County of Williams, Ohio, Historical and Biographical, Part 58

Author: Weston A. Goodspeed, Charles Blanchard
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 885

USA > Ohio > Williams County > County of Williams, Ohio, Historical and Biographical > Part 58

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GEORGE STRAYER, present Prosecuting Attorney of Williams County, was born February 15, 1853, in Superior Township. His father, Eli Strayer, is a native of Stark County, and his grandparents were among the old settlers thereof. They moved from Stark to Lucas County, and thence to Superior Township, this county, about 1838. George

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Strayer was reared in his native township, received a fair education, and for five years traveled through Michigan, engaged in various pursuits. He taught two terms of public school in the winters of 1877-78 and 1879, and began reading law in August, 1878, under Hon. S. E. Blakeslee, of Bryan. In October, 1879, he attended the law school of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and continued there six months. March 17, 1880, he passed an examination at Columbus, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar, and immediately afterward opened an office in Montpelier. In August of the same year, he formed a partnership with W. O. Johnston at the same place, Mr. J. being the present Mayor of Bryan. That winter they were burned out, but they remained as partners until September, 1881. In May, 1881, he received the Republican nomination for Prose- cuting Attorney of Williams County, and, in October of the same year, was elected. Owing to the resignation of the Prosecuting Attorney at that time, he received the appointment, and immediately moved to Bryan in discharge of the duties of his office, and immediately formed his present partnership with Philetus Smith, which has ever since continued. He has here met with good success as an attorney, and also will make a popular and competent official. He was married, June 17, 1880, to Miss Alice Stauffer, who was born in Montpelier, March, 1860. Mr. Strayer is a Republican in politics, a member of the I. O. O. F., the O. F. En- campment and the Patriarchal Circle of Bryan Temple, No. 9. His mother was Mary Kagg, a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, born about 1332, and came with her parents to America when eighteen months old. Her parents first settled in Lucas County, Ohio, but removed to Williams County in about 1842, where she married our subject's father in about 1851.

TAYLOR BROS., druggists. W. S. Taylor and Hiett B. Taylor were born respectively in Wayne County, July 8, 1854, and in Coshoc- ton County, Ohio, May 18, 1856, and are the sons of William H. and Rachel (Lewis) Taylor, who were natives of Washington County, Penn., and Holmes County, Ohio, and of English descent. William H. Taylor resided in his native State until about twenty-two years of age, when he came to Coshocton County, Ohio, shortly afterward entering Martinsburg Academy of Knox County, becoming a room-mate of William Windom, ex-Secretary of the United States Treasury, and of Hon. George P. Money, who served Williams County, Ohio, in the State Legislature. While a student in 1847, he enlisted in Company G, of the Second Ohio Infantry. He was under the command of Gen. Scott, and participated in the battle of Vera Cruz, Mex. After this war was over, he came back home and began teaching and going to school. In about 1848, he be- came a member of the M. E. Church, and in 1849 was licensed to

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preach. Up until the fall of 1861, he traveled, engaged in ministerial labors, then came to Bryan and engaged in the hardware trade. Two years later, he sold out and recommenced preaching, continuing the same until 1871, when he settled in Bryan, where he and wife are yet living. Their two sons, William S. and Hiett B., were reared chiefly in Williams County. The former, after going to the public schools of Bryan, attended the Ohio Wesleyan University for two years. Both brothers served in Dr. Snyder's drug store three and four years respectively, the elder also taking a course in the Chicago Pharmacy. In March, 1880, they began the drug trade on their own account in Bryan, and now carry a full line of pure drugs, books, stationery, cigars, etc., their stock invoicing over $6,000. Hiett B. takes considerable interest in the live stock of the county, and for the last two years has been manager of the horse depart- ment of the County Agricultural Society. Both brothers are Repub- licans, and members of the Masonic fraternity. W. S. was married, De- cember 12, 1881, to Miss Emma Long, daughter of Henry C. Long, deceased, appropriate mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work.

THOMAS TANEYHILL was born in Calvert County, Md., De- cember 7, 1803, the son of John and Ellen (Sunderland) Taneyhill, both natives of the same State, where the father died in 1811, and his widow in 1832. Thomas left the home farm in his twenty-fifth year, and began to study for the ministry in the M. E. Church. In 1858, he came from Pennsylvania to this State, and for nine months stopped at West Unity ; he then purchased the eighty-acre farm on which he now resides in this township. February 28, 1882, he married Miss Elizabeth B. Berryman, who was born in Pennsylvania, December 11, 1811, and to this union have been born nine children, viz., Sarah Ann, Mary Ellen, John Emery, George Lane, Charles Wesley, Elizabeth G., Adam Clark (deceased), James Thomas and Olin Venson. Politically, Mr. Taneyhill was for- merly a Whig, but became a Republican on the organization of that party. His son, Charles Wesley, now living on the home farm, is the owner of some very fine Jersey cattle, to the rearing of which he devotes most of his attention.

COLIN THARP is s native of the Keystone State, his birth occur- ring in Columbiana County in 1808. His parents, John C. and Rachel (Perry) Tharp, were natives of Sussex County, N. J., where they were married, and where they lived until the latter part of the last century, when they removed to Pennsylvania, remaining there until 1820, when they moved to Wayne County, Ohio, and to near Lima, Ohio, in 1835, where they lived until their respective deaths. The father in early years was a miller, but later in life followed the occupation of husbandman. His family consisted of twelve sons and two daughters, and of these five

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brothers and one sister are yet living. Both parents are dead. Colin Tharp, at the age of about eight years, though still living a portion of the time at home, began working in woolen and flouring mills, and was thus variously employed until about seventeen years old, when he worked for two years on the Cleveland & Portsmouth Canal, and about one year on the Pennsylvania Canal. He then entered the coal mines near Steuben- ville, Ohio, working thus about two years, and carefully saving his money. When but a stripling, after he had begun for himself, he adopted a few good principles of conduct, to which he has rigidly adhered until the present. He left Steubenville, and went to Wayne County, Ohio, and located on a farm there. At the time he was working on the canal for $8 per month, he purchased a tract of land, and the payments for the same were made from the savings of his wages. To this day he humorously remarks that he worked for $8 per month and saved $15, meaning that the proper investment of his wages brought the same returns as if he had received the latter amount per month. In 1835, he came to Farmer Township, Defiance Co., Ohio (then Williams County), and entered 400 acres of land near Williams Centre. He then returned, but the following year came out to stay, bringing with him his family, a wagon and two horses, seven head of cattle, fifteen hogs, and many useful articles for life in the woods. On this farm he lived for twenty-eight years, since which his home has been in Bryan. For a number of years he has been dealing in real estate. His wife, to whom he was married in 1833, was Miss Maria Price, who was born in Dauphin County, Penn., June 3, 1813. These parents were blessed with two sons and three daughters, as follows : George P., Sarah J., Milton, Lucy A. and Harriet. Lucy A. is dead ; the others are living and married. Mrs. Maria Tharp departed this life June 1, 1882. Milton was in the late war, in Company F, One Hun- dred and Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was captured in Tennessee, and spent some seven months in Southern prisons. Colin Tharp came into the woods with some means, and, by judicious manage- ment in buying, selling and trading land, made a comfortable fortune. He was formerly a Democrat, but became a Republican when that party was formed. He is a member of the Disciples' Church, and a good citizen.

ANDREW J. TRESSLER was born in Stark County, Ohio, Octo- ber 26, 1818, the son of Jonathan and Rebecca (Holm) Tressler, who were of German descent, and early settlers in Stark, in which county they were married. The father was a miller and followed that business for a number of years, but later in life engaged in farming. In the fall of 1839, he moved with his family from Stark County to Williams Coun- ty, and settled in Jefferson Township, where he accumulated considerable property through his thrift and skill as an agriculturist. Here he

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ended his days in April, 1869, after a long and useful life. Andrew J. Tressler was reared on the farm, and in youth received such an education as the schools of that early day afforded. When about twenty-one years of age, he began life for himself, and for several years was variously em- ployed. In the fall of 1840, he visited the place where Bryan now stands -then a perfect wilderness, and just laid out as the future county seat of Williams County. In the spring of 1841, he located in Bryan and purchased some lots. Two of them he still holds and occupies as his residence. Here he entered the law office of E. H. Leland, who had located in Bryan in 1841, when the county seat was first established. He studied law for some time, during the interval clearing up his town lots, and the following winter taught the first school ever established in Bryan. Subsequently he was employed in some of the county offices, or engaged at anything that brought honest remuneration. In the fall of 1842, he married Miss Oleva Kent, who was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, August 21, 1826, and bore her husband five children-Arminda, Ellen, Byron, Elmore and Andrew R. This was the first marriage ever solemnized in Bryan. Mr. Tressler now became, for a time, collector for Dr. Kent and others, and then engaged in the grocery business, during the prosecution of which he was appointed Postmaster of Bryan. Some time after he relinquished his grocery, and went into the office of the Northwestern, a newspaper conducted by T. H. Blocker, and here learned something of the printing business. IIis employer broke down in his enterprise, and Mr. Tressler, with others, bought the office and for a year performed the duties of editor and publisher, still filling the office of Postmaster. About this time (1848), a change took place in the National administration, and Mr. Tressler was removed from the Post- mastership. He was again employed variously in the county offices for a time, but soon accepted a clerkship in the store of Boyer & Case. This firm sold out, when Mr. Tressler accepted a clerkship in a store at West Unity, to which point he moved his family in 1850. His employers there failed, and in the fall of 1851 Mr. Tressler, by borrowing a sum sufficient to raise his cash capital to $500, started for New York and purchased a small stock of goods with which to begin business on his own account in the same village. This he conducted very successfully until 1861, when he sold out, and about the same time was elected Treasurer of Williams County, which office he filled two terms. He then, with others, organized the First National Bank of Bryan, of which he became the Cashier, and in 1872 President, which position he still holds. Mrs. Oleva Tressler died in August, 1870, and November 8, 1871, he was united in wedlock to Miss E. L. Richardson, who was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, June 13, 1844, and to this union three children have been born-Annie

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R., Emma and Austin J. Mr. Tressler began life poor, but is now one of the wealthiest and most prominent men in the county, and is in every sense the architect of his own fortune. In politics, he was a Democrat until 1856, when he joined the Republican ranks. He is & Knight Templar, a member of the Presbyterian Church, and has ever manifested a laudable desire to advance the progress of his town and county in edu- cation and morality.

THOMAS Q. WATERHOUSE is a native of Portland, Me., where he was born July 7, 1840. He is one of two children and the only surviving child born to J. M. and Susan (Quimby) Waterhouse, who were also natives of New England and of English and Scotch descent. His parents both died in the East, and he was reared in his native city, receiving an excellent practical education. In 1856, he began learning telegraphy and general railroading in Portland, and followed that until 1862, when he entered the Government employ as an operator. For one year, he was in this capacity in the Army of the Potomac; after which he returned home, and enlisted, in December, 1863, in the Seventh Maine Light Artillery. They went immediately into active service, their first engagement being the battle of the Wilderness ; succeeding that they participated in the battles of Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Woody House, Curry House, Mattapony River, and from that time were in active skirmish duty until they reached Petersburg and participated in that engagement. They were then stationed at Fort Steadman until the mine exploded under the rebel fort opposite, and that night, after the battle, Mr. Waterhouse was detailed into the telegraph corps, and reported for duty at Gen. Grant's headquarters at City Point. He was then sent down the river to Fort Powhattan, and had charge of a detachment of cavalry to keep up telegraphic communication with Washington, He remained thus employed until the close of the war, and was discharged in June, 1865. For four years succeeding the war, he remained in the South, railroading. From there, he was engaged in various places until the spring of 1877, when he located permanently in Bryan, where he has resided as traveling excursion agent for the West. He was married, in October, 1880, to Miss Olive M. Vineyard, this lady being his second wife. His first was Edmonia De Vlaming, of Appomattox County, Va., who bore him one son, now living in Bryan with his father. Mr. Waterhouse is a Democrat in politics and a member of the G. A. R., of which he is Mustering Officer for the Thirty-fourth Ohio District, and Mrs. Water- house is ticket agent and operator for the L. S. & M. S. R. R. Co. at Bryan.

JOHN M. WELKER, merchant, was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, January 26, 1833, where he resided until 1851, when he went to

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Massillon and entered the employ of G. & P. Welker, and subsequently that of Humberger, Oberlin & Co. His mother preceded him to Will- liams County in 1852. He came here in 1854, and entered the employ of Col. William Stough, at Pulaski, in a general store, continuing with him until the spring of 1856, when the business was removed to Bryan. In the spring of 1855, he became a partner of Col. Stough, under the firm name of Stough & Welker. In the winter of 1856-57, owing to the panic of that year, the firm failed. In 1856, he married Julia A. Myers, daughter of George W. Myers, one of the old settlers, whose biography accompanies this work. His father-in-law purchasing the stock, Mr. Welker entered his employ until August, 1860, when he and Jacob N. Howe, under the firm name of Howe & Co., purchased the stock and kept up the business. In February, 1865, the partnership was dissolved, Mr. Welker removing to Tennessee, where he engaged in raising cotton. He returned to Bryan the same year, and in the fall of 1866 he obtained a position as traveling salesman for a wholesale dry goods house of Chicago. In the spring of 1867, he and A. W. Killits embarked in general merchandising in Bryan, and continued as partners up to 1878. This firm at one time carried on two general stores, and in 1874, Mr. Welker established a cheese factory. On the dissolution of the firm, in 1878, the store stock was divided. Mr. W. still carries on the manufacture of cheese, and in the spring of 1881, established a creamery in connection with the cheese factory. He manufactures an average of 140,000 pounds per annum. Besides these, Mr. Welker owns a cheese factory at Eaton, and one in partnership at Edgerton. In addition to his manufacturing interests, Mr. Welker is senior of the firm of Welker, Dales & Co., dealers in dry goods, shoes and carpets. They carry in this line a stock of goods valued at about $17,000, and are doing an average annual business of $40,000. Mr. Welker is a Democrat ; was a member of the Town Council; has held several official positions in the gift of the Democratic party, and he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having ascended to knighthood in that order, and being a member of Toledo Commandery, No. 7. He and wife are members of the Universalist Church and the parents of six children-Emma, now Mrs. Dales ; Alice M., who died the wife of E. T. Binns; Louis J., George M. and John J. WILLETT FAMILY. Benjamin Willett, deceased, the father of the Willetts of Williams County, was born in Montgomery County, Md., July 25, 1787, and was the son of Benjamin and Mary (Howes) Willett, the father of English descent, and the mother of French parentage. Ben- jamin, Jr., was reared, educated and married in his native county. For seven years after his marriage, he engaged in carpentering, when his father gave him a farm, but he refused to accept slaves as property. He

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was married, December 20, 1810, to Anna Howes, who bore him the fol- lowing-named children, all of whom were born in Maryland except the youngest : Horatio, deceased; Hamilton J., deceased ; Catherine M., who died the wife of Amos Parson ; Meredith R., Sarah M., now Mrs. Gibson, of Bryan ; Otto W .; Elizabeth A., now Mrs. Palmer, of Bryan ; Benjamin R., Joseph H. and Oliver D. In April, 1834, the parents and children moved to Richland County, Ohio, engaged in farming till the fall of 1851 or 1852, and then removed to Brady Township, this county. In 1860, they came to Bryan, where Mr. Willett died August 4, 1862, followed by his widow in September, 1863. They were both members of the Old Calvinistic Baptist Church, and their departure was deplored as a serious loss to the community.

BENJAMIN R. WILLETT was born in Montgomery County, Md., January 4, 1828, and came with his parents to this county about 1851. For awhile he resided in West Unity, engaged in the manufacture of fanning-mills, and he was there married in April, 1856, to Miss Mary L. Wilhelm. In 1860, he came to Bryan and entered into the marble and granite trade. In fact, he was the founder of this business in Bryan, and with his brothers conducted it until about 1868, when he embarked in mercantile pursuits, in which he has been actively engaged ever since. He is now senior member of the firm of Willett & Gibson, one of the oldest houses in town. They carry a full line of dry goods, notions, boots and shoes, etc., and their annual sales average from $35,000 to $40,- 000. Besides valuable town property, Mr. W. owns a half-interest in a farm of two hundred acres, and it is one of the best in Williams County. In politics, he is a Democrat, and Mrs. W. is a member of the Presby- terian Church. Their only child is named Ada T. At a meeting of the Trustees of Pulaski Township, April 28, 1881, a petition was presented calling for an election for the purpose of determining whether or not the township should issue bonds to the amount of $50,000 in aid of building a railroad through Pulaski, on Sections 33, 28, 21, 17, 8 and 5. The election was held May 21, 1881, and resulted as follows: In favor, 613; against, 41; not voting, 9. Benjamin R. Willett and A. M. Pratt, of Bryan, were the principal opposers of the measure, and after the elec- tion carried the matter into court, which declared the matter unconstitu- tional. Thus it was that, through the endeavors of these two men, aided by a few others, a bonded debt of $50,000 was avoided by the township.

J. H. WILLETT was born January 11, 1830, and when about three years of age left Montgomery County, Md., with his parents, and came to Richland County, this State. Here he was reared on the farm, receiv- ing a good common-school education. About 1851, he came to Brady Township, this county, with his parents. Here he engaged in farming

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for about eleven years. He was married March 12, 1857, to Catherine E. Fisher, and thus became the father of two children-Emory B. and Louie A. In the spring of 1862, he removed to Bryan, and joined his brothers, B. R. and O. W. in the marble and granite trade, under the firm-name of Willett Bros., in which he still remains, although the firm- name is now changed to Willett & Darby. Mr. W. is a Democrat, a Free- mason, an Odd Fellow, a member of the O. F. Encampment and also of the Patriarchal Circle. Mrs. and Miss Willett are members of the Presbyterian Church.

O. D. WILLETT was born in Richland County, Ohio, March 23. 1835, one of the ten children, seven of whom are yet living, of Benjamin and Anna (Howes) Willett. At the age of sixteen, he came to this coun- ty with his parents, and engaged in the grocery business at West Unity. In January, 1856, he married Miss Harriet L. Miller. He continued in the grocery trade and in the manufacture of pumps with his brother, Benjamin R., until 1860, when he came to Bryan, where he carried on the pump business and dealt in real estate until September, 1870, when he moved to Kendallville, Noble County, Ind., and engaged in the mar- ble and granite business. While residing there, he was, in 1874, the choice of the people to represent them in the State Legislature. He served in the sessions of 1875 and 1876, and was the author of the " Drainage" bill, which has since become a State law. He also intro- duced the bill compelling railroad companies to fence in their tracks, and also took an active part in favor of a stringent license law. The fall of 1881, he returned to his home in Bryan, where he now resides, engaged in the real estate business and in superintending a farm of two hundred acres, in which he has a half-interest. In politics, he is a Democrat, he is also a Knight of Honor, and while in Scotland, in 1875, was made a Master Mason, and is now a Knight Templar in Apollo Commandery, No. 19, Kendallville, Ind.

DAVID A. WOLFF was born near Hamburg, Germany, in 1838, and came to America in 1852, when about fourteen years of age, having been sent over by his parents, Alexander and Rosa (Meyer) Wolff, who intended following him. They never came, however, but in the fall of 1881, the father died in the old country, where the mother is still living. David A., on his arrival, first went to South Carolina, where he had friends, and there went to school for one year, and afterward clerked in a store in Charlotte. Then he went to Greensboro, N. C., where he ope- rated a branch of the Charlotte store in partnership with his former employer. At the breaking-out of the war, he went to Louisville, where he joined the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry, and was one of its original Cap- tains. He only remained in the service about eighteen months, after

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which he went to Washington, D. C., and engaged in clerking until 1864, when he opened a clothing and general furnishing goods store in Alexandria, Va. From this place he moved to Bryan, Ohio, the spring of 1866. He was induced to come here by army acquaintances from this place, and particularly of the One Hundred and Ninety-fifth Regiment, who were, in 1864, stationed in Virginia. Mr. Wolff has ever since been a resident of Bryan, and engaged in active business. He began life a poor boy, and has made his own way in the world. He now is one of Bryan's most substantial merchants, and operates a clothing store in which he keeps a general and first class line of gents' furnishing goods. He carries a stock of about $25,000, and does an average annual business of $60,000. He was married, in New York City, in 1865, to Miss Rosa August, and to them have been born a family of seven children, only the following named being yet alive-Charley, Elias, Estella, Solomon and Carmen.

JACOB YOUSE was born in Franklin County, Penn., September 30, 1820, and came to Bryan July 24, 1841, where he built the first tan- nery ever seen in the county, and followed the business for six years. In October, 1842, he was elected County Recorder, and in 1845 re-elected. In 1847, he was chosen Justice of the Peace for Pulaski Township, and, at the expiration of his term became a dealer in real estate, and a farmer. In 1853, he and Ezra Smith engaged in the stove and tinware trade, and continued their partnership till the spring of 1855, when Mr. Youse sold out and moved on a farm, which occupied his attention but a short time, as he returned to Bryan and for about a year was employed in the County Clerk's office, and then he engaged in the grocery and provision business. In the fall of 1857, he was elected Clerk of the Common Pleas Court, and was re-elected in 1860, and proved a very efficient and popular officer. He then engaged in the real estate business in conjunction with H. H. Wilcox. In 1864, he went to Gallatin, Tenn., as Superintendent for Capt. W. A. Hunter, Assistant Quartermaster. In the fall of 1867, he went into the First National Bank of Bryan as Teller, remaining two years. The fall of 1869, he engaged with O. C. Ashton and J. D. Wiley in the hub and spoke business, which he relinquished in 1874, and en- tered the office of the Probate Judge for a year. He then went as clerk for the Milburn Wagon Works at Toledo, but five months later returned and engaged as clerk with Morrison & Fay, in their foundry and machine shop. A year later he, with nine others, organized the Bryan Boot and Shoe Manufactory, of which he was elected Secretary and one of the Directors, and in which he is a stockholder. He was married, April 18, 1844, to Miss Emily R. Washburn, a native of Woodstock, Vt., and to their union four children were born-Arthur L., John M., George J.

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County of Williams, Ohio, Historical and Biographical, Part 58

Author: Weston A. Goodspeed, Charles Blanchard Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 885

Author: Weston A. Goodspeed, Charles Blanchard
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 885