USA > Ohio > Champaign County > History of Champaign County, Ohio, its people, industries and institutions, Volume II > Part 88
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Mr. Hooley has also become prominent in public affairs and is one of the leaders in the Republican party in this section of the state. He served for some time as central committeeman for his party in Salem township, also served a term as road supervisor in his township. At the general election in November, 1916, he was elected representative to the state Legislature, having the distinction of being the youngest man ever elected to this important office from Champaign county. During the following session of the Legis- lature he made a most commendable record. He introduced a bill regulating
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the salaries and duties of the county surveyors, which was passed, but was included in the White-Mulcahy bill. Mr. Hooley's bill has for its object a great saving in funds to all the counties of Ohio. While in the Legislature he served as a member of the public highway and agricultural committees, being secretary of each. He was also on the constitutional amendment ( initiative and referendum) committee. He did his work most faithfully and conscientiously in all these positions of trust. He is a member of the Grange.
Mr. Hooley is unmarried. Personally, he is a young man of pleasing address and of unquestioned integrity.
PETER A. BOISEN.
Peter A. Boisen, a substantial landowner of Urbana township, former trustee of that township and now superintendent of the Champaign County Childrens Home at Urbana, is a native of the kingdom of Denmark, but has been a resident of this county since 1881, in which year he came to the United States and with his brother, Hjironimos Boisen, who had come to the United States eight years before, proceeded on out to Ohio and settled in this county. Hjironimos Boisen, who married Ella Koffeberger, bought a farm four miles east of Urbana, in Union township, and there established his home. These two Boisen brothers were the only children of their parents, Hans and Magdalena (Peterson) Boisen, also natives of Denmark, farming people, who spent all their lives in their native land, their home having been in the southern part of the kingdom.
Upon coming to this county in 1881, Peter A. Boisen, who then was seventeen years of age, he having been born on June 24, 1864, became engaged in farm labor and after some years bought a farm of seventy-one acres, lying two and one-half miles west of Urbana. After his marriage in 1892 he established his home on that farm and there lived until the fall of 1906, when he sold that place and bought another one, in 1909, one mile south- east of Urbana, but lived on a rented farm one mile east of Urbana. until March, 1916, when he was appointed superintendent of the Champaign County Childrens Home at Urbana and entered upon the duties of that position, a position which he still occupies, he and his wife making their home at the Home, to the affairs of which they give their most earnest attention, doing all in their power to make comfortable the position of the
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children who are under their charge. Mr. Boisen has for years taken a hearty interest in local political affairs. He is a Republican and during his residence on the farm served for some time as a member of the school board in his local district and also served for some time as trustee of Urbana township.
As noted above, it was in 1892 that Peter A. Boisen was united in marriage to Fannie E. Fox, who was born in Union township, this county, a daughter of Amos and Matilda (Diltz) Fox, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families, their respective parents having come here from Virginia at an early day in the settlement of Cham- paign county. Amos Fox was a well-to-do farmer and he and his wife are now both dead. Mr. and Mrs. Boisen have one child, a daughter, Mary Helen. They are members of the Presbyterian church at Urbana and take an interested and proper part in church work, as well as in other community good works. For several years Mr. Boisen has been an active member of the Grange and he also is a member of the Masonic lodge at Urbana, in the affairs of both of which fraternal organizations he takes a warm interest.
THOMAS M. HANAGAN.
Thomas M. Hanagan, well-known cement contractor at Urbana and proprietor of an extensive gravel pit there, was born in that city and has lived in Champaign county all his life. He was born on April 9, 1874, son of Thomas and Bridget (O'Melia) Hanagan, both natives of Ireland, who were married in this county and here spent their last days.
Thomas Hanagan was born in County Kildare, Ireland, January 26. 1826, a son of Richard Hanagan and wife, the latter of whom was a Doyle, and who were the parents of the following children: Morris, who came to this country in 1848 and settled in Champaign county, where he became a substantial farmer and where he spent the remainder of his life; Thomas, father of the subject of this sketch; Peter, who also became a resident of this county and here died unmarried; Richard, also a resident of this county, who died unmarried; Mary, who died unmarried, and Patrick, who also came to this county and here enlisted for service in the Union army during the Civil War and while serving with his command died in a Southern hos- pital. The father of these children died in his native land and in 1853 the Widow Hanagan and her son, Thomas, and his two younger brothers and
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the sister came to the United States to join the elder son and brother, Morris Hanagan, who had located in this county in 1848. Here the family estab- lished their home and here the Widow Hanagan spent her last days.
Upon coming to Champaign county Thomas Hanagan became engaged in farming and in 1863 married Bridget O'Melia, also a native of Ireland, born in Kings county, who had come to this country in 1860. After his marriage Thomas Hanagan farmed at several different places before finally establishing his home in Wayne township, where he spent his last days, his death occurring there in 1906, he then being eighty years of age. His widow spent her last days in Urbana, her death occurring there on October 14, 19II, she then being seventy-two years of age. They were earnest members of the Catholic church and their children were reared in that faith. There were seven of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fifth in order of birth, the others being as follow: Peter J., formerly a Cham- paign county farmer, now conducting a restaurant and barber shop in Urbana, who married Margaret Curran and has six children, Frances, Helen, Anna, Morris, Joseph and Thomas; Mary, who married John Regan and has three children, John, Loretta and Rosa; Frances, who died in infancy; Eliza M., who died unmarried at the age of twenty-one years; Francis P., who is unmarried and who is engaged in the cement-contracting business with his brother. Thomas M., at Urbana, and Rose, who married James A. Hearn and died in 1903, leaving one child, a son, Thomas.
Thomas M. Hanagan received his schooling in the public schools of this county and remained at home, assisting in the labors of the farm, until he was thirty-six years of age, when, about 1900, he moved to Urbana and there became engaged in other lines of work and for some years past has been engaged, in association with his brother, Francis P. Hanagan, in the cement- contracting business in that city. The Hanagan brothers also have a valuable gravel pit at Urbana and are well equipped for any undertaking in the cement line. In 1913 Thomas M. Hanagan held the office of state inspector of cement work and is widely known among cement contractors throughout the state. Politically, he is a Democrat and takes an active interest in local political affairs. He and his brother are members of the Catholic church and are affiliated with the Knights of Columbus and with the Ancient Order of Hibernians, in the affairs of which organizations they take a warm interest.
Thomas M. Hanagan was married on April 26, 1910, to Agnes Gannon, a daughter of Michael and Mary (Mclaughlin) Gannon, both natives of Ireland, who came to the United States as young people and were married in Champaign county. Michael Gannon became a section foreman on the
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Erie railroad and located at Urbana. He retired several years ago and has his home and a tract of farm land at the edge of Urbana. His first wife died in 1882 and he later married to Margaret Kelly. Mrs. Thomas M. Hanagan was born in Urbana in 1880 and attended St. Mary's parochial school there. Mr. and Mrs. Hanagan have two children, John Joseph, born in 19II, and Angeline Marie, born in 1914.
C. EDWIN MOODY.
C. Edwin Moody, a former Champaign county school teacher and pro- prietor of a fine farm of eighty-three acres in Union. township, his home being located on rural mail route No. I, out of Mechanicsburg, was born on the farm on which he is now living and has lived there the greater part of his life. He was born on August 10, 1869, son of John R. and Serepta A. (Bowen) Moody, both of whom also were born in Champaign county, mem- bers of pioneer families in this part of Ohio.
John R. Moody was a son of Moses and Maria (Guy) Moody, the former a native of New Hampshire and the latter of Canada, who came to Champaign county in pioneer days and settled in Goshen township, later moving to Union township, where they established their home and where they spent their last days. Moses Moody was one of the leading men of Champaign county in his generation and was a member of the board of county commissioners at the time of his death. During the days of his young manhood John R. Moody was for some years engaged in teaching school during the winters, farming during the summers, and his wife also was a school teacher for some years during the period of her young womanhood. In addition to his general farming, John R. Moody was extensively engaged. in cheese-making and was widely known throughout this and neighboring counties on account of the industry he built up in that connection. He became the owner of two hundred acres of land and was long regarded as one of the substantial citizens of Union township. He and his wife were the parents of six children, those besides the subject of this sketch being Lulu, Margaret, Laura, Earl and Lawrence.
Reared on the home farm in Union township, C. Edwin Moody received his schooling in the district school in the neighborhood of his home and in the high school at Mechanicsburg and for three years after leaving school was engaged in teaching during the winters, meanwhile continuing his labors
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on the farm during the summers. After his marriage in 1895 he established his home on a rented farm and began farming on his own account, later buying fifty acres of the old home place. This tract he later added to by the purchase of additional land and is now the owner of a fine farm of eighty- three acres, besides which he farms additional land, now carrying on his operations on a tract of one hundred and seventy-seven acres. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Moody gives considerable attention to the rais- ing of pure-bred Jersey cattle and is doing well. He is a Republican and takes a good citizen's interest in local political affairs, but has not been an office seeker.
In 1895 C. Edwin Moody was united in marriage to Nona Carpenter, who was born in Schuyler county, Missouri, daughter of George and Mildred (Coffey) Carpenter, and to this union two children have been born, Earl and Mary Louise. Mr. and Mrs. Moody are members of the Church of Christ (Scientist) and take an active interest in the affairs of the same. Mr. Moody is a Mason and a Granger and takes a warm interest in the affairs of these two organizations.
SAMUEL H. ROBERTS.
The late Samuel H. Roberts, for years a well-known farmer and stock- man in the vicinity of Mutual, this county, who died at Los Angeles, Cali- fornia, in 1912, and whose widow is now residing at Mechanicsburg, was a native son of this county, born on the farm on which he spent all his active life. He was a son of Ephraim and Jane ( Harper) Roberts, who came to this county from Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and settled near Mutual, where they spent the remainder of their lives, useful and influential pioneers of that neighborhood. They were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom grew to maturity, those besides the subject of this memorial sketch having been Joseph, Calvin, John, Mary, Harriet, Jennie, Emily and Ann.
Reared on the old home farm near Mutual, Samuel H. Roberts received his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood and from the days of his boyhood was a valued assistant to his father in the labors of improving and developing the place. After his marriage he established his home there and continued to make that his place of residence, becoming one of the most sub- stantial farmers and stockmen in that part of the county and a landowner of considerable means. During the progress of the Civil War Mr. Roberts
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enlisted for service in the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with that command served valiantly until mustered out. He was one of the active members of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Urbana and ever took a warm interest in the affairs of that patriotic organization. Three of his brothers also served as soldiers of the Union during the Civil War. Mr. Roberts also was a member of the Masonic lodge at Mechanicsburg and took a warm interest in the affairs of that organization. While he and his wife were enjoying a sojourn in the beautiful city of Los Angeles, California, in the winter of 1911-12, Mr. Roberts was taken ill there and died on February 8, 1912, he then being in the sixty-ninth year of his age. His body was brought to his old home in this county and was buried in the cemetery at Mutual, the memory of the deceased there receiving fitting parting tribute on the part of his friends in that neighborhood and formal recognition on the part of his comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic and his brother Masons. Mr. Roberts not only was a successful farmer and stockman, but he had done well his part in his various relations to the public weal and he left a good memory in the community in which he was born and in which his long and useful life was spent.
It was on November 28, 1894, at Detroit, Michigan, that Samuel H. Roberts was united in marriage to Emma J. Harper, who was born on a farm in the vicinity of the Roberts farm near Mutual, a daughter of Cun- ningham and Sarah (Minturn) Harper, both of whom also were born in this state, the former near Lancaster, in Fairfield county, and the latter, near Mutual, in this county. Cunningham Harper was a substantial and well-to-do farmer in the neighborhood of Mutual and he and his wife spent their last days there. They were earnest members of the Buck Creek Presby- terian church and their children were reared in the faith of that church. There was six of these children, those besides Mrs. Roberts, the fourth in order of birth, being as follow: Belle, widow of John A. Dowell, of New York City, who has two children, Blanche and Ethel; Edward, of Mechanics- burg, a well-known farmer of that neighborhood; William A., who lives in Virginia: Carrie, of Mechanicsburg, and Minerva L., also of Mechanics- burg, widow of Edward Baumgardner, who has one son, Edgar H. Baum- gardner. In 1912, after the death of her husband, Mrs. Roberts left her home in Mutual and moved to Mechanicsburg, where she bought a handsome residence on East Sandusky street and where she is now living, very com- fortably and very pleasantly situated. She is a member of the Presbyterian
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church, as was her husband, and has ever taken a close personal interest in church work, as well as in other local good works, and has been a help- ful assistant in the work of promoting various causes designed to advance the common welfare of the community in which most of her life has been spent.
WILLIAM L. STOKES.
Having made a success as a general farmer and stock raiser William L. Stokes, of Salem township, this county, is now able to spend his declining years in retirement. He has spent his life in the same vicinity, being con- tent with his native environment, and is still living in the house in which he was born on November 10, 1846. He is a son of Samuel and Nancy (Thomas) Stokes. The father was a native of Virginia and the mother was born in this county.
Samuel Stokes was born in 1806 and remained in the Old Dominion until 1829 when he came here with his parents and lived with them until his marriage, after which he and his wife established the family home at what was then known as Cabletown, now known as Cable. After remaining there two years, they moved to the place on which their son William L. is now living, in Salem township. Here they endured the privations and hardships of pioneer life, cleared and developed a good farm from the wilderness, and here spent the rest of their lives. The death of Samuel Stokes occurred on November 21, 1879. His family consisted of seven children, only two of whom are living at this writing, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Mary, who married William Russell. The Stokes family made the overland journey from Virginia to Ohio in wagons, the trip requiring weeks, for there were few good roads then.
William L. Stokes grew to manhood on the home farm and received his education in the district schools of Salem township. He continued to work with his father on the homestead even after his marriage, and upon the death of his father he took charge of the same. He now has eighty acres of productive land. He has rotated his crops and looked after his land so well in a general way that the soil has not lost any of its original fertility. He has also kept the farm buildings well repaired.
Mr. Stokes was married in 1868 to Margaret Petty, a daughter of Will- iam and Elizabeth (Lippincott) Petty, and to their union six children have been born, namely: Fannie, who married E. McDonald and has three chil- dren, Charles, Flora and Ruth; Laura, who married Samuel Black; Samuel
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM L. STOKES.
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Stokes, who married Ida Grubbs and has four children, Lawrence, Norman, Merrill and Genora ; Mary, who married Joe Walker; Sara, who married Ora Stratton, and Andrew, who married Elizabeth Plank and has five children, Laura, Gladys, Harold, Joe and Fannie Margaret.
Politically, Mr. Stokes is a Democrat, but he has never been an office seeker or active in public affairs.
ABRAM M. SPAIN.
Another of the retired farmers of Rush township, Champaign county, is Abram M. Spain, who is spending his declining years quietly and in the midst of plenty as a result of his earlier years of strenuous endeavor. He was born on the county line in the edge of Rush township, May 21, 1839, and has been contented to spend his nearly four-score years in his native locality. He is a son of Lemuel and Elizabeth (Millice) Spain. The father was born in Rush township and the mother in Mechanicsburg, this county. They each represented early pioneer families. Lemuel Spain was a son of Willis Spain, who was born in Dinwiddie county, Virginia, from which he came to Champaign county, Ohio, in 1805, driving overland in covered wagons. This country was still a wilderness, when neighbors were few and far between. Thomas Spain, a brother of Willis Spain, had preceded him to this locality and bought one thousand and sixty-three acres at what is now the northwest edge of North Lewisburg. He then returned to Virginia and brought out several families who desired to settle here. They built a block house in the woods to insure safety in case of an Indian attack. The forest was cleared and farms developed. Each family built a log cabin. Indians were then numerous throughout the country. The Spains were typical pioneers and endured the hardships and privations of the first frontiersmen. Willis Spain lived to be eighty-five years old. During the latter part of his life he bought another one thousand acres of good land. He became one of the leading citizens of the county in his day and genera- tion, was well-to-do and public-spirited, helping in many ways to introduce the evidences of modern civilization in the wilderness, such as schools, churches, etc. He was a self-made man, having had little opportunity to obtain an education, but he became well informed, having read extensively in later life. He helped build the first Methodist church in his locality,
(56a )
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which was of logs. His family consisted of seven children, namely : Lemuel, Henry, Fletcher, Newton, Wright, Betsy and David.
Lemuel Spain, father of the subject of this sketch, grew up amid pioneer conditions, and he worked hard when a boy helping develop the home farm. He attended, for a short time, the early-day subscription schools. After his marriage to Elizabeth Millice at Mechanicsburg, he located on a farm in Rush township, the land having but a small clearing on it. He finished preparing the place for the plow, built a home and other substantial build- ings and soon had a good place. He built the first frame barn in his local- ity. He met death by a runaway team at the age of seventy-five years. His widow made her home with their son, Abram M. Spain, until her death at the age of seventy-six years. Lemuel Spain was a Republican and he and his wife belonged to the Methodist church. Their family consisted of eight children, as follow: Abram M., the subject of this sketch; John, who lives in Union county, Ohio; Christopher W., deceased; David, George, Ross and Ben P., all of North Lewisburg, and Amos, who died in infancy.
Abram M. Spain grew to manhood on the home farm and attended the local rural schools, taught in a log school house, equipped with puncheon seats, a chimney built of sticks and mud and with greased paper for window panes. He began working out at the age of sixteen. He worked in Mechan- icsburg two years. He hired to his uncle, Fletcher Spain, for fifteen dollars a month. On December 11, 1860, he married Mary Jane Hutchings, a native of Saratoga county, New York, from which she came to North Lewisburg. Champaign county, Ohio, with her parents, Ephraim Hutchings and wife, when young. They were among the early pioneers here, and the parents spent the rest of their lives in this locality. Mrs. Spain died in early life. leaving two children, Dora, who married Ross Albright, a farmer of Rush township, and Ora, who died in 1887. Mr. Spain married a second time, in New York City, to Henrietta DeGroff, a native of the state of New York. When young she came alone to Champaign county, Ohio. Three children were born of Mr. Spain's last marriage, namely: Lewis, who is engaged in farming near North Lewisburg, married Florence Darrow, and has one daughter, Clift; Ward, a traveling salesman, with headquarters in Chicago, married Clara Smith, and has two children, Walter and Henrietta, and Chauncey, who is farming on part of his father's place in Rush township. married Zella Lain, and has two children, Mary L. and Ora L.
After his first marriage Mr. Spain lived with his grandfather a year. then moved to Logan county, this state, returning a year later to Cham-
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paign county, locating on the farm where he has since resided in Rush township. He has one hundred and two acres in the home place and ninety- nine acres where his son lives, also another farm of seventy-four acres. His home place is known as "Sugar Grove Farm." He has been very suc- cessful as a general farmer and stock raiser, and his land is all under a splendid state of improvement and cultivation. He formerly bought and sold live stock in this and adjoining counties extensively. He is now living practically retired.
Mr. Spain is a loyal Republican and has long been active in local public affairs. He was trustee of Rush township for nine years. He has attended many political conventions and has been judge of elections. He is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a well-preserved man for his age, having retained his faculties, and is as active as many men are at middle age. He has always had a splendid constitution and has lived a careful and upright life.
BURTON A. TAYLOR. .
Burton A. Taylor, cashier of the Central National Bank of St. Paris, this county, and former auditor of the neighboring county of Madison, is a native son of Champaign county and has lived here and in the adjoining county of Madison all his life, a resident of St. Paris since 1906, in which year he aided in the organization of the Central National Bank of that place and has since been serving as cashier of the same. He was born on a farm in Salem township, this county, August 16, 1867, son of Thomas I. and Hannah (Stewart) Taylor, both of whom also were born in this county, members of pioneer families, and who are still living at their home in Salem township, honored old residents of that section of the county. To Thomas I. Taylor and wife seven children were born, namely: Burton A., the sub- ject of this biographical sketch; Cora, wife of O. K. West, of Columbus, this state; Effie, deceased; Frank, of Springfield, this state; Nellie, wife of C. H. Bentley, of Columbus ; Floy, wife of W. F. Shrigley, of Springfield, "and Blanche, who is at home with her parents.
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