USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 78
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CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, OHIO.
CARL BODEY.
One of the native-born sons of Champaign county and a life-long resi- dent of the farm where he is now living three and one-half miles north of St. Paris, Ohio, in Johnson township, is Carl Bodey, who was born on this farm where he now resides on August 21, 1873, the son of Henry and Eliza- beth (Vincent) Bodey.
Henry Bodey was also born on the same farm, the son of Adam Bodey, a native of Virginia, who came to these parts in an early day, making the original Bodey settlement in Johnson township. Adam Bodey is a descendant of a Bodey who came to the United States as a Hessian soldier during the Revolutionary War. Adam Bodey married Mary Brubaker, a native of Champaign county, Ohio, of German descent, the daughter of Samuel and Barbara Brubaker, the former of whom was born April 27, 1784, and the latter on October 8, 1786. The Johnson family first cleared and developed the farm which Carl Bodey now owns, and here Mary Brubaker was born and reared, and settled after her marriage to Adam Bodey. They were the parents of nine children, all of whom are now deceased: Hannah, Daniel, Rebecca, Samuel, Henry, Mary, Isaac, Barbara and Ellen. After his marriage to Elizabeth Vincent, Henry Bodey settled on the old home place, having purchased the rights of the other heirs. They were the parents of six children: Etta, the wife of Charles Pence, residents of Redmond. Washington; Lottie, deceased; Carl, the immediate subject of this sketch; Emmet A., formerly a farmer of Johnson township, this county; 'Annie, of Seattle, Washington, and Mary, deceased. The mother of these children died when young, but her husband remained single, and lived on the home- stead farm with his children until his death on May 8, 1906. He was a quiet, unassuming man, attending strictly to his own affairs, and well liked and highly esteemed among those who knew him well and intimately.
Carl Bodey grew up on the home farm where he was born, receiving his education in the district schools of the township. Early in his life he decided to follow the vocation of his forefathers, and he has one hundred acres of the old home place. It is safe to say that there is no farmer in the county who has made more of a success than Mr. Bodey in his chosen work, for he is modern and up-to-date in his methods of agriculture. He specializes in the growing of wheat, and grew enough of this cereal on his farm to pay for it. He is said to have the banner wheat farm in Cham- paign county, having had one crop which averaged forty-two and one-half
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bushels to the acre, his farm never yielding less than twenty-eight to thirty bushels to the acre. Moreover, he raises some stock-grade cattle, and he has an excellent bank-barn, forty-eight by seventy, which he erected in 1910.
On March 23, 1893, Carl Bodey was married to Minnie Ammon, and to this union four children were born: Blanche, born November, 1895, now living in Urbana; Ruth, born October, 1897; Ilo, born April 14, 1899, and Paul, born April 23, 1901, died January 25, 1903. The mother of these children died on December 31, 1903, and on March 29, 1910, Mr. Bodey was united in marriage to Eva Maude Buroker, the daughter of Ephraim and Teresa (Ammon) Buroker. To this union one son has been born, Carl Jr., who is now a student in school. Mrs. Bodey's mother is the widow of Harley B. Counts, whom she married February 22, 1894. After their marriage they lived on a farm in Miami county, Ohio, but later moved to a farm in 'Adams township, this county, where Mr. Count's death occurred, April 13, 1905. One son was born to this union, Forest, born August 29, 1895. He is a graduate of Rosewood high school, and is now attending Wittenberg College at Springfield, Ohio. Mrs. Bodey was reared in the faith of the United Brethren church, while Mr. Bodey retains his membership in the Baptist church. He is a Democrat in politics, taking a proper interest in all local political affairs, and all movements having for their object the betterment of his township and community, have his warm support.
EDWARD TURNER.
Scattered here and there on farms over Ohio and other states are men originally from the British Isles who came to our republic in order to find greater opportunities for agricultural pursuits. One such in Cham- paign county is Edward Turner of Rush township, who was born in Eng- land, March 10, 1840. He was a son of Edmond and Martha (Freeman) Turner, both natives of England, where they grew up, married and resided until 1848 when they brought their family to America, locating at Watkins, Union county, Ohio. There the father worked in a pottery a short time, then rented a farm near Marysville, that county, which he operated a num- ber of years, then located on a larger place and continued farming in Union county until his death. His family consisted of seven children, four of whom are living at this time, Edward being the only one in Champaign county.
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Edward Turner, of this review, was eight years old when his parents brought him to the United States. He attended the common schools in Eng- land and in Union county, Ohio. When the Civil War broke out, he en- listed from Marysville, Union county, to fight for the integrity of his adopted country, serving three years. He assisted his father on the farm until his marriage, then rented a farm, in fact, continued renting in Union and Madi- son counties until 1882, when he moved to Champaign county. He first located in Goshen township, where he engaged in farming about twelve years, then bought a farm of eighty-five acres in Rush township, and there he continued general farming and stock raising until 1915. At that time he retired from active life and moved to Mechanicsburg, where he is still making his home.
On February 23, 1865, Mr. Turner married Sarah Parthemer, a native of Marysville, Union county, Ohio, the daughter of Jacob and Mary (Shuster) Parthemer, both of whom were of Pennsylvania-Dutch parent- age, born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, and who came to Union county, Ohio, in 1839.
Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Turner, namely: Hattie, Elmer, Charles, Arthur, Walter, Fred and Frank, who are twins, Howard, who is deceased and one who died in infancy. All the living children are married except one, Fred.
Politically, Mr. Turner is a Republican. While living on the farm. he served as road supervisor. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
JOSEPH L. WREN.
Joseph L. Wren, now a retired farmer, owner of land in Logan county and in Harrison township, this county, was born in Harrison township on February 17, 1842. He is the son of Joseph M. and Lucy (Davis) Wren, both of whom were born near Mechanicsburg, this county. They went to the same school, knew each other from early childhood and were married in the place of their birth.
Joseph M. Wren had moved to Harrison township previous to 1842. He lived in that place until 1880, when he changed his residence to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and in that city he kept a hotel for some years. On giving up the hotel he moved to Bloomingdale and occupied a little farm near Ft.
JOSEPH L. WREN
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Wayne, where he spent his last days. His remains were brought to Union township, Logan county, Ohio, where the interment took place. J. M. Wren and his wife were the parents of nine children, seven of whom are deceased, the two living ones being Anna, the wife of William Cooper, of Springfield, Ohio, and Joseph L., the subject of this sketch. Joseph M. Wren was a Universalist in religious belief.
Joseph L. Wren was educated in the common schools of his home dis- trict and in early life commenced work on a farm, at which he continued up to the outbreak of the Civil War. He then joined the Union forces and enlisted in Company G, Ninety-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. on August 15, 1862, with which command he served for some time. This company mobilized at Camp Chase and six weeks after they enlisted had their first engagement at Richmond, Kentucky, where they were attacked by the rebel general, Kirby Smith, with a force of twenty-five thousand men. Mr. Wren's whole regiment-the Ninety-fifth-were captured except three hundred men. With seven thousand Union men they fought the rebels all day and then were captured. Mr. Wren, through the leadership of a Major Brock of Kentucky, with three hundred men (Mr. Wren included), es- caped. They had all volunteered to defend a bayonet charge and followed the channel of a creek to Boonsboro, where they crossed the Kentucky and away from the rebels. After the regiment was paroled and exchanged, it went to Memphis, Tennessee, and engaged in the campaign along the Mis- sissippi for a year, then went into Missouri, chasing General Price for fif- teen hundred miles. They fought at the siege of Vicksburg and were also at the three-days battle of Nashville. Mr. Wren later was transferred to the Sixteenth Army Corps, commanded by General A. J. Smith, and served to the close of the war. During the period of his service he spent five months in the hospital owing to illness. On the close of his military service, and after he had recuperated, he returned to Champaign county and settled down to the life of a farmer.
On April 9, 1868, by the Rev. Alexander Tillard, at the home place of the bride's parents, Joseph L. Wren was united in marriage to Martha A. Cooper, who was born in Clark county, Ohio, on December 23, 1846. She was the daughter of Sample and Mary (Eaches) Cooper and came with her parents when nine years old to Champaign county. Some years later they went to Pennsylvania and lived with grandparents until the close of the war, when they returned to this county and settled on the old farm, where they continued to live up to the time of their daughter's marriage.
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To Mr. and Mrs. Wren seven children were born, five of whom are now living, namely: Sample C., of Bellefontaine; Sadie, who is deceased; Joseph, a farmer in Logan county, this state; Harry, a farmer, also of Logan county : Will, deceased; James A., living in DeGraff, this county, and Lucy, who is the wife of Ernest Harbor. Mr. Wren, his wife and the members of his family are earnest adherents of the Presbyterian church at Spring hill, of which congregation he is an elder. Mr. Wren is also interested in the Sunday school attached to the church and has been a teacher in the same for several years. He is an honored member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is an ardent Republican and for some years was treasurer of Harrison township. Mr. Wren owns one hundred and fifty-three acres in Logan county and thirty-eight acres in Harrison township, this county.
THOMAS W. CRIM.
Thomas W. Crim, a well-known retired farmer and school teacher of Champaign county, an honored veteran of the Civil War, for thirty-five years assessor of Goshen township and for many years a member of the school board of that township, now living at Mechanicsburg, where he and his family are very comfortably situated, is a native of the Old Dominion, but has been a resident of this county since he was twenty-one years of age. He was born on a farm in Loudoun county, Virginia, May 29, 1842, son of William and Cecelia (White) Crim, both of whom also were born in that county and who spent all their lives on their farm there. The former died at the age of seventy-six years and the latter at the age of seventy. They were the parents of eight children, those besides Thomas W. Crim, being as follow: Mary E., deceased; John Wesley, who is still living in Loudoun county, Virginia; Susan N., deceased; Samuel Randolph, deceased; Trenton Jackson, deceased; Benjamin F., of Loudoun county, and Dollie Jane, of that same county.
Reared on the home farm in his native county, Thomas W. Crim re- mained there until he was twenty-one years of age. In the meantime he had fitted himself as a school teacher and taught two terms in his native state until the schools were closed on account of the war. He then left Virginia and came to Ohio to escape being drafted into the rebel army, settling in Champaign county. April 16, 1863. In the fall of that year he was married. On May 2, 1864, he enlisted for service in the Union army
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during the continuance of the Civil War and was sent to Cumberland, Mary- land, as a member of Company C, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Not long after entering the service, Mr. Crim became very ill with a combination of measles and typhoid fever and for some time lay at the point of death in the United States government hospital, and in October, 1864, received his honorable discharge from service on a physician's certificate of disability. Upon receiving his discharge he returned home and resumed farming in Goshen township and resided on his farm there until 1907, when he retired from active agricultural pursuits and moved to Mechanicsburg, where he and his family are now living. Mr. Crim is an ardent Republican and for more than thirty-five years served as assessor of Goshen township. He also was a school director for many years and in other ways did his part as a good citizen in the work of promot- ing his home community's best interests. Mr. Crim is the owner of a well- improved place of fifteen acres in Goshen township and has four acres sur- rounding his pleasant home in Mechanicsburg. In addition to his other activities, Mr. Crim has for fifty years been clerk for the public sales of the vicinity. Undoubtedly he has served the public in this capacity more than any other man in Champaign county.
It was on November 12, 1863, that Thomas W. Crim was united in marriage to Mary E. Evans, who was born in Goshen township, this county, January 27, 1844, daughter of Samuel and Mary Ann (Myers) Evans, both of whom were born in Loudoun county, Virginia, Mr. Crim's birth- place, and who came to this county in 1836 and settled in Goshen town- ship, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Samuel Evans was a farmer and cooper and became one of the best-known men in Goshen township. He died in 1907. His wife had preceded him to the grave about a year, her death having occurred in 1906. They were members of the Methodist church and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, of whom Mrs. Crim was the second in order of birth, the others being as follow: William L., a retired farmer, now living at Mechanicsburg; Jacob T., now living at North Lewisburg; Sarah Alice, who married L. Lyons and who is, as her husband, now deceased; James S., of Mechanicsburg, and Melvina, who married John O. Bolton and is now deceased.
To Thomas W. and Mary E. (Evans) Crim six children have been born, namely: Ella, wife of James Woolford, of Urbana; William Burton, who married Kate Woodward and is now district superintendent of schools in several townships; Elnora C., wife of Evan Perry, of Goshen township;
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Magdalena, at home; Samuel E., who married Minerva Goul and is now engaged in the grocery business, and the youngest child, a daughter, who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Crim are members of the Methodist Protes- tant church and take a proper interest in church work, as well as in the general good works of their home town and the community at large. Mr. Crim is an active member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Re- public and takes an earnest interest in the affairs of that patriotic organi- zation.
JAMES S. EVANS.
James S. Evans, a well-known and substantial retired farmer of Goshen township, this county, now living at Mechanicsburg, was born in that town- ship on June 17, 1852, son of Samuel and Mary Ann (Myers) Evans, natives of Virginia and useful pioneers of this county, who settled in Rush township upon coming here and later moved to Goshen township, where they spent the remainder of their lives, both living to ripe old ages.
Samuel Evans grew to manhood in Virginia, his native state, and was there married. Almost immediately after their marriage, he and his wife drove through to this county, the journey requiring almost three weeks. Upon coming here Samuel Evans bought a farm of one hundred acres in Rush township and lived there for a few years, at the end of which time he sold that place and moved to the adjoining township of Goshen, where he bought another hundred-acre farmi and there established his home, and became a quite well-to-do farmer. He was at one time constable of Goshen township. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Protestant church. She died in 1904, at the age of eighty-eight, and his death occurred the next year, when he was ninety-two years of age. Both were cared for until their deaths by their son, James S. Evans. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, William, Jesse, Esther, Jacob, Sarah, James and Melvin.
James S. Evans was reared on the home farm in Goshen township and received his early education in the schools of that neighborhood. From the days of his boyhood he was a valuable assistant in the labors of develop- ing and improving the home place and after finishing his schooling con- tinued farming with his father. He was thus engaged until the latter's death, when he took over the home farm, a well-improved place of one hun- dred and ten acres. As he continued to prosper he added to his holdings
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until he became the owner of one hundred and eighty acres, and was suc- cessfully engaged in farming and stock raising there until his retirement from active labors on the farm, and removal to Mechanicsburg, where he is now living. Mr. Evans is a Republican and has ever taken a proper interest in political affairs, but has not been a seeker after office.
On January 8, 1914, J. S. Evans was united in marriage to Hulda Freeman, who also was born in Goshen township, this county, a daughter of John H. and Emeline (Romine) Freeman, the former of whom also was born in that township and the latter in the neighboring county of Madison. John H. Freeman, who was born in 1839, was for twenty years a school teacher in this county, having started teaching in 1856 and con- tinuing in the profession until 1876, when he started farming. He re- mained a farmer until 1884, when he retired and moved to Mechanicsburg. His wife, who also was born in 1839, died in 1903, and he is now making his home with Mr. and Mrs. Evans at Mechanicsburg. To John H. Free- man and wife were born five children, those besides Mrs. Evans being Josephine, Mary Elsie, Rebecca A., and Ethel Gayle Bowen.
THE WARE FAMILY.
Joseph Ware came from England in 1715 and purchased five hundred acres of land near Salem, New Jersey. Jacob Ware, his grandson married Sarah Read, and was the father of Jacob Read Ware, who was born October 8, 1806, and Anna Read Ware was their only daughter. These two children with their mother and stepfather, French Rambo, moved to Ohio in 1818 and settled on Kings creek. In 1820 Jacob R. Ware helped drive a herd of beef cattle to Philadelphia, walking the entire distance there and back. He used to say that the happiest day of his life was when, on his return from this trip, he jumped the low rail fence in front of his mother's cabin and rushed into her arms.
In 1823 the Ware family moved to Springfield, Ohio, where Jacob R. Ware received most of his schooling. In 1825 he and his stepfather brought an old stock of goods from Springfield to Mechanicsburg, Cham- paign county, and there engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1834 Mr. Ware and Solomon McCorkle opened a store on the southeast corner of lot No. II, the site of the little log store room, the first building erected in the corporation of Mechanicsburg. The site is now occupied by the store of
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Boulton & Ware. At the end of ten years, Ware and McCorkle had made ten thousand dollars each. Mr. Ware, foreseeing the sure increase in realty values invested his money in land costing from eight to fifteen dollars an acre. The land being brushy and undrained, sheep were used to browse in the underbrush and in this way he grew to be an extensive dealer in sheep and wool. He concentrated his efforts in accumulating land, saying that his children could improve it. His youngest son, Joseph Ware, took charge of the lands in 1875 and has cleared, drained and managed them in such a way that they have been brought up to a high state of improvement and now give but little indication of their primitive condition.
Jacob R. Ware was united in marriage to Amira Wallace, a descen- dant of Sir William Wallace, in 1829. Three of their six children are living, namely: Mrs. Anna Sabine, of Cambridge, Massachusetts; Mrs. Emma Burnham, of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, and Joseph Ware, also of Me- chanicsburg. There are seven grandchildren, as follows: Wallace C. Sabine, a professor in Harvard University; Mrs. Anna Ware Siebert, a distinguished miniature painter and wife of a professor in the Ohio State University ; Thomas B. Ware, an attorney; Mrs. Enid Ware Foster, also an attorney; Whittier Burnham, assistant cashier of the Farmers Bank at Mechanicsburg; Rolla Burnham, a traveling salesman; and Archie W. Burn- ham, a photographer at Springfield, Ohio.
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Ware, both of whom had strong convictions and stood true to their principles, were very public-spirited and were such people as reformers are made of. They were ardent abolitionists and kept one of the stations on the underground railroad in slavery times. Later they entered with the same zeal into the temperance inovement. Mr. Ware may properly be called the father of the free public school system in Mechanicsburg. Mr. and Mrs. Ware were almost life-long members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Jacob Ware died in 1881, and Jacob Ware passed away in 1904 at the very unusual age of ninety-seven and one-half years.
Joseph Ware was born in 1841 and he is still active and robust, remark- able for his physical strength and endurance. Notwithstanding the care of the large estate, he has found time to enter into all the public movements of the times, having superintended the Methodist Protestant Sunday school in his home city for a period of fifty-six years without an interval. He inherited a taste for literature and is the author of a number of books, "The Divine Man," "Links of Gold," "Love's Decision," and poems, "My Star," "My Heaven," "The Voyager," and many other shorter writings. In rec- ognition of his literary work, the degrees of Doctor of Literature by Potomac
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University, and Master of Arts by the Kansas City University, have been conferred upon him.
In 1862 Joseph Ware was united in marriage with Josephine Jones, a daughter of Dr. Thomas Jones. To this union two children were born, namely : Thomas B. Ware, a prominent and well-known attorney of Cham- paign county ; and Mrs. Enid Ware Foster. There are also two grand- children, Ferryl and Joseph Ware Foster.
All members of the Ware family are public-spirited and interested in everything for the betterment of their community.
WILLIAM J. SARVER.
William J. Sarver, one of Harrison township's well-known and sub- stantial farmers and the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres four miles southwest of West Liberty, on rural mail route No. I, out of that city, was born on a farm in Concord township, this county, July 4, 1870, eldest child of Jacob S. and Etna (Johnson) Sarver. He was but two years of age when his parents moved from Concord township to Harrison township, where he has lived ever since.
Reared on the home farm in Harrison township, William J. Sarver received his education in the neighborhood schools and remained at home, a valued assistant in the labors of developing and improving the home place, until his marriage in the fall of 1896, when he was twenty-six years of age. He then began farming on his own account in Harrison township and in 1902 located on the farm he now owns in that township. Since then he has made his home there, he and his family being very comfortably situ- ated. In addition to his home farm of a quarter of a section of fine land, Mr. Sarver is the owner of a "forty" in Concord township and is regarded as one of the leading farmers in that part of the county, carrying on his farming operations in accordance with modern methods. He has a fine, up-to-date farm plant.
On November 25. 1896, William J. Sarver was united in marriage to Queen E. Idle, who was born in Concord township, this county, May 21. 1874. daughter of Thomas B. and Eliza J. (Journell) Idle, both of whom also were born in this county, the former in Concord township on June 3, 1851, and the latter in Johnson township. November 22, 1850. Thomas B. Idle was a substantial farmer of Concord township and was one of the best-known citizens of that part of the county. He died on August 8,
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