USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 84
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Republican and for years has given his earnest attention to local political affairs. For four years he served as treasurer of Rush township and all his public service has been animated by an earnest desire to advance the interests of the community at large.
On August 26, 1891, William S. Coffey was united in marriage to- Mertie Clark, daughter of George W. Clark and wife, and to this union three children have been born, Clark V., who married Esther Gordon; Rut who married Elmer Louden and has two children, Harold Eugene and Mary Elizabeth, and Edward. Mr. Coffey is a Mason, a member of the com- mandery at Urbana, and is a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias, in the affairs of both of which orders he takes a warm interest.
EDWARD M. THOMPSON.
Edward M. Thompson, an honored veteran of the Civil War and the, proprietor of a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres, the old John Devore place, in Wayne township, where he has made his home since 1869, is a native son of Champaign county, born in Wayne township, and has lived here all his life. He was born on a small farm just south of the village of Cable on September 30, 1844, son of Abraham and Susan (Mid- dleton) Thompson, natives of Brown county, this state, who were married in their native county on August 5, 1831, and who later came to Cham- paign county and settled south of Cable, where Abraham Thompson got a piece of land and put up a log cabin in the woods, establishing his home there.
Abraham Thompson was a cooper by trade and he put up on his place a cooper shop, in which he worked during the winters and during such times as he could not profitably be engaged on his farm, but he was not able to make more than a meager living and when he died in October, 1849, he left his widow and eight children, the youngest of whom was but seven months of age, in sadly straitened circumstances. The Widow Thompson was an expert weaver and after the death of her husband she set up a loom in his cooper shop and made a meager living by weaving linsey-woolsey, a fabric of linen and wool-linen warp and woolen filling -much used by the pioneers. She was of the true type of pioneer mother and reared her children with a high regard for their future welfare, keeping them in school and praying with them night and morning at the humble
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family altar. She survived her husband many years, her death occurring in 1888, she then being seventy-six years of age. To Abraham Thompson and wife, twelve children were born, the subject of this sketch being the sixth in order of birth, the others who grew to maturity being as follow : James, who married Sarah Hatfield, became a well-to-do farmer in Rush township and died in 1904; Lillie, who died in 1849; Winifred, who mar- ried Samuel McAdams and lived in Union township, this county; Thomas, a well-known resident of Mechanicsburg and a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume; William H. H., a veteran of the Civil War, who is farming south of Cable, in this county; Susanna, wife of J. C. Light, of Lima, Ohio, and Abraham B, a farmer of Urbana town- ship, who has been twice married, his first wife having been Ellen Osborne and his second, Lillie Noyes.
Edward M. Thompson received his schooling in the little old log school house in the neighborhood of his boyhood home south of Cable and early began to perform his share in the labors of family maintenance, his mother having been left a widow when he was but four or five years of age. He was but a boy when the Civil War broke out, but his patriotic fervor was strong and in May, 1862, he then being but seventeen years of age, he enlisted at Urbana for service as a member of Company H. Eighty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was with that command for four months, on duty at Clarksburg, West Virginia, guarding the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. In June, 1863. he enlisted for a second time and again went to the front, serving with Company I, Eighty-sixth Ohio, until mustered out on February 10, 1864, in this latter service aiding in the capture of Morgan's raiders, participating in the skirmish at Eaglesport, escorting pris- oners of war to Columbus and taking part in the expedition against Cumber- land Gap and the capture of that important point. On May 2, 1864, Mr. Thompson again enlisted and returned to the front as a member of Com- pany F, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Ohio, attached to the middle de- partment, Eighth Army Corps, going with that command to Cumberland, Maryland; thence to Washington, D. C., White House and City Point, and was attached to Pond's Brigade. South Division, Eighteenth Army Corps. Army of the James, from June to August, chiefly on fatigue duty. After the engagement at Port Walthall he moved with his company to the south side of the James and at Deep Bottom was on further fatigue duty, operat- ing with the Army of the James during the siege of Petersburg and Rich- mond, until August 28, when the command was returned to Camp Chase, where he was for the third time mustered out, August 31, 1864. After a
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bit of a respite at home Mr. Thompson again enlisted in behalf of his coun- try's cause, on January 20, 1865, becoming attached to Company D, One ' Hundred and Eighty-sixth Ohio, with which command he went to Louis- ville, then to Nashville and from there to Cleveland, where he was on duty until May 2, when the force with which he was operating was assigned to a second (separate) brigade and after the battle of Etowah river, Georgia, went to Dalton and thence to Chattanooga, where the company was on duty until July 20, protecting the railroad and then was stationed at Nashville, where it was held on duty for some time after the war had closed, Mr. Thompson receiving his discharge there on September 18, 1865.
Upon the completion of his military service Edward M. Thompson returned to his home in this county and remained with his mother until his marriage in the summer of 1867, when he made his home at Mingo, where he remained about two years, or until 1869, in which year he bought the old John Devore place of one hundred and twenty acres in Wayne town- ship and has ever since made his home there, one of the substantial farmers and influential residents of that neighborhood. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Thompson has given considerable attention to the raising of high-grade live stock and has done well in his operations. He is a stanch Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, for six years serving as trustee of Wayne township and for four years as a member of the board of directors of the county infirmary. He is an active member of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic at North Lewisburg and has for years taken a warm interest in the affairs of that patriotic organization.
Mr. Thompson has been twice married. In August, 1867, he was united in marriage to Sarah E. Euans, of Hardin county, this state, and to that union three children were born, Dana Pearl, who died at the age of six months; Anna Belle, who died at the age of nine years, and Dr. Charles E. Thompson, now a practicing physician at Cincinnati. Doctor Thompson was reared in this county and began his medical studies at the Ohio Medical College at Columbus, later entering the medical college of Nashvile, Tennessee, from which he was graduated. Upon receiving his diploma, he was appointed an interne at the Nashville City Hospital and after a period of valuable practical experience there returned home, remain- ing at home for a year, at the end of which time he opened an office for the practice of his profession at North Lewisburg. Four years later he moved to Urbana and was for some time engaged in practice there, or until his removal to Cincinnati, where he is now engaged in practice and has been
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quite successful. Doctor Thompson was for some time a member of the board of pension examiners for this district and while thus engaged had the honor of being the youngest pension examiner in the United States. He has been twice married. His first wife was Maggie Pence and his second, Catherine McMillan. Mrs. Sarah E. Thompson died in October, 1894, and on July 19, 1900, Mr. Thompson married Bertha S. Ramsey, who was born at Cable, a daughter of Albert and Sophia Ramsey, natives of Virginia, who became early settlers at Cable, Albert Ramsey becoming a substantial farmer of that neighborhood. Albert Ramsey died at the age of eighty- four years and his widow is still living, being now in the ninety-second year of her age, hale and hearty, a great reader and keenly interested in the current events of the day. Mrs. Ramsey attended the funeral at Simon Kenton at Zanesville and retains distinct recollections of that event, as well as of many of the leading events in the pioneer history of this section of the state, and is a most interesting conversationalist on matters relating to the earlier days of this region. She and her husband were the parents of ten children, of whom five are still living, those besides Mrs. Thomp- son being Gustavus, of Columbus, this state; Cromwell, of Grove City, Pennsylvania; Endora, of Urbana, and Benjamin F., of Cable.
WILLIAM B. CRIM.
One of the well-known and efficient educators of Champaign county is William B. Crim, at present incumbent of the office of district school super- visor of Union, Wayne, Johnson and Harrison townships. He was born in Goshen township, this county, on April 18, 1870. He is a son of Thomas W. and Mary E. (Evans) Crim. The father is a retired farmer and school teacher of Mechanicsburg, this county. He is also a veteran of the Civil War, and for a period of thirty-five years he was assessor of Goshen town- ship. Thomas W. Crim was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, May 29, 1842, and is a son of William and Cecelia ( White) Crim, who spent their lives in the last-named county and state. They were parents of eight chil- dren, Mary E., John Wesley, living in Virginia; Susan N., Samuel Randolph. Trenton Jackson, Benjamin Franklin, Dollie Jane and Thomas W.
When twenty-one years old Thomas W. Crim left his native state and came to Ohio, in April. 1863, locating in Champaign county. A year later he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio
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Volunteer Infantry, but he was prevented from active service by illness and was discharged in October, 1864, for disability. He had received a good education and took up teaching upon coming to Ohio, which work he re- sumed upon his recovery and he followed teaching and farming in Cham- paign county until 1907, since which time he has lived in retirement in Mechanicsburg. On November 12, 1863, he married Mary E. Evans, a native of Goshen township, this county, and a daughter of Samuel and Mary Ann (Myers) Evans, both natives of Loudon county, Viriginia, but who removed to Champaign county, Ohio in 1836, locating in Goshen township where they spent the remainder of their lives. They had six children. Mrs. Crim being the second in order of birth, the others being William L., Jacob T., Sarah Alice, James S. and Melvina.
To Thomas W. Crim and wife five children were born, namely: Ella, wife of James Woolford, of Urbana; William Burton, the subject of this sketch; Elnora C., wife of Evan Perry of Goshen township; Magdalena, who is at home, and Samuel E., who is engaged in the grocery business.
William B. Crim received his early schooling in the common schools of Goshen township and later attended the high school at Mechanicsburg. After leaving school he taught for fifteen years in the public schools of Goshen township and two years in Rush township, and since 1905 has been teaching in Union township, spending eight years of that period at Mutual. In 1913 he was elected district supervisor of schools, the duties of which responsible and exacting position he has continued to discharge in an able, faithful and eminently successful manner, doing much to improve the schools in this sec- tion, for he is a man of progressive ideas and has kept well abreast of the times in all that pertains to educational matters. He has also remained a diligent student and is one of the most proficient educators in Champaign county. During his long years of teaching his services have been in great demand and he has been popular with both pupils and patrons. He has introduced improved and modern methods in the schools and placed them under a superb system. Through his efforts quite a number of the district ' schools have been consolidated. He has been a member of the county board of examiners since 1905. He is the third oldest school teacher, in point of service, in Champaign county, having taught in all thirty-three years.
In 1893 Mr. Crim was married to Kate Woodward, a daughter of Kemp and Talitha ( Morse) Woodward, natives of Goshen township, this county. Kemp Woodward died in 1875 and his widow married William Craig and now resides on a farm in the north part of Goshen township. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Crim, namely : Mabel and Harold.
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Mr. Crim is a Republican. He served as justice of the peace for four years, making an excellent record, his decisions being noted for their fairness to all parties concerned and showing a profound knowledge of the basic principles of jurisprudence. He belongs to the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor commander. He is a member of the Methodist Protestant church, in which he is a deacon, and is active in church work.
WESLEY BLAZER.
Wesley Blazer, a farmer of Union township, this county, was born on a farm in Stony Creek township, Madison county, Indiana, April 25, 1862, a son of Frank and Melissa (Goul) Blazer. The father was a native of Madison county, and the mother of Champaign county, but they were mar- ried in Madison county. Frank Blazer spent his life in his native county, where he followed farming. His death occurred when his son Wesley was a small child. Frank Blazer and wife had five children, John, Martha, Wesley, Kate and Rachael.
Wesley Blazer grew to manhood on the farm in Madison county. He attended the rural schools there, and when a young man he worked as a hand on the home place until 1881, in which year he came to Champaign county and hired out as a farm hand for one year, then returned to Mad- ison county for two years, then again came to Champaign county. After his marriage here he went to Harper county, Kansas, where he resided five years on a farm, then returned to this county and located in Goshen town- ship, where he worked as a farm hand one year, then farmed as a renter three years. He then lived a year in Indiana, after which he rented a farm for two years in Goshen township, this county. He then bought sixty-nine acres in Union township and here he has since resided and has been suc- cessful as a general farmer and stock raiser. He has added to his original place until he now owns one hundred and seven and one-half acres, all of - which is under cultivation except a few acres of timber. He bought the place in 1809. He has kept it well improved and has a comfortable home and good outbuildings. For a number of years he also operated a saw-mill and threshing-machine, operating the latter all over the county.
Mr. Blazer was married on September 12. 1886. to Binnie C. McAdams, a native of Union township and a daughter of Samuel and Jane (Doak) McAdams. natives of Champaign county. Mr. McAdams still lives on the
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home place. Mrs. Jane D. McAdams died in 1865. Samuel McAdams served all through the Civil War, enlisting from Union township.
To Mr. and Mrs. Blazer four children have been born, namely: John F., who married Jennie Goul and has two children, Lloyd and Mildred ; Ada Dell, wife of Frank Ogg: Owen, who is single and living at home, and Charles, who died at the age of five weeks.
Mr. Blazer is a Republican and was formerly a member of the local school board. He belongs to the Junior Order of American Mechanics, and is now serving as trustee of that order. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church.
ELMER E. POWELL.
Elmer E. Powell, a farmer of Union township, Champaign county, was born in Mad River township, this county, September 9, 1861, a son of Samuel T. and Mary E. (Talbott) Powell, both natives of Mad River township. There the father grew to manhood, attended school, and engaged in general farming until he retired from active life and moved to Urbana, where his death occurred in 1905. His widow is still living there. The father of Samuel Powell immigrated to Champaign county in an early day and was one of the pioneers of Mad River township, where he spent the rest of his life.
Elmer E. Powell grew to manhood at Urbana, and was educated in the public schools there. After leaving school he worked at Urbana in the hay and grain business, until he was married; then, in March, 1893, took up farming in Union township, and has continued farming with gratifying results to the present time. He is now farming on an extensive scale, oper- ating about six hundred acres. He raises large quantities of grain which he feeds to livestock, preparing a number of carloads of cattle and hogs for the market each year, and for twenty-five years he has been a prominent breeder of race horses, keeping some of the best stock in this section of the state. He is an exceptionally good judge of live stock of all kinds. especially horses, and has owned such notable horses as "Robert Milton." 2:081/4; "Vandola," 2:091/4, and "Kitty Kingston," 2:1614, as well as various other fine horses, including "Sir Milton," 2:0514: "Florence Stan- ton," 2:1314 : "Lady Espy," 2:15%4 : "Dorcas Moore, 2:1414: "Lucile E." 2:1014 ; "Edna the Great," 2:1514 ; "Angie Berry," 2:1014, and "Alta W.," 2:081/2. Mr. Powell's fine horses are always greatly admired by all who see them, and he has gained a national reputation in his line, being one of the best-known horsemen in the country. He has exhibited his fine stock
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throughout the state, is one of the best of the present-day drivers and has traveled a great many of the race circuits in the United States. Politically. Mr. Powell is a Republican.
On March 24, 1893, Elmer E. Powell was united in marriage to Carrie J. Crain, daughter of James L. and Martha Ann (Todd) Crain, of this county, both now deceased, the former of whom was born in this county and the latter in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, fourteen miles from the city of Harrisburg, the capital of that state. James L. Crain was born on Pretty Prairie, in Urbana township, this county, son of Lewis Fisher Crain, who was born near Flemingsburg, Kentucky. Lewis Fisher Crain married Clara Phifer, a native of Virginia, and then came to Ohio, spending the rest of his life in this part of the state. He died in 1834 and his widow died in 1859. They were the parents of eight children. James L. Crain died on March 26, 1904. His wife had preceded him to the grave eight years before, lacking one day. her death having occurred on March 25. 1896. They were the parents of five children, of whom but two are now living, Mrs. Powell having a sister, Miss Clara A. Crain. Mrs. Lucinda J. Espy, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Mrs. Louise C. Phleger, of Springfield. this state, are sisters of the late James L. Crain.
R. M. WERDELL.
R. M. Werdell, manager of the Urbana Canning Company at Urbana, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio. December 17, 1868, a son of John and Mary (Clearwater) Werdell, the former a native of England and the latter of Pennsylvania. John Werdell immigrated to the United States when a young man and settled in the state of New York, where he worked out as a farm hand for some time, later moving to Ohio and locating in Pickaway county, where he married and bought a farm, on which he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1914, at an advanced age. His wife died in 1881. They were parents of nine children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the only one living in Champaign county.
R. M. Werdell grew to manhood on the home farm in Pickaway county, where he worked during the summer months. He received his education in the rural schools, and after leaving school continued farming with his father for a short time, then worked on the railroad for three years, after which he returned to farming and rented a place for two years. He then engaged in the carriage manufacturing business for a short time and then became connected with the canning factory business at Circleville, Ohio,
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remaining there until 1904, in which year he located in Urbana and helped to organize the McCoy Canning Company, with which he remained until 1916, when he resigned, and in March, 1917, became manager of the Urbana Canning Company, and is now operating the same with his usual industry and success, building up a large and satisfactory business and equipping the . plant with the most modern devices for rapid and high grade work. He understands the canning business thoroughly.
In 1899 Mr. Werdell was married to Mary Catherine Reid, a daughter of Andrew and Catherine Reid, and to this union three children have been born, Elouise, Delmar and Elden. Mr. Werdell is an independent voter. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
PEARL S. HANNA.
Pearl S. Hanna, a well-known farmer of Mad River township, this county, living on rural mail route No. I, out of Tremont, was born in that township on March 23, 1878, son of C. B. and Margaret ( Nichols) Hanna, who are now living retired at Urbana. C. B. Hanna was born in Virginia, a son of Chyle Hanna and wife, who came into Ohio during the Civil War period, later returning to Virginia, but after a while came back into Ohio and became residents of Champaign county, where C. B. Hanna grew to manhood and married, settling on a farm in Mad River township, moving thence, after a while to a farm in Concord township, where he remained until his retirement and removal to Urbana in 1916. To him and his wife two children were born, the subject of this sketch having had a brother, Emmet Hanna, who died when twenty-three years of age.
Reared on the home farm, Pearl S. Hanna received his schooling in the schools of Concord township and after his marriage at the age of twenty- two years settled on a farm in Concord township, where he remained until 19II, when he moved to the farm on which he is now living, in Mad River township, and where he and his family are very comfortably situated. Mr. Hanna is a Republican and gives a good citizen's attention to local political affairs, but has not been a seeker after public office.
On June 6, 1900, Pearl S. Hanna was united in marriage to Zalia B. Offenbacher, who was born in Concord township, this county, and to this union three children have been born, Homer, born on March 28. 1904; Lucile. July 4, 1907, and Warren, December 11, 1908. The Hannas have a pleasant home in Mad River township and take a proper interest in the general social activities of their home neighborhood.
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WILLIAM A. BRAND.
No volume of biography in Champaign county would be complete with- out fitting reference to the life and the services to this community of Will- iam A. Brand, an honored veteran of the Civil War, formerly and for years editor of the old Urbana Citizen and Gazette and at the time of his death, in the spring of 1879, postmaster of Urbana, for he was for years one of the leaders in all proper movements hereabout, a man of large in- fluence in civic and social affairs and a citizen who ever had the welfare of the public very close to his heart; so that at his passing he left a good memory, a memory still precious to the old settlers of this county and to which the biographer here pays passing tribute in order that the present generation may know something of the life and character of this brave soldier and fearless editor.
William A. Brand was a native son of Champaign county and here spent all his life save those hard and trying years spent in the service of his country in camp and on the battle fields of the South during the days of the Civil War. He was born on a farm in Union township, July 9, 1837, a son of Joseph C. and Lavina (Talbot) Brand, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia, for many years regarded as among the most influential residents of this county and further and fitting mention of whom is made in a memorial sketch of Major Joseph C. Brand, presented elsewhere in this volume, together with additional details concerning the Brand family in this county and some interesting genealogical data along that line. When William A. Brand was but a boy his parents moved from the farm to Urbana and there he received his early schooling. Upon com- pleting the course in the public schools he entered Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware and after a comprehensive course there took up the study of law under the able preceptorship of Judge John H. James and there quali- fied for entrance to the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was gradu- ated in 1858. Shortly afterward he formed a partnership for the practice of his profession with Hon. Moses Corwin and that mutually agreeable arrangement continued until the latter's death. On July 12, 1859, Mr. Brand was united in marriage to Frances R. Saxton, daughter of Joshua Saxton, founder of the Citizen and Gazette, now known as the Urbana Daily Citizen, and established his home at Urbana, where he was living, engaged in the practice of the law, when the Civil War broke out.
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