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 93
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1354
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
death occurred in 1885, that of his widow in 1895. Iu religious belief they were Lutherans, and his political support was given the Demo- cratic party. To them was born a family of four children, three of whom are still living, namely: Mrs. Barbara Bueschen, of Toledo, Ohio; John F., subject of this review; and Mrs. Katie Kohn. of Troy township; the one deceased was a twin brother of our subject.
The entire life of John F. Myers has been passed upon the farm which is still his home, and in the common schools of Troy township he re- ceived his education. He has always engaged in farming, and now owns the old homestead. He has watched with interest the many changes that have taken place in the county, and contributed his share to the work of general improvement. In 1888, in Perrysburg, Wood county, he was married to Christina Wiechman, a native of this county, and a daughter of John Wiechman, of Troy township, and three children now grace their union: Freddie, Edith and Eunice. In July, 1894, our subject was elected trustee on the Democratic ticket, with which political party he has ever been identified, and has also served as school director. Thoroughly honest, upright and reliable, he is highly honored and respected by the entire community.
WILLIAM W. HUNTER, a prominent agricult- urist of Weston, was born in Plain township, Wood Co., Ohio, January 22, 1851, a son of Phi- lander and Phidelia (Johnson) Hunter, the former of whom was born in New England, and came to Wood county, settling near Bowling Green. His death occurred in 1851, when he was but thirty -. five years old. Politically, he was a Whig. Mrs. Hunter was born in Hocking county, Ohio, and died in Milton Center, at the age of seventy-nine years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hunter were mem- bers of the United Brethren Church. Three
children were born to them: Alinira, deceased wife of Calvin Porter; Nathan, who died in Weston township; and our subject. Mrs. Hunter again married. her second husband being A. E. Sheets, by whom she had three children: Es- ther, who niarried Levi Lott, and with her hus- band resides in the South; Addie, who died while young, and David, who died at Milton Center. The paternal grandfather, Isaac Hunter, came froin New York State, and the grandmother's people from New Hampshire. They died near Bowling Green.
Our subject grew up near Bowling Green, where he was married December 20, 1876, to Miss Sarah B. Long, whose birthi took place No-
vember 7, 1858. They have three children: Maud, born July 28, 1878; Mabel, born March 22. 1881; William, born November 14, 1883. After his , marriage, Mr. Hunter settled on his farin near Weston. which comprises sixty acres, and on which he does general farming. Politic- ally, he is a Republican; socially, he is a men- ber of the I. O. O. F., the Encampment, and of the Daughters of Rebekah.
JACOB ECKERT, a farmer in Portage township: post office, Mermill, Ohio.
SAMUEL ULIS. Among the prominent and enterprising farmers of Portage township, there is perhaps none that is looked upon with more respect than Samuel Ulis. Stark county, Ohio, was the place of his birth, which event took place June 15, 1831, eight miles south of Can- ton. His father, William Ulis, was from Penn- sylvania, followed the vocation of a farmer, and died in Stark county, Ohio. At the age of four- teen, our subject accompanied his widowed mother (who bore the maiden name of Martha Schroyer) to Crawford county, Ohio, locating in Liberty township, which at that time contained but few settlers. In Stark county, in later years, the mother wedded Philip Yent, and her death occurred in Wood county when past the age of sixty years.
Like most fariner boys of those early days, Mr. Ulis secured his education in the old-time schools near his home, and at. the age of nine- teen, started out to fight life's battle unaided. When twenty-four years of age he was united in marriage with Miss Susanna Helin, who was born in Crawford county, in 1839, and is a daughter of John Helm. Five children have been born to this union, namely: William, a farmer of Portage township; Grant, at home: Fretta, an agriculturist, of Henry township. Wood county; Jemima, now Mrs. William Amos, of Portage township; and Pert, a farmer of the same township. By industry and economy, Mr. Ulis had saved enough money so that, at the time of his marriage, he owned seventy-five acres of land in Section 2, Portage township, a part of his present farin, which now comprises 115 acres of valnable land. However, he made his home in Crawford county until 1869, but since that time has resided in Portage township. Wood county. He has taken his farm from the timber. and all the improvements seen thereon stand as monuments to his thrift and balustry started out in life with nothing but his own indomitable energy, and his accumulation of this
I
1855
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
world's goods is attributable to his good judg- inent and capable management. He was bap- tized in the Lutheran Church, and in politics he is a Republican.
J. G. RALSTON, a prominent agriculturist of Center township, residing near Bowling Green, was born in Armstrong county, Penn., April 19, 1832. He is a son of Joseph Ralston, one of the pioneer settlers of Wood county, and a brother of James D. Ralston, whose biography is given elsewhere.
Our subject was only two years of age when his parents came to the county. During boy- hood he attended the winter terms of school in a log house belonging to William Meeker, and worked upon his father's farm. He was mar- ried March 25, 1854, at the age of twenty-one, to Miss Louisa Walker, who was born May IS, 1834, the daughter of Samuel Walker, a well- known farmer of Center township. He continued to work at the homestead until he bought forty acres of land in the same neighborhood, where he built a log cabin and made many improve- ments. He sold this farm after a few years and bought property in Bowling Green, where he built a home. In 1867 he took charge of sixty acres of land in Plain township, belonging to his father, and in 1870 he sold out his interest and rented another farm, which he kept for ten years. Since that time he has conducted the Walker homestead, in Center township, manag- ing it upon progressive and successful plans.
Mr. and Mrs. Ralston are leading members of the M. E. Church, and the latter is an active worker in the Home Missionary Society. Mr. Ralston being an Odd Fellow (Centennial Lodge No. 626), both belong to the Rebekah Lodge No. 382, of Bowling Green. They have three children: Ella, born February 22, 1858, mar- ried Dr. C. S. St. John; Charles, born November 10, 1860, a bridge builder by occupation, mar- ried Miss Viola Eaton; and William, born August 9, 1866, married Miss Anna Klatt, and lives in Bowling Green. In politics Mr. Ralston is a Democrat, and, although he does not seek office, his personal influence is felt in local affairs in the support of any movement for the public good.
E. D. WINFIELD is a practicing dentist at Perrysburg, Wood Co., Ohio.
CLINTON FAY, a prominent retired agricult- urist of Bowling Green, was born in Erie county, Ohio, September 20, :$34,
His grandparents, Jonathan Fay and wife,
came from Vermont to Ohio in 1832, and were among the hardy band of pioneers who settled in the wilderness in Wood county, and prepared the way for the civilization of to-day. They had three sons, Addison, Wooster, of Council Bluffs. Iowa, and Hollis, who died in Bowling Green, at about the age of fifty-eight. Mr. Fay's grand- mother possessed exceptional strength and endur- ance, and on one occasion walked from Perrys- burg to Bowling Green through the woods in one night. Both she and her husband died, and are buried in the county.
Our subject's father, Addison Fay, was born in Vermont, in 1809, and died in Wood county, January 27, 1892. His wife, Matilda Craw, also a native of Vermont, was born in IS10, and died in 1864. In 1833, shortly after their mar- riage, they came to Ohio, and, after spending some years in farming, in Erie and Huron coun- ties, they finally settled upon a tract of 200 acres in Plain township, Wood county. They were among the leading members of the Presbyterian Church in that locality, where our subject's father was also prominent in many public move- ments, and gave support to the principles of the Republican party. Mr. Fay is the elder of two children; his sister, Ruth, who married Jacob Daly, now lives with our subject; she had three children: (1) Mary, who married Dr. Jacob Ken- dal, of Bowling Green, and has two children- Harry and Maggie; (2) Elizabeth (unmarried), and (3) Aletha, the wife of Frank Hall, of Wood county; they have two sons, Ralph and Ray- mond C.
Mr. Fay's educational advantages were lim- ited in early life to an irregular attendance in the district schools, his time being mainly employed in clearing land and preparing the virgin soil for the production of marketable crops. However, he made the most of his opportunities, and, hav- ing the mental activity and grasp of the typical Yankee, he has gathered a valuable store of gen- eral information on all the topics of the day. He has been from the first an ardent Republican, and, in 1864, he enlisted in Company C, 1.44th O. V. I., for the too-days' service, and served until the close of the war, being sent to Washington, Baltimore, Chambersburg and other points. He was married, in 1868, to Miss Leah Pugh, a lady of unusual gifts of mind and heart, who was born in Perry county, Ohio, October 23, 1835. They settled upon a farmi near Bowling Green, where they spent many happy years of quiet usefulness. A true helpmeet, Mrs. Fay sh tred her hu-bind's ambitions, and assisted him to realize them, and to enjoy, up to the time of her death, the fruits
1856
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
of his labors. After her death, Mr. Fay removed to Bowling Green, of which he has seen the en- tire growth, its handsome buildings and busy streets now occupying land which in his boyhood was his favorite hunting ground.
SAMUEL C. DIMICK is the proprietor of one of the most noticeable homesteads in Center town- ship. His residence is a handsome and substan- tial building, flanked by a good barn and the various other outbuildings required by the pro- gressive agriculturist. As a tiller of the soil he is thorough and skillful, and has been uniformly fortunate in his investments. He comes from sturdy New England stock, and was born in Lyme, N. H., on June 23, 1835.
His father, Chester Dimick, was also there born July 6, 1802, and was a son of Samuel Dimick, a native of Dorchester, Mass. The lat- ter aided the Colonies in their struggle for in- dependence, and was married in the Bay State to Abigail Cook, who was born August 12, 1767, and was a daughter of Samuel Cook, of Vermont, who was also one of the heroes of the Revolution. This worthy couple passed their last days in Lyme, N. H., and to them were born twenty-one children.
Ou attaining man's estate, Chester Dimnick followed the occupation of farining. On January 5, 1834, in Lyme, he married Mary Flint, who was born May 8, 1813, and was a daughter of Samuel Flint, of New Hampshire. Six children blessed this union: Samuel C., of this sketch; Charles N., who was born March 1, 1837, and was accidentally shot in Center township, Wood county, November 5, 1878; Chester E., born February 20, 1839; Liddie A. (deceased), born March 15, 1841; Francis B. (deceased), born February 2, 1844; and Mary F. (deceased), born October 16, 1846. The mother died on May 18, 1861, and Mr. Dimick was again married March 1, 1865, his second union being with Sophia, widow of Jonathan Conant. She passed away in November, 1875. For his third wife, he wed- ded, July 4, 1876, Nancy Franklin, who is still living. The father was accidentally poisoned by eating ivy root, and died March 4, 1877.
We now come to the personal history of our subject, who, after attending the district schools of Lyme, entered the high school of Orford, N. H., where he completed his education. After working on his father's farin for a time, he re- moved to Wisconsin, where he was in the lui- ber business for a year, and, on the expiration of that time, went to southern Minnesota, where for a year and a half he had charge of a government
farm on the Indian reservation. He then re- turned to New Hampshire, buying the old home- stead, which he operated for seven years, and also engaged in the hardware business, which he later sold out. On again coming west, he lo- cated at Toledo, Ohio, where he was engaged in the manufacture of cans for four years, when lie disposed of that business. In 1875, we find him a resident of Center township, Wood county, where he purchased 120 acres of the old Will- iams farm, and has here since made his home. He has one of the best orchards in the township, and his excellent farm has been brought under a high state of cultivation by industry and good management, with its attendant hard labor.
Mr. Dimick was married at Lyme, N. H., in 1860, to Mary Marshall, who was born in 1835. and they became the parents of two children, the younger of whom, Burton C., born November 4, 1869, died in July, 1889; MARSHALL C., born December 13, 1867, was educated at Toledo and Bowling Green, and now has a half-interest in the homestead farm, to the cultivation and iin- provement of which he now devotes his energies. He is a young man of good address, genial and industrious, and is one of the most enterprising and progressive farmers of Center township.
The father of Mrs. Dimmick, Micaiah Marsh- all, was born at Lyme, N. H., and by occupation was a farmer. On June 30, 1811, he married Charlotte Kimball, by whom he had four chil- dren: Polly, born June 8, 1812; Francis, born August 5, 1813; Chauncy, born July 20, IS14; and Charlotte, born December 16, 1815. The inother of this family died in March, 1816. For his second wife, Mr. Marshall wedded Martha Suthard, December 25, 1817. Her birth oc- curred on February 12, 1798. By this union were born twelve children, as follows: B. S .. born September 24. ISIS, died February 12. 1839; Martha P., born September 17, 1820, died December 10, 1890; Anson S., born December 3. 1823, was accidentally shot July 4, 1874; David E., born February 4, 1825, died February 16, 1852; C. S., born March 22, 1827, died Decem- ber 30, 1856; Elizabeth K., born March 16, 1829. died September 26, 1845; George C., boru Jan- uary 28, 1831, died December 27, 1883; Harriet E., born May 6, 1833, died December 19, 1860: Mary, born January to, 1835, is the wife of our subject; Sarah T., born February 15, 1837, died July 9, 1849; Luena L., born July 6, 1841, died April 29, 1863: and Jane E., born AAugust 10, 1845, died March 20, 1879. The wife and moth- er passed away ou December 9, 1865, and Mr. Marshall later wedded Eliza K. Russ, who was
1857
WOOD COUNTY, OHIO.
born August 16, 1807. He departed this life May 6, 1891, and his last wife died December 18, 1893.
Mr. and Mrs. Dimick are social, entertaining people, good conversationalists, and their hos- pitable home is ever open for the reception of their many friends. They are active and con- sistent members of the Presbyterian Church, in which he has been elder for many years, and, in accordance with his views on the temperance question, casts his vote with the Prohibition party. Mrs. Dimick is now in feeble health, having re- ceived a stroke of paralysis, from the effects of which she suffers much. Our subject has prac- tically laid aside business cares, the management of the farm being almost entirely given over to his son.
JOHN M. GOODRICK, a jeweler and tonsorial artist of Prairie Depot, is one of the enterprising, progressive business men of that live little city. He was born January 2, 1862, in Canton. St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., and is a son of Dr. Nelson W. and Loraine (Leonard) Goodrick. His pa- ternal grandparents, Isaac and Clementia Good- rick, were natives of England, and in their fam- ily were four children: Harriet, who married, and is now deceased; Nelson W., the next in order of birth; Fanny, who died young; and Isaac, who became a member of the 16th N. Y. V. I. during the Civil war, later re-enlisted in 1 the 42nd N. Y. V. I., and was accidentally shot at a landing.
The birth of Dr. Nelson W. Goodrick oc- curred at Fairfax, Vt., June 9, 1836, and when quite small his mother died. After obtaining a good literary education in the common schools he learned the tanner's trade, which he followed until he entered the Physio-Medical College, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and, in 1867, he engaged in the practice of his profession. On February 28, '1861, he married Loraine Leonard, by whom he had three children: John Maitland, Adelbert, and Lester Nelson, two of whom died in infancy. When our subject was quite sinall the parents removed to Defiance, Ohio, but soon after went to Maumee, where the mother's death occurred, February 27, 1865. For his second wife the Doctor, in 1869, wedded Miss Fanny Conner, a native of Orange county, N. Y., born Jaly co. 1847, a daughter of James F. and Elizabeth (Gra- ham) Conner, who came to Ohio when Mrs. Good- rick was a mere girl. Four children were born of this second union: Alice (now Mrs. Lyman McDowell). of Prairie Depot; Joel, at home; Nellie, who died at the age of four years; and :
Cora, at home. Until 1870 the father continued to reside at Maumee, when he came to Prairie Depot, where he practiced successfully until his death, September 7, 1883. He had fought his way through life unaided, and gained the confi- dence and good will of all with whom he came in contact. His political support was given the Republican party. Since his death the widow has continued to reside at Prairie Depot, where she has a comfortable home, and is held in the highest respect.
J. M. Goodrick was but an infant when brought to Ohio, and here he received his educa- tion in the common schools. Though his oppor- tunities in that direction were good, like many other boys, he did not take advantage of them. At the age of ten years he sustained injuries which affected his spine, producing lateral curva- ture, and physically rendered bim a partial crip- ple. When sixteen he left home, working at different places until 1885, when he began learn- ing the barber's trade at Prairie Depot under Charles Simmons, and when he had mastered the same, he began business in that line for him- self at the same place. He now owns a fine res- idence located on West Main street, together with his place of business, which he occupies, situated on a lot 22x90 feet, in the business center of Prairie Depot; and to his tonsorial business he, in 1893, added a complete line of jewelry. His place and its equipments are such as would do credit to a much larger town than Prairie Depot. In March, 1887. at that place Mr. Goodrick was married to Miss Rebecca K. Feltman, daughter of Philip Feltman, and to them has been born one child, Mabel M. Our subject takes an active interest in the success of the Republican party, which he always supports by his ballot, but cares nothing for political pref- erment, desiring to devote his time and attention to his business affairs, in which he has been quite successful, and he is numbered among the progressive and wide-awake business men of Prairie Depot. He is strictly a self-made man. though when twenty-one years of age he received some capital from his mother's estate; but like many young men lost the money in bad bargains. so his present accumulations are in no way the outgrowth of that inheritance. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., belonging to the subordinate lodge at Prairie Depot, and the Encampment at Toledo, Ohio; is also a member of the Knights of Pythias at Prairie Depot.
FRANK POWELL, a retired farmer of Perrys- burg township; post office, Perrysburg, Ohio.
1358
WOOD COUNTY, OnIO.
LEWIS WHITMAN, a leading and highly re- spected citizen of West Millgrove, was born November 8, 1843, in Montgomery township, this county. . His father, William H. Whitman, was a native of New York State, born March 21, 1819, from where, when he was a child, his parents, Samuel and Elizabeth (Hay) Whitman, who were born in Vermont, moved to Onondaga county, N. Y., for many years making their home in the village of Camillus, then removing to Illinois, where they remained a short time, and then came to Wood county, where they passed the rest of their days. The father died in Montgomery township, living to be over eighty- one years of age, the mother in West Millgrove at the age of nearly ninety years, and they are both buried at Prairie Depot. They were the parents of eight children, as follows: Clarissa E. married Elias Frink, and died in the State of Washington; Julia married Seth Newcomb, and died in New York; William H. comes next in the order of birth; Mary J. and Eliza B. both died in childhood; Lewis died in Andersonville prison, having been taken prisoner by the Confederates during the Civil war, while serving in an Illinois regiment; Eliza married Alonzo Dingman, and died in Michigan; Luther died in Perry township, Wood county.
William H. Whitman received a fairly liberal education at the schools of the neighborhood of his boyhood home, and was reared to manhood on a farm. On February 8, 1844, he was mar- ried in Onondaga county, N. Y., to Miss Eunice Tyrrel, who was born in New York, May 5, 1824, daughter of William and Love (Huff) Tyrrel, and in the following August the young couple came to Wood county. Mr. Whitman had previously visited here twice, and purchased eighty acres of land in Section 26, Montgomery township, where he built his first home-a round-log cabin, with clapboard roof and puncheon floor. To this honored pioneer couple were born children as follows: Lewis, whose name introduces this sketch; Theodore, who served in Company H, 49th O. V. I., in the war of the Rebellion, was thrice wounded, was captured by the Confeder- ates, and lay for six weeks in Libby prison (he died in Risingsun, Ohio); Nathan, a resident of Hardin county, Iowa; Emily (now Mrs. - Cyrus Baldwin), of West Millgrove, Ohio; Electa, who died when nearly nineteen years of age; Adeline, deceased in childhood; Frederick, of San Bernardino county, Cal. ; George, who died young; Edwin, living i Prairie Depot. Ohio: James, a farmer in Montgomery township, and two daughters that died in infancy. The father
of this family is a life-time agriculturist, and has ever since lived where he had first settled. redeeming a fine farm from the primeval forest. On February 8, 1894, he and his wife celebrated their golden wedding, on which occasion a most pleasant reunion was held, all the children who were at home being present. In politics, Mr. Whitman has always been a stanch Republican. but never an office seeker, and he cast his first Presidential vote for W. H. Harrison. He and his amiable life partner are not identified with any Church; but they lead good Christian lives, and are honored and respected by all. They have numerous descendants, including five great-grand- children. Mrs. Whitman's father, for some time prior to his marriage, taught school in Montgom- ery township, Wood county, then returned to New York State, married, and in 1843 settled in Wood county.
Lewis Whitman received as good an educa- tion in his boyhood as could be secured in his day and locality, which was much interrupted by his work on the farm, where, being the eldest son and child, he had to devote much of his time. When he had entered his "'teens " he commenced learning carpentry with Henry Fuller, and after a couple of seasons took up the trade for his own account, at which he was working at the time of his enlistment, August 15, 1861, in Company HI. 49th O. V. I., Capt. O. B. Hays, which regi- ment went from Camp Dennison to the South. At the time of the battle of Shiloh our subject was doing detached duty at division headquarters. and after the engagement at Perryville, he re- joined his regiment and participated in all the battles and skirmishes in which it was engaged. up to February, 1864, when he came home on furlough. Re-enlisting in the same company and regiment, at Cleveland, Tenn., he was in every fight thereafter in which the 49th took part. till he was wounded, in front of Atlanta, Ga., July 24, 1864. He was then sent to the field hospital. later to Nashville, where he secured a furlough to visit his home; returned after a short time to Nashville, thence was sent to Keokuk, Towa. where he remained until the latter part of Mas 1865, when, being refused a discharge from the army, he rejoined his regiment at Nashvila From there he was sent to Texas, where, at Vic- toria, he was discharged November 25. 1805. and returned home, arriving January 1, Non, after an absence (less the furloughs mentione ) above) of four years and four and one-half nogth
While on one of his farlonghs, Mr Wantawan was married, October It, 1864, in Perry town- ship, to Miss Mary R. Ford, a native of Medivt
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