholera at Stony Ridge, in 1854; Joshua V., who makes his home in Stony Ridge; Jacob, who died at Lemoyne, Wood county, January 1, 1865; Elizabeth, who became the wife of DeWitt Van Camp, and died at Stony Ridge in 1885; and Clarissa, wife of our subject. Two children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Shook: Amos C., who wedded Frances Marsh, by whom he has four children-Agnes, Jennie, Ruby, and Lee, and resides at Stony Ridge; and Emeline, wife of Noah Bean, of Stony Ridge, by whom she has three children- George C., Della and Ethel.
Though not an active politician. Mr. Shook votes with the Democratic party as his sentiments and beliefs dictate, and has served two years both as trustee and assessor of his township, and as postmaster of Stony Ridge. He and his estimable wife are members in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are greatly esteemed in their community, as representing the best type of its moral and social element.
WILLIAM S. BRYANT. Two qualities which are absolutely essential to success are industry and energy, and these our subject possessess in a high degree. Thus he has worked his way up- ward until to-day he is numbered among the
substantial farmers and respected citizens of Wood county. He was born in Findlay town- ship, Hancock county, October 18, 1857, and is a son of George . W. Bryant, a native of New York, who in his boyhood accompanied his par- ents to Hancock county. In Richland county, Ohio, he married Isabel Kemp, and located in Findlay. During the Civil war he enlisted in the 21st O. V. I., and afterward joined the 5th Ohio Regiment. He died in the service at Louisville, Ky., of an attack of smallpox. To Mr. and Mrs. Bryant were born three children: Sarah Jane, wife of J. H. Lamb, of Henry township; George W., a farmer of Hardin county, Ohio; and Will- iam S. The mother is still living in Toledo, Ohio.
Our subject attended the public schools of Findlay until fourteen years of age, when he started out to make his own way in the world. He there learned the trade of carriage painting, which he followed some fourteen years, when, with the capital he had acquired through his own industry and frugality, he bought an interest in the business. A year later, however, he sold out, removing to Marseilles, Wyandot Co., Ohio, where he carried on a paint shop for two years. Failing health then necessitating his retirement from that business, he came to Henry township, Wood county, where he purchased forty acres of timber land that he has since transformed into a comfortable home. He afterward purchased sixty acres additional, but now owns eighty acres, all under a high state of cultivation and improved with the accessories and conveniences of a mnodel farm.
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