USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 15
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Reared on the home farm in Mad River township, James I. Blose received his early schooling in the district schools of that neighborhood and supplemented the same by a course in Urbana University, after which he became employed in a clerical capacity in the offices of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Urbana and was thus engaged there for a year, at the end of which time he entered into a partnership with John C. Edmiston, under the firm name of Blose & Edmiston, to engage in the grain business at (Ioa)
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Urbana; a connection which continued until his election six years later, in 1876, to the office of treasurer of Champaign county. He served two suc- cessive terms as county treasurer. Upon retiring from his office in the court house Mr. Blose resumed his former business calling, again engaging in the grain business at Urbana, and at the same time became a general produce merchant, which business he has continued to this day, long having been recognized as one of the leading grain and produce dealers in this part of the state; doing an extensive business in the buying and shipping of grain. feed, hay and general farm produce. In addition to this, Mr. Blose also for years has given considerable attention to the general real-estate business in and about Urbana, with particular reference to farm properties, and does an extensive business in that line.
On December 28, 1876, James I. Blose was united in marriage to Lucy Ann Straw, who was born in Cary, Wyandot county, this state, daughter of David Straw and wife, and to this union three children have been born, Corrinn, Lucy and Helen. Mr. Blose is a Mason of high degree and takes an active interest in Masonic work, being a member of Harmony Lodge No. 8, Free and Accepted Masons; Urbana Chapter No. 34, Royal Arch Masons; Raper Commandery No. 19, Knights Templar, at Urbana; of the consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, at Dayton, and a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, affiliated with Antioch Temple, at Dayton.
MARSHALL G. McWILLIAMS.
Marshall G. McWilliams, an honored veteran of the Civil War, former commander of Brand Post No. 98, Grand Army of the Republic, and for years a craftsman in the railroad shops at Urbana, now living retired in that city, one of the best-known residents thereof, is a native "Buckeye" and has lived in this state all his life. He was born on a farm in Berlin township. Delaware county, this state, August 17, 1845, son of Edward Marshall and Clarissa (Smith) McWilliams, both of whom were born in Warren county, New Jersey, the former in 1802 and the latter, August 11, 1826, whose last days were spent in this state.
Edward Marshall McWilliams was trained as a stonemason, but when he came to Ohio in 1826 he entered a tract of land in Delaware county. cleared the same, later established his home there and there spent the remain- der of his life, his death occurring on November 12, 1876. His widow sur-
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vived him for fifteen years, her death occurring on July 10, 1891. They were members of the Presbyterian church and their children were reared in that faith. There were five of these children, those besides the subject of this sketch being as follow: Smith, who served as a soldier of the Union during the Civil War, a member of Company H, One Hundred and Forty- fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was for years a school teacher in Delaware county and city clerk of his home town, who died on January 13, 1916, aged ninety-five; Lydia J., who married Edward Gregory, of Dela- ware county ; William, also a veteran of the Civil War, a member of the Forty-fifth Ohio, with which command he served for three years, fourteen months of which time he was held in durance vile in a Rebel prison pen, and who died in 1908, and Ann, who lives at Benton Harbor, Michigan, wife of William L. Moore, a veteran of the Civil War.
Marslıall G. McWilliams grew up on the home farm in Delaware county 'and when sixteen years of age enlisted for service in the Union army during the Civil War, going to the front as a drummer boy in Company C, Fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, attached to the Army of the Potomac. After eighteen months of service as a drummer he was made regimental postmaster and later was appointed brigade postmaster. After the battle of Gettysburg he was sent West and was in the battle of Lookout Mountain, later joining Sherman's army in the Atlanta campaign and then on to Savannah, and was present at the surrender at Goldsborough, North Caro- lina. Mr. McWilliams's service covered a period of three years and six months and he was mustered out at Baltimore at the close of the war in 1865.
Upon the completion of his military service Mr. McWilliams returned to his home in Delaware county and remained there until 1867, when he went to Urbana and became engaged in the car shops there and was thus engaged as a carpenter, painter and car builder until his marriage in the summer of 1872, after which for three years he made his home on a farm in Urbana township. He then returned to Urbana, established his home there and resumed his place in the car shops, continuing thus engaged until his retirement from active labor in 1906, since which time he has been taking things comparatively "easy."
It was in June, 1872, that Marshall G. McWilliams was united in mar- riage to Mary A. Fulton, daughter of James W. and Ann ( Flick ) Fulton, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Clark county, this state. James W. Fulton was but eighteen years of age when he came to this county from Virginia. He presently bought a tract of land in Urbana township, established his home there, erected a large brick house and there spent the
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remainder of his life. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church and were among the leaders in all good works in the com- munity in which they lived. They were the parents of three children, Mrs. McWilliams having had two sisters, Catherine, who married Charles Lay- cock and is now deceased, and Fannie, who died at the age of eighteen years. Mrs. McWilliams is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Urbana Mr. McWilliams is an active member of Brand Post No. 98, Grand Army of the Republic, at Urbana, and was commander of the same for three years. Marshall G. and Mary A. (Fulton) McWilliams had one child, a daughter, Fannie, who married Earl Shofstall, now residing in Urbana. They have two children, Ethel, who married Dr. Chauncey North, a dentist at Akron, and Kenneth.
BENONI R. WILSON.
Benoni R. Wilson, a veteran of the Civil War and one of Champaign county's best-known and most substantial farmers, now living practically retired at Urbana, which has been his place of residence since 1902, is a native son of this county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm two and one-half miles southwest of St. Paris, in Jackson township, August 24, 1843, a son of John and Margaret (Johnson ) Wilson, the former of whom was born in this state and the latter in Virginia, whose last days were spent on their farm in Jackson township.
John Wilson was born on Buchanan's Hill, in Butler county, this state, December 8, 1804, a son of Andrew and Jemima ( Robins) Wilson, the former of whom was born in the old fort at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and the latter in Butler county, this state. In 1807 Andrew Wilson came up into Ohio and settled on Lost creek, ten miles east of Troy, in Miami county, and remained there five years, at the end of which time he went over into Indiana and settled on a half section of land he had traded for in Owen county. He later returned to Ohio with his family and settled on a farm at the head of Honey creek, one mile north of Christianburg, in Jackson township, this county, and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of nine children, Benoni, Sarah, John, Sammel. Abigail, Robert R .. Ann, Elizabeth and Andrew.
By the time he was seventeen years of age John Wilson had cleared five acres of land and had thus earned his father's permission to leave home and start out on his own account, and in 1821 went over into Indiana and
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in Owen county, that state, began working in the general store and still- house of a Mr. Bigger. While thus employed he was required to make a trip of twenty-five miles with an ox-team to a salt-works in the middle of winter and on the trip both of his feet were severely frozen. He later made a trip to New Orleans on a flatboat with stuff for the Southern market and while in that city saw oysters for the first time. He was told that for twenty- five cents he could have all the oysters he could eat and he tackled the propo- sition, but after downing the first oyster concluded that he had had his money's worth and from that day forward never again ate an oyster. In 1825 he returned to this county and located at St. Paris, where he remained until his marriage in 1831 to Margaret Johnson, who was born in Giles county, Vir- ginia, November 13, 1804. After his marriage he located two and one-half miles south of St. Paris and there entered on a contract to split rails for twenty-five cents a hundred. He later bought a tract of land near there. paying five dollars an acre for the same, and on that tract established his home and spent the remainder of his life. He was a Republican and he and his wife were members of the Honey Creek Baptist church. They had two children, the subject of this sketch having had a sister, Elizabeth Jane, who die:l at the age of eleven years.
Benoni R. Wilson was reared on the home farm in Jackson township and received his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood. From the days of his early boyhood he was a valued assistant to his father in the labors of developing and improving the home farm. On May 2, 1864. then being but twenty years of age, he enlisted for service in the Union army, a member of Company I. One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served for three months, that command being then stationed at Point of Rocks, on the James river in Virginia. Upon the com- pletion of his military service he returned home and after the death of his parents came into possession of the home farm, where he continued to live until 1902, when he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Urbana, where he and his wife are now living, though most of their winters are spent in Florida or California. Mr. Wilson has been successful in his farming operations and has a well-improved farm of three hundred and two acres. He has also given considerable attention to the raising of fine horses and a good grade of cattle, long having been recognized as one of the leading stockmen in the southwestern part of the county. He is a member of the board of directors of the Urbana Canning Company and has other interests. Mr. Wilson is a Republican and has served as a member of the county cen-
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tral committee of that party, as well as a frequent delegate to the county con- ventions of his party.
On February 21, 1867, Benoni R. Wilson was united in marriage to Mary Frances Maxey, who was born near South Charlestown, a daughter of John and Charity ( Starr) Maxey, the former of whom also was born at South Charlestown and the latter at Xenia, this state. John Maxey, who was born in 1814. was a farmer and extensive stockman at South Charles- town and lived there all his life. He was a Republican and served for some time as a member of the board of county commissioners from his district. He died in 1877 and his widow, who was born in 1821, survived him for about five years, her death occurring in 1882. They were earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, of whom Mrs. Wilson was the second in order of birth. the others being as follow: Stephen William, of South Solon, this state; Elizabeth, who for more than thirty years served as a missionary in Calcutta, Indiana; Laura, who is living at London, this state, willow of George Cannon ; Charles S., of Fresno, California, and John W .. deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have one daughter, Laura Jane, who married Dr. C. B. Forward, of Urbana, and has one child, a daughter, Frances Lottie. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson retain their membership in the Honey Creek Baptist church and have for years been active in church work, as well as in all neigh- borhood good works. Mr. Wilson is a member of Brand Post No. 98, Grand Army of the Republic, and takes an active interest in the affairs of that patriotic organization.
FREDERICK W. AMBROSE.
Frederick W. Ambrose, former superintendent of the Urbana water- works plant, for many years assistant cashier of the Champaign National Bank in that city and for years clerk of the city school board, now living practically retired at his pleasant home in Urbana, is a native son of that city and has lived there all his life. He was born on November 22, 1849, son of Newton and Alice Ann (Ward) Ambrose, both of whom were born at Urbana, the former on June 6, 1819, and the latter, October 16, 1830, who were for many years among the best-known residents of Urbana, Newton Ambrose having been postmaster there during the sixties.
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Newton Ambrose was a son of Frederick Ambrose, who was born in Frederick county, Virginia, and who came to Ohio in 1799, settling on the Mad river, in that part of the state later comprised within the bounds of Champaign county. When Urbana later was laid out he moved to town and there started a pottery. He also was somewhat engaged in the mercantile business, was quite active in local politics and served as one of the early sheriffs of the county. Frederick Ambrose was twice married, his first wife having been Jennie Tanner, of Irish descent, and his second wife, Mary Poff, of Kentucky. By his first marriage he was the father of nine children and by the second marriage, six children. Newton Ambrose grew up at Urbana and his first employment was as a bookkeeper in a mercantile establishment. He later was engaged in the mercantile business on his own account and also . for some time was engaged in the manufacture of glue. During the years 1860-68 he served as postmaster of Urbana and was for years one of the local leaders of the Republican party in this county. His death occurred in 1884 and his widow survived him for fourteen years, her death occurring in 1898. They were earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church and their children were reared in that faith. There were seven of these children. of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being as fol- low: Mary E., wife of B. F. Ganson; Alice, widow of Thomas Sullivan, of Tacoma, Washington; Margaret, wife of Edward H. Houtz; Emma, who is making her home with her brother, Frederick W .; Anna, wife of John Bene- dict, of Portland, Oregon, and Newton, who married and is now living at Winterhaven, Florida, where he is engaged as a traveling salesman.
Frederick W. Ambrose received his schooling in the schools of Urbana. Much of his youth was spent on a farm and he later became engaged in the United States postal service, being thus engaged for several years, at the end of which time he transferred his services to the local office of the United States Express Company and was thus connected until several years later, when he was appointed superintendent of the Urbana waterworks plant, a position he occupied for about twelve years, at the end of which time, in 1893, he was made assistant cashier of the Champaign National Bank of Urbana and was thus connected until his retirement in 1914. For twenty- three years Mr. Ambrose was clerk of the city school board and during that long period of service in behalf of the schools did much to advance the cause of education in the city, his membership on the school board having covered the period in which most of the present modern and highly efficient school plant was erected.
On November 18. 1895, Frederick W. Ambrose was united in marriage
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to Kerin H. Patrick, who also was born in Urbana, daughter of E. B. Pat- rick, a well-known furniture manufacturer of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and take a proper interest in church work as well as in the general social activities of their home town, ever helpful in promoting such movements as are designed to advance the common welfare.
E. R. EARLE, M. D.
This is an age of specialists. There have been such gigantic strides in the scientific world during the past few decades that one man can no longer claim to be proficient in many lines of endeavor. This is especially true of the medical profession. One of the successful of the younger doctors of Champaign county is Dr. E. R. Earle, ear, eye. throat and nose specialist at Urbana.
Doctor Earle was born in Hopkins county, Kentucky, March 10, 1880. He is a son of Dr. Benjamin P. and Mary (Roberts) Earle, both natives of Kentucky, where they grew up, attended school and were married and estab- lished their future home. The father is a physician and is in the active practice of his profession near Dawson Springs, Kentucky, where he has long been well and favorably known.
Dr. E. R. Earle grew to maturity in Hopkins county, Kentucky, and there received a common-school education. Later he took a course in the Hospital College of Medicine at Louisville, Kentucky, in which institution he spent four years, making an excellent record and graduating with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, with the class of 1902.
After leaving college, he located at Paducah, Kentucky, for the practice of his profession, and while there served as assistant surgeon of the Illinois. Central Railroad Hospital for a period of six years and built up an extensive general practice in Paducah. Upon leaving that city he went to Vincennes, Indiana, and took a course in the Knapp Sanitarium, completing a special course of study in treatment of the eye, ear, nose and throat. In 1911 he located in Urbana, Ohio, and has remained here to the present time, building up a very satisfactory and growing practice as a specialist.
Doctor Earle was married in 1908 to Elise Wright, a daughter of Dr. Charles O. Wright, and to this union one child has been born, Betty Isabelle Earle.
Doctor Earle is a member of the Champaign County Medical Society.
E. R. EARLE. M.D.
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the Ohio State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. Politically, he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Episcopal church and is a member of the vestry of the same.
WILLIAM M. GEHMAN.
When the House of Representatives of the eighty-first General Assem- bly of the state of Ohio in connection with the announcement of the death of Hon. William M. Gehman, late of Champaign county, formally resolved "that in the minds of the men who knew him his memory is imperishable, and that the community will not forget his life and service in the years to come," that distinguished body gave solemn utterance to a statement of exact fact; and when it further declared, in this same connection, that "the salvation of the American government lies in the product of such men : the preservation of our country lies in their service when with us, and the strength and inspiration of our youth lies in their memory after they have gone," it meant just what it said. Although those resolutions were adopted by a Legislature sitting twenty years after William H. Gehman had served in that body, there were many there who new him well and all were familiar with his services to the state, so that with one mind they rejoiced in the ability thus to offer fitting testimony of the public's appreciation of the service he had rendered during the period of his activities in the public's behalf. For he had done well his part.
The late William H. Gehman, former representative in the Legislature from Champaign county and for many years a substantial farmer of this county, was a native son of this county and had lived here all his life, a continuous resident of the farm on which he was born and where his widow is still living, in section 16 of Salem township, the family home adjoining the village of King Creek, the farm lying at the edge of the village. He was born on October 23, 1851, son of the Rev. Benjamin W. and Eliza- beth (Morris) Gehman, natives of Pennsylvania, who had settled in Cham- paign county in 1842, the year of their marriage, and here spent the remainder of their lives, useful and influential members of the Kings Creek commun- ity, in which for many years the Rev. Benjamin W. Gehman labored as a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church and in which he also acquired a fine piece of farm property.
As noted above, the Rev. Benjamin W. Gehman was a native of the
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old Kentucky state, born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, January 9, 1820, son of Benjamin W. and Magdalene (Weaver) Gehman, natives of that same state, the former born in that same county, a son of Benjamin W. Gehman, a Hanoverian, born in the kingdom of Hanover in 1741, who was but nine years of age when he came to this country with his parents in 1750, the family settling in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where the Gehmans have ever since been represented. The first Benjamin Geliman grew to manhood in that county, married there and established his home on a farm, spending the remainder of his life in that county. His son, the second Benjamin Gehman, grew to manhood on that farm and in 1800 mar- ried Magdalene Weaver. In 1813 he moved to the neighboring county of Berks and there established his home in an old house that had been built in 1774 and had been occupied as a block house during the Revolutionary War and during the subsequent Indian troubles. The stone walls of this house were three feet in thickness and the small barred windows and the doors of double thickness of stout oak planks rendered it impregnable against assault. In that house was born Benjamin W. Geliman, third, and there he lived until he was fourteen years of age, when his father sold a portion of the homestead tract, reserving that part of the farm lying in Lancaster county, where he erected buildings and where he spent the remainder of his life. The second Benjamin W. Gehman and his wife were the parents of nine children.
Early in life the third Benjamin W. Gehman began to "do for him- self." At eleven years of age he was performing the duties of a teamster and was thus engaged until he was eighteen years of age, in the meantime picking up such schooling as the meager facilities in the educational way in his community afforded, and was then presented by his father with a horse. About that time, in 1837, there was a call for the assembling of a company to start from Iowa to lay out an overland route to Oregon. Young Ben- jamin determined to join that expedition and mounting his horse started for the Iowa country, at that time a part of the then vast Territory of Wisconsin, and rode through to the point of rendezvous. Upon his arrival there, however, he found that the expedition had been abandoned, there not having been a sufficient response to the fall to form a company strong enough for the undertaking. Nothing daunted, however, he determined to continue his travels and before returning to his home in Pennsylvania made a tour of more than four thousand miles on horseback. When sixteen years of age, in January, 1836, he had united with the Methodist Episcopal church and had developed marked powers as an "exhorter," and in August, 1840, at
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Morgantown, Pennsylvania, was licensed as an exhorter by the Methodist Episcopal conference. Two years later, in August, 1842, he married Eliza- beth Morris and at once started for the West, with the intention of estab- lishing his home in Iowa. Upon arriving in Champaign county, en route, he and his wife stopped to make a visit to the family of his brother-in-law, Mr. Zook, and while here his wife was taken seriously ill. The physician called in the case advised strongly against the continuance of the trip West, friends and kinsmen also joining in this advice and urging that the newly- married couple settle in this county, and Mr. Gehman decided to remain here. In pursuance of that determination he bought from the Rev. George W. Walker, a Methodist minister, a tract of two hundred acres in section 16 of Salem township, adjoining the Kings Creek settlement, paying for the same eleven dollars an acre, and there established his home, spending the rest of his life there, the place now occupied by the widow of his son, Will- iam M. Gehman. In 1848 the Rev. Benjamin W. Gehman was licensed as a preacher by the Methodist conference and in 1856, at Ripley, was ordained by Bishop Ames and continued actively engaged in the ministry of the Meth- odist church until his death, with a record of more than two hundred con- versions during his ministry. He established the Methodist Episcopal church at Kennard (Forbes Chapel) and the Local Preachers' Chapel, three and one-half miles northeast of Urbana and for years was one of the best-known clergymen of that faith in this part of the state. He not only was success- ful in the ministry, but was successful in his farming operations and gradu- ally increased his land holdings until he was the owner of a fine farm of five hundred and thirty acres at the time of his death in February, 1882. The Rev. Benjamin W. Gehman was twice married and by his first wife was the father of four children, Ella M., Anna M., Benjamin F. and William M. The mother of these children died on January 31, 1876, and on May 23. 1878, he married Helena Brown, daughter of J. C. Brown, who survived him.
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