USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 24
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JOHN J. ANDERSON.
John J. Anderson, a well-known retired building contractor. of Urbana, former marshal of that city, former president of the city council and an honored veteran of the Civil War, is a native of Virginia, born in Augusta county, that, state, but has been a resident of Urbana since the year 1856. He was born on March 9, 1835, son of John and Frances ( Clark) Anderson. both natives of that same county, the former of whom was the son of John Anderson, who was the son of John Anderson, a native of Scotland, who came to this country and settled along the Middle river, near the old stone church, in Augusta county, Virginia, where he established his home and where he spent the remainder of his life. The subject of this sketch is therefore the fourth John Anderson in direct line. His grandfather, John Anderson, son of the Scottish immigrant, married Isabel King, of Virginia. and had two children who grew to maturity. Isabel, who married Thomas Clark and spent her last days near Middletown, and John, third, the father of John J. The third John Anderson grew up on the old Anderson home place in Augusta county and farmed there all his life, one of the best-known citizens of that community, being known, on account of his connection with the militia, as Captain Anderson. From the time he was fifteen years of age until his death he was a deacon in the Presbyterian church and was for years local school director. He married Frances Clark, who was born in that same neighborhood, and to that union ten children were born, namely : Mary, now deceased, who married Greenburg Rhodes, of Augusta county, Virginia, also deceased: James W., an Urbana druggist and a notable worker in the church, who married Caroline Baldwin and died in 1915: George D .. who married Rebecca Barger and who for thirty years was a miner and farmer in California, retiring then and returning to his boyhood home in Virginia, where he spent his last days: Jane C., who married Henry Korner and both of whom are dead: Isabel, who married Daniel Korner and who, as well as her husband, died in California: John J .. the immediate subject of
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this biographical sketch; Francis, who died in infancy; Norvall W., who became connected with his brother, John J., in the building line in Urbana in the latter fifties and who enlisted for service in the Union army during the Civil War, going to the front with Company A. Second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Stone's River; Martha E., who died in infancy, and Sarah Margaret, who, in 1864, married George Killian, a farmer of Augusta county, Virginia, now deceased, his widow making her home in Salem, Virginia. Capt. John Anderson, father of these children, died in 1856 and his widow, in company with three of her sons, James W., John J. and Norvall W., and her youngest daughter. Sarah Margaret, came over into Ohio and located at Urbana, but in 1860, she returned to her old home in Virginia and there spent her last days, her death occurring in 1885.
John J. Anderson was about twenty-one years of age when he located in Urbana and there he and his brother. Norvall, engaged in carpentering and were thus associated in business together until the breaking out of the Civil War, when both enlisted for service in the Union army, the younger brother later meeting a soldier's fate at the battle of Stone's River. It was on the President's first call for volunteers that the Anderson brothers enlisted, John. J. going to the front as a member of Company K, Second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and his ill-fated brother as a member of Company A of that same regiment. Upon the completion of the three-months' ser- vice, in July, 1861, John J. Anderson re-enlisted and was attached to Com- pany G, Third Ohio Cavalry. His first service under fire was at the battle of Shiloh and he afterward was in many battles and skirmishes, serving in the Army of the Cumberland until the close of the war and was a member of the command which took Jefferson Davis, president of the defeated con- federacy, captive. Not long after entering the service, Mr. Anderson was promoted to the rank of first sergeant, later being raised to the rank of orderly sergeant. At the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, he was severe- ly wounded and was for some time compelled to lie in the field hospital. Ile received his final discharge at Nashville, Tennessee, in the fall of 1865.
Upon completing his military service John J. Anderson returned to Urbana and resumed his vocation as a building contractor. He was mar- ried in the fall of 1868 and continued working at his trade until his election to the office of city marshal in 1872, serving in that important capacity for twelve years. In 1872 he stopped contracting and opened a store, handling coal, cement, and building materials. He conducted this store until he retired from active business in 1907. For six years he also
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served as a member of the city council and four years of that time was presi- dent of the council. For two years he was a member of the city board of health and in other ways has contributed of his time and energies to the public service. Mr. Anderson is a Republican and has ever given his carnest attention to local political affairs, an ardent champion of good government.
It was on September 17, 1868, that John J. Anderson was united in marriage at Urbana to Harriet E. Kimber, who was born in that city. daughter of Amer and Phoebe Kimber, natives of Pennsylvania, whose last days were spent in Urbana, where Amer Kimber for years was engaged as a stone mason. Mrs. Anderson died on September 23, 1912. She was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal church, as is Mr. Anderson, the latter being a member of the board of trustees of the local congregation of that church. He is a past commander of Brand Post No. 98, Grand Army of the Republic, and has for years taken an active part in the affairs of that patriotic organization, all the offices in which he has filled at one time and another. Mr. Anderson is the oldest Odd Fellow in Urbana, is past noble grand of the local lodge of that order and has for many years taken- an active part in lodge work.
WILLIAM M. KISER.
The late William M. Kiser, a well-known and substantial retired farmer of Champaign county, who died in 1908 at his home in Urbana, where for some years he had been living in comfortable retirement, was a native son of this county and lived here all his life. He was born on a pioneer farm in Mad River township on June 12, 1836, son of George and Sarah (Crabill) Kiser, the former of whom also was born in that same township and the latter in the neighboring county of Clark, prominent among the early settlers of the southern part of this county, who spent their last days there.
George Kiser was a son of Philip Kiser and wife, of German stock, who were among the earliest settlers in Champaign county, having come here in the early days of the settlement of this part of the state and establishing their home in Mad River township, taking a useful part in the development of that region from its primitive state. Philip Kiser was a soldier in the War of 1812 and he became a large landowner in Mad River township and a man of much influence in the pioneer neighborhood in which his last days were spent. George Kiser also became an extensive landowner in his turn
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and had a fine piece of farm property in that same township. His first land was a tract he entered from the government and he gradually added to that until he became one of the most substantial farmers in that part of the county. He married Sarah Crabill, a daughter of one of the pioneers of the adjoining county of Clark and established a very comfortable home on his farm. He and his wife were members of the Baptist church, taking an active part in church work, and their children were reared in that faith. They were the parents of nine children, of whom but four grew to maturity and of whom but one, Emery Kiser. formerly a resident of Springfield, died in March. 1917. The others, besides the subject of this memorial sketch, were Wilson, a farmer of Mad River township, who later went to Pueblo, Colorado, where he spent his last days, and George, who died years ago.
William M. Kiser grew up on the old Kiser farm in Mad River town- ship, receiving his schooling in the primitive schools of that community. and in turn became a farmer on his own account in that same township, remaining on the old home place, of which he presently became the owner, until 1897. when he retired from the active labors of the farm and moved to Urbana, where he bought a comfortable residence and where he spent the rest of his days. In addition to his general farming Mr. Kiser had long given considerable attention to the raising of high-grade live stock and had done quite well in his operations, at the time of his retirement being regarded as one of the most substantial farmers of that section of the county. In his political affiliation he was a Democrat and for some time was a member of the school board in his local district and in other ways did his share in con- tributing to the public service. He was a member of the local lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons at Urbana and for years took a warm interest in Masonic affairs. William M. Kiser died at his home in Urbana on Octo- ber 31, 1908, and his widow is still living there, being very pleasantly sit- uated in a delightful home at 708 South Main street.
Mrs. Kiser was born, Sarah C. Peck, in Perry county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of John and Mary ( Powers) Peck, both of whom were born in that same county and who came to Ohio with their family many years ago and settled in Clark county, where Sarah C. Peck grew to womanhood and where she was living at the time of her marriage to Mr. Kiser. Her father. John Peck, was a blacksmith and upon settling in Clark county he estab- lished a smithy there and continued in that vocation until his death, both he and his wife spending their last days in that county. They were the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. Kiser was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow: Elizabeth, who married John Regle, of
T. E. DYE.
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Clark county, and later moved to Topeka, Kansas, where she died; Cath- erine, wife of John Enoch, of Springfield, this state; Ellen, deceased, who was the wife of David Zerkle, and Susan, also deceased, who was the wife of James Rector.
To William M. and Sarah C. ( Peck) Kiser five children were born, namely; Pierson, who is now living in the West; Serepta, wife of Charles Dagger, a farmer of Concord township, this county; Mary, who died in 1887: Elmer H., a farmer of Mad River township, this county, and Laura, who is at home with her mother. These children were well educated and are doing well their respective parts in life. Mrs. Kiser is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and has ever taken a warm interest in church work and in other community good works, helpful in many ways in pro- moting movements designed to advance the common welfare.
T. E. DYE.
T. E. Dye, chairman of the Democratic central committee in Cham- paign county and for years actively and successfully engaged in the insur- ance and real-estate business at Urbana, is a native Hoosier, but has been a resident of Urbana for the past quarter of a century and is one of the best- known and most influential citizens of Champaign county. He was born on a farm eight miles from the city of Richmond, in Wayne county, Indiana. December 19, 1866, and was but sixteen years of age when his father died. He later came to this state and became employed in the plant of the Colum- bus Buggy Company at the state capital, but two years later returned to his boyhood home in Indiana and resumed farming. Several years later he became engaged in the fire-insurance business in that state and was thus engaged there until 1893, the year following his marriage, when he returned to Ohio and located at Urbana, where he since has made his home.
Upon moving to Urbana Mr. Dye bought an interest in the old-estab- lished insurance agency of Blake & Cameron, of that city, and later bought the agency, which he since has operated alone, having built up an extensive business in the general insurance and real-estate line throughout this and adjoining counties. Mr. Dye has the local agency of several of the leading insurance companies of the country, including that of the Ohio Farmers Insurance Company, and his is regarded as one of the leading agencies of the latter company in the state. Ever since taking up his residence in
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Urbana, Mr. Dye has given his close and earnest attention to local political affairs and has for years been recognized as one of the leading Democrats in this part of the state. He is now chairman of the Democratic county com- mittee for Champaign county and in that capacity has rendered yeoman service in behalf of his party. He is also a member of the state executive committee of his party.
In 1892, the year before taking up his residence in Urbana, T. E. Dye was united in marriage to Anna Burke, daughter of Thomas and Mary Burke, of Liberty, and to this union three children have been born, all sons, T. O. Dye, of Rochester, New York, and Paul F. and Roy Dye, who are at home. The Dyes are members of the Catholic church and take a proper part in the general affairs of the parish. Mr. Dye is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has served as noble grand, the highest officer of the same. He takes an active part in the gen- eral business affairs of his home town and has for years been regarded as one of the most influential men not only at Urbana, but throughout the county at large. T. O. Dye is at the officers training camp, Madison Bar- racks, New York. Paul F. is at Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, in the officers training camp.
JACOB H. WILKINS.
Jacob H. Wilkins, a farmer of Wayne township, Champaign county, was born in Belmont county, Ohio, December 18, 1862. He is a son of George W. and Sarah A. (Pickeral) Wilkins, both natives of Randolph county, Virginia. The father grew up in the Blue Ridge mountains of his native state and there he was married. He followed the trade of shingle -. making in the mountains until 1855, when he moved to Belmont county, Ohio, where he turned his attention to farming, renting a place for some time, later buying a farm of his own. He remained in that county until 1876, when he removed to Champaign county, locating in Wayne township on the farm where his son, Jacob H., now resides. He rented the place and spent the rest of his life engaged in general farming there, his death occurring in 1893. His widow is still living, making her home with her daughter, Jennie. Twelve children were born to George W. Wilkins and wife, six of whom are now living, namely : W. F., of Salem township; Jennie; Albert lives in Marion, Ohio; L. H. lives at Mingo, Champaign county ; Anna and Jacob H.
Jacob H. Wilkins grew up on the farm in Belmont county and received
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JACOB H. WILKINS AND FAMILY !
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his education in the public schools in that county and in Champaign county. He continued working on the farm with his father until his marriage. He then moved to Columbus, where he operated a dairy for nine years with gratifying results. He then returned to Wayne township, Champaign county, and bought the old Cowgill place, consisting of one hundred and three acres, and here he has since resided. He has added eighteen acres, the place now containing one hundred and twenty-one acres. He has kept the land well cultivated and under a fine state of improvement. He carries on general farming and stock raising, feeding much of his grain to live stock, especially hogs, marketing a large number annually.
Mr. Wilkins was married in 1884 to Lydia L. Wilkins, of Hocking county, Ohio, and a daughter of John and Sarah Wilkins. Five children have been born to Jacob H. Wilkins and wife, namely: Ethel, who married Floyd Linville, has one child, Roy Harvey; Mary, who married Emerson Ritter ; Walter married Maggie Ritter: Agnes is single and lives at home; Clara is deceased.
Politically, Mr. Wilkins is a Republican and served as trustee of Wayne township for six years. He is a member of the Friends church.
JOHN P. MUNDEL.
John P. Mundel, an honored veteran of the Civil War and one of the best-known retired farmers living at Urbana, is a native of the old Key- stone state, but has lived in this county since 1869, a resident of Mad River township until his retirement from the farm and removal to Urbana, where he is now living, very comfortably situated. He was born in Chester county. Pennsylvania, July 26, 1842, son of James and Ann ( Miller ) Mundel, bothi natives of that same county, where they spent all their lives. James Mundel was a potter and a substantial citizen. He was a Republican in his political affiliations and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow: Isaac, who was an auger-maker in Pennsylvania and is now deceased; Anna May. who married Daniel Grayson, of Pennsylvania, and is also deceased; David, a ship builder, who served during the Civil War as a member of the Eighth Delaware Regiment and of the One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Pennsylvania (16a)
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Regiment; William, who came to this state, and was a mechanic at Spring- field; Francis A., a painter, who died in Indiana; Granville, who came to this state and was a potter at Mansfield, and one son who died in infancy.
Reared in his home county in Pennsylvania, John P. Mundel received his schooling there and early learned the potter's trade under the skillful direction of his father, beginning to work in the pottery when nine years of age, and he was thus engaged until he enlisted for service in the Union army during the Civil War. The date of his enlistment was September 5, 1861. and he went to the front as a member of Company E. Purnell's Legion, Mary- land Volunteers, being sent down the eastern shore of Maryland to Camp Charles, Virginia, where the command was in camp from October, 1861, to February, 1862; thence on to Harper's Ferry and on to Bolivar Heights. where they put up breastworks, mounted cannon and proceeded to shell the city of Charlestown, eight miles away. Later engagements participated ini by Mr. Mundel included the battle of Front Royal, Virginia, May 31, 1862; Cedar Creek, June 1 ; Catlett's Station, August 2. In the last-named engage- ment the command with which he was serving met with a reverse and retired. forming a square in the woods, later taking refuge in an old freight ware- house at Catlett's Station. There Mr. Mundel was captured by the enemy. but in the confusion presently created by a heavy downpour of rain he made his escape and rejoined his command in camp, resuming the campaign in Vir- ginia with the battle of Gainsville on August 28; Groveton, August 29, and the second battle of Bull Run, August 30. In the latter battle Mr. Mundel was shot through the right foot and was temporarily out of the fighting. The only other wound he received during the war was a bullet hole in his left side, received at the battle of Cold Harbor in June, 1864, a wound which kept him confined in the hospital at Alexandria and later in the hospital at Arlington for some time. Barring the time thus lost recuperating from his wounds, Mr. Mundel participated in all the active service in which his regiment took part, including some of the bloodiest engagements of the war, and received his final discharge on October 24, 1864.
Upon the completion of his military service John P. Mundel returned to his home in Chester county, Pennsylvania, was married there the next fall and remained there until 1869, in which year he came over into Ohio and settled in this county, taking up farming and gardening in Mad River town- ship, and was thus engaged there until his retirement and removal to Urbana. Upon moving to Urbana Mr. Mundel bought a house at 612 Storms avenne and after a residence of nineteen years there bought his present house at 425 South Walnut street, where he since has made his home and where he and
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his wife are very comfortably situated. Mr. Mundel is a stanch Republican and for the past twenty years has been serving as assessor. Since leaving the farm he has been quite extensively engaged in the sale of nursery stock.
It was on November 23, 1865, that John P. Mundel was united in mar- riage to Anna E. Goss, of Boston, Massachusetts, and to this union two sons have been born, Frederick K., who is connected with a big shoe store at Indianapolis, Indiana, and Francis A., a cigar-maker at Urbana. Mr. and Mrs. Mundel are members of the Presbyterian church and give proper atten- tion to church work. Mr. Mundel is an active member of Brand Post No. 98, Grand Army of the Republic, and takes a warm interest in the affairs of the same, having held nearly all the offices in that patriotic organization at one time and another. He also is a member of the Union Veterans' Union.
DAVID A. POOL.
David A. Pool, an honored veteran of the Civil War and a well-known retired farmer of this county, who has been living retired in Urbana since 1909, is a native son of Champaign county and has lived here all his life, with the exception of a few years during the seventies, when he was farming in the neighboring county of Shelby, and for some time in his youth when the was living in Logan county. He was born on a farm in Concord town- ship on September 30, 1845, son of Thomas A. and Nancy T. (Monroe ) Pool, who came to this county from Shelby county and later moved to Logan county, where they spent their last days.
Thomas A. Pool was a member of one of the first families of Shelby county, his parents, George and Vercy ( Wilkinson) Pool having been among the early settlers of that county, entering a tract of land there from the government and establishing their home there in pioneer days, spending the remainder of their lives in that county. They were the parents of seven chil- dren, all now deceased, and of whom Thomas A. was the second in order of birth, the others having been as follow: Polly, who married Mason Arrow- smith and became a resident of Champaign county; Esther Jane, who mar- ried James Mulford, of Logan county, later moving to Jay county, Indiana: William, who lived in Logan county ; Samuel, who made his home in Shelby county ; Gatch, who lived in Logan county, and Anna, who married Joseph R. Smith and also lived in Logan county.
Thomas A. Pool was reared on the paternal farm in Shelby county,
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growing up familiar with pioneer conditions in that neighborhood, and remained there until his marriage, after which he came over into Champaign county and settled on a farm in Concord township, later moving up into Logan county, where he spent the rest of his life, a well-known and influen- tial resident of the community in which he lived. In addition to his farm- ing operations he also was for years engaged as a building contractor and built numerous school houses and dwelling houses. For twelve years he was a member of the board of county commissioners of Logan county and was serving on that board at the time of his death. He was a Republican and was long regarded as one of the leaders of that party in Logan county. For years he was a class leader in the Methodist church and took an active part in church work and in other good works. He was a well-read man and was well informed on general and current matters. Thomas A. Pool died at his home in Logan county on March 20, 1869, he then being fifty-one years of age. His widow survived him many years, her death occurring in March, 1910. She was born in 1821, a daughter of David and Florence ( Taylor) Monroe, and was the third and last-born of the children born to that union, the others having been Angus, who went West in the fifties and there died, and Susan, who married J. P. Neer. and lived in Concord township, this county. David Monroe was a farmer of Concord township and was twice married, his second wife having been a Fletcher. To that second union three children also were born, Florence, who married a Wilson and lived at Degraff; Felina, who married Henry Huling, of Logan county, and Rebecca, who married James McFarland. To Thomas A. and Nancy T. ( Monroe) Pool seven children were born, of whom the subject of this sketch was the third in order of birth, the others being as follow: Philena, who married Marion Pegg, of Shelby county; George W., a retired farmer, now living at Quincy, this state: Mary, who married Robert Moore, of Logan county, and is now deceased: John, a carpenter and blacksmith, now living at Saw- telle, California ; Flora, widow of George Stewart, who is now making her home at Quincy, this state, and Emma, widow of J. W. Allinger, of Sidney.
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