USA > Ohio > Defiance County > History of Defiance County, Ohio. Containing a history of the county; its townships, towns, etc.; military record; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; farm views, personal reminiscences, etc > Part 21
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On motion, Mr. Selwin, N. Owen and John A. Simon, of Williams, and William D. Hill, of Defiance County, were appointed a Committee on Resolutions. The committee reported the following preamble and resolutions, which, on motion, were adopted, to wit:
WHEREAS, By the decree of a mysterious Provi- dence, death, without a note of warning or premoni- tion, has come into our midst and taken from us our honored brother and professional associate, Thomas T. Cowen, in the very bloom of his manhood and his usefulness, and
WHEREAS, It is due to his memory that we give some expression to our appreciation of his worth, and our keen sense of our loss, therefore be it
Resolved, By this meeting of his late professional associates, that words are too weak to bear to the world an adequate expression of the deep sense of sadness at our loss, the warm personal affection for our dead brother, the many tender recollections of his busy and useful life and the profound and sad solicitude for his stricken family, which fill our hearts at this moment and seem struggling for utter- ance, but nevertheless, as an inadequate expression of our feelings on this occasion, be it further
Resolved, That in the death of Thomas T. Cowen the legal profession has lost an able, honored and dis- tinguished member, as well as an eminently genial and social companion; society an exemplary citizen, and an upright man; the cause of justice a fearless champion; his bereaved family a faithful and an affec. tionate husband and father, and humanity a steadfast friend, and that we regard the startling event as not only a sad personal bereavement but a serious public loss.
Resolved, That to his family we tender the pro- found sympathy and solicitude of those who knew him better-and hence esteemed him higher-than all others save those to whose hearts he was endeared by the nearer ties of wife and kindred, and by these solemn presents we say to them that, should they ever be in need of earthly friends, they shall come to us, and it shall never be in vain.
Resolved, That we do, by these presents, assure
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his more immediate professional associate and late partner in business, Brother A. M. Pratt, that we are deeply sensible of his irreparable loss, in being thus bereft of the valuable aid and co-operation of an hon- est and eminently capable business associate, as well as the society of a genial and gifted friend, whose confidence was ever the safe repository of the most sacred and secret trusts.
Resolved, That the Secretary of this meeting be and he is hereby instructed to furnish a copy of these resolutions respectively to the widow of the deceased; to his late partner in business, to each newspaper published in this subjudicial district, and that such further appropriate action be taken as may be neces- sary to spread these resolutions upon the respective journals of the several courts in this sub-judicial dis- trict.
On motion of W. D. Hill, the meeting adjourned. S. E. BLAKESLEE, Chairman. L. E. BREWSTER, Secretary.
(From the Defiance Democrat.) THOMAS T. COWEN.
The death of this gentleman occurred at Bryan, on Sunday, January 19, 1873. The supposed cause, heart disease. He was found dead, sitting in a chair in his office about noon, having left home in his ap- parent usual health but two hours before. The news cast a gloom over our community, where Mr. Cowen has been a resident for many years. He leaves a wife and three children, and his loss will be sincerely mourned. A rising lawyer, he bade fair to take a front rank in his profession. He had resided at Bryan but about three years, where he was a partner in the law firm of Pratt & Cowen. His funeral took place on Tuesday, and was largely attended, over two hundred of his Masonic brethren and nearly all of the attor- neys of Williams and Defiance Counties being pres- ent.
HAMILTON DAVISON.
Hamilton Davison was born in the town of Hart- wick, Otsego Co., N. Y., on the 5th of March, 1806. His ancestors were of English descent, and immi. grated at an early date to America, settling in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His parents were married in Monsou, Mass., in 1789, and soon after moved to Otsego County, N. Y., and cleared up a farm on land purchased of Judge Cooper, the father of Fennimore Cooper, the novelist, on the head-waters of the Susquehanna River, near to Cooperstown, the county seat of said County of Otsego, where they lived until the times of their death. His mother dy- ing when he was eleven years old, his father, a few years after, married Matilda Spalding, whose first husband was the Rev. Mr. Spalding, the reputed
author of the Mormon Bible. He was the youngest of a family of eight children and brought up on the farm, employed at manual labor till the age of six- teen, when he became a student in the Hartwick Academy, a Lutheran institution erected in 1816, ad- joining his father's farm, and placed under the charge of the Rev. Ernest Lewis Hazelins, a Prussian by birth and a very able and accomplished scholar and teacher, and who afterward became one of the Profess- ors in the Lutheran University at Gettysburg, Penn. After his preparatory studies in the aforesaid academy, the subject of this sketch entered the sophomore class in Hamilton College, N. Y., where he graduated in 1826. Immediately after his graduation, he went to New Jersey, and became tutor in the family of a Mr. Taylor, a prominent citizen and slave-holder in said State, where he became acquainted with the work- ings of the system of slavery, but in the mildest and most benignant form, for a kinder master and a more happy, contented and jovial set of domestics and work hands were surely not found elsewhere. In the summer of 1828, having caught the Western fever, then prevalent in the Eastern States, he emigrated to Ohio in company with the family of one Maj. Hunt, and located in the town of Urbana, Champaign County, where he taught school, studied law with John H. James, who is still living; was admitted to the practice under the jurisdiction of the venerable Reuben Wood. Married, July 1, 1830, Miss Louisiana Gibler, two years his junior, and with whom he is now living. Five children have been born to them, viz .: Frances M., born June 9, 1831, and who died when nearly sixteen years old; Emma G., born Feb- ruary 14, 1833, and now living in Defiance, the widow of Samuel A. Strong, deceased; William H., born July 13, 1836, and died at the age of five years; John H., born August 5, 1842, and Lewellyn C., born November 13, 1844, and both now living and engaged in business together in Defiance. In the fall of 1833, he moved to Lima, Allen Co, Ohio, then a new town, but recently laid out in the dense forest. Here the first thing to do was to bny a lot for about $10 and build a beech-log cabin, which he did to be in unison with the other twelve or fourteen citizens of the place, there being but one small frame building then on the town plat. In this then sylvan village, and long be- fore it could be said
"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay."
he spent the happiest years of his life-all friendly, all sociable and on a common level; all anxious to enjoy life and to see others enjoy it. Here he com- menced the practice of his profession, and soon found enough to do, if not in the office in out-door exercises
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in leveling the tall trees surrounding his cabin. Ap- pointed Prosecuting Attorney soon after his arrival, he held the office for several years, adding much to the then slim business of the courts. The signing commissions for Notaries Public was not then one of the chief duties of the Governor of Ohio, as Gov. Corwin said it was in his time, as the subject of this sketch was, for about three years in Urbana and for a longer period in Lima, the only official of that char- acter in the place. In October, 1835, he was elected by the people Surveyor of Allen County, which office he held for the term of three years. In January, 1839, he received, from the Hon. Wilson Shannon, then Governor of Ohio, a commission as Captain of the First Artillery Company of the First Regiment, Second Brigade, of the Twelfth Division in the militia of the State, a newly organized company, of which he was chosen Captain. The only exploit performed during its term of service, worthy of note, was the procur- ing from the officials of Columbus, a nine-pounder iron cannon, which in a short time became, as all such implements of war usually do in small villages, both an annoyance and a nuisance. But this one, fortunately, soon after "busted," without in- jury to any one, and with it the said Artillery Com- pany, as well as the military aspirations of the Cap- tain. During the exciting campaign of 1844, a political paper, called the Lima Reporter, was started in Lima, to advance the cause of the great commoner and statesman, Henry Clay, and Mr. Davison was selected as editor, the duties of which position, so agreeable to his feelings, he discharged with all the energy and ability of which he was capable. He con- tinued as editor for about two years, and left the paper in a flourishing condition. In 1848, he was chosen by the Northwestern Congressional Dis- trict of Ohio a Delegate to the Philadelphia National Convention, in which Gen. Zachary Taylor was nominated as the Whig candidate for the Presi- dency. In 1845, he was chosen by the Legislature of Ohio Receiver of Public Moneys in the State Land Office, then held at Lima, with Julius C. Curtis as Register. He was re-elected in 1848 and again in 1851. In the winter of 1849, the Legislature, or- dered the State Land Office to be removed to Defi- ance, Defiance County, the United States Land Office formerly at Lima having been recently moved to that place, and the greater body of the lands owned by the State and yet vacant being in that county. Conse- quently, in obedience to the order of the Legislature, the Receiver moved, in April, 1849, the Lima State Office to Defiance, as well as the office then held at Perrysburg, as the Legislature had directed the two offices to be united, the lands in the Perrysburg Dis- trict having been nearly all sold. As Mr. Curtis, the
Register, did not move his family to Defiance as the Receiver did, consequently the latter had the whole duties of the office to attend to, the former only com- ing at the end of each quarter to assist in making and certifying the official returns to Columbus. . All the lands belonging to the State, in former years, had been appraised at prices varying from $1.25 to $3 per acre, and, as the sales were rather dull at these prices, the Legislature, a short time before the offices were re- moved to Defiance, at the suggestion of the officers in the same, reduced, very wisely, the price of all the State lands 33 per cent to actual settlers, in quantity not to exceed 160 acres to each purchaser, which brought the price down, especially the $1.25 land, within the reach of almost any one having ambition and energy enough to get any land at all. Conse- quently, the sales of the State lands, for a couple of years after the office was removed to Defiance, were very rapid, and the northwestern portion of Ohio, especially the county of Defiance, owes its present pros- perons condition, in a great measure, to the happy re- duction by the State in the price of her lands. The United States and State Land Offices were held in the same building, that then stood on the ground near the Maumee bridge, where Charley Krotz' business block now stands. Before daylight on the morning of the 10th of April, 1851, while the Register of the United States Office, Abner Root, who usually slept in the office, was away, the building was mysterious- ly fired and entirely consumed with nearly all its con- tents. The Receiver of the State Office saved the different plats of the vacant land in the district, by which he was enabled to continue the sale of the same, but every plat, book and paper belonging to the United States Office were consumed, consequently sus- pending sales in that office until the Register went on to Washington and procured a list of the vacant land, and afterward made sales from that list. In 1852, the Legislature abolished the offices of Register and Receiver of the State Office, after the great bulk of the State lands had been sold, and directed the office to be in charge of a " Land Agent." Gen. Reuben H. Gilson was appointed such Agent, and in the course of a couple of years disposed of the most that were still vacant, when, in 1854, Levin Porter was elected said agent, and in 1857, after all had been sold, all the books, papers, etc., belonging to said office were returned to the office of the State Auditor at Columbus, Ohio. The United States Office was also removed, a few years after the fire, to Chilli- cothe, Ohio. The subject of this sketch, Mr. H. Davison, did not seek to renew the practice of the law after he came to Defiance, nor did he become engaged in any steady business. Being the owner of a valu- able stone-quarry, near Charloe, in Paulding County,
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
he, in connection with Calvin L. Noble and Samuel H. Steadman, took the contract for building the stone-work, piers and abutments of the bridge over the Maumee River for the Wabash Railway, which was completed in 1853-54. He afterward became ongaged in the lumber business, in consequence of the death of his son-in-law, Samuel A. Strong, in 1865, who had started the planing mill business, and in 1866 built the planing mill and sash factory now owned by Messrs. Strong & Cheney, and for a few years carried on the business in connection with his sons, John H. and Lewellyn C. Davison, but since he has sold the same, he has lived in blessed retirement from the turmoil and trouble of business, and hopes so to live the short remnant of his days, and then die in peace with God and man.
GEORGE W. KILLEY.
George W. Killey, son of Daniel H. and M. A. (Billings) Killey, was born November 15, 1848, near Bellevne, in the county of Huron, State of Ohio, and was the eldest of a family of seven children (six sons and one daughter), and the only one now living of the seven, the others having died in infancy. His father having served in the Mexican war, after the close of the war lo- cated his land warrant of 160 acres of land in Put. nam County, Ohio, and shortly after removed with his family, consisting of himself, wife and George (then an infant) on the same. Here his father re- mained with his family for about a year, when he re- moved with his family to Defiance, Ohio, then but a small place, and soon after his father commenced to work in the Defiance Mills. Here George spent his youth and commenced his education in the common schools of Defiance. In the year 1860, his father re- moved to Florida, Ohio, and remained in this place for perhaps a year, thence removed to Napoleon, Ohio. Here George remained, and went to school till the 15th day of January, 1864, when he enlisted in the Ninth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, and was mus- tered in the service at Columbus on the 10th day of February, 1864, and remained in the service and with this regiment until he was discharged on the 16th day of July, 1865, at Columbus, Ohio. Thence he returned to Henry County, Ohio, and assisted his father on a farm till the fall of 1867. In the fall and winter of 1866 and spring of 1867, he taught school in the district where he then resided, and then re- turned to assist his father on the farm until August, 1868, when he went to Republic, Seneca Co., Ohio, to attend academy, and remained at the academy for one year, when he came to Defiance and attended school under the instruction of Mr. Wallace, and in the fall and winter of 1869 and spring of 1870 he
ยท taught school. In the spring of 1870, he entered the law office of Messrs. Hill & Myers, attorneys, Defi- ance, Ohio, and commenced the study of law, and was admitted to practice as an attorney and counsel- or at law on the 18th day of July, 1872. On the 4th day of August, 1871, he was married to Mannie E. Greenlee, daughter of the late Samuel Greenlee, Esq. She was born on the 15th day of November, 1849, at Defiance, and was raised in Defiance, Ohio. He then removed with her to Kansas, on the 6th day of No- vember, 1872, and had by her one child, Daniel H., born June, 1873 He resided in Kansas until the 20th day of August, 1874, when, his wife's health failing, he returned with her and child to Defiance. In September of this year his child died, and in April of the next year his wife died. In this year, he lo- cated himself at Defiance and commenced the practice of law. In the year 1876, he was married to Abbie- F. Mason, daughter of L. and E. Mason, who came from Vermont State a number of years ago. She was born in Eaton Township, Lorain Co., Ohio, on the 21st day of April, 1854. He has by her three chil- dren, two boys and one daughter, to wit, George H. Killey, born December 27, 1876; Edgar V. Killey, born April 24, 1879, and Mattie E. Killey, born April 20, 1881. George is now a practicing attorney at Defiance.
JOHN F. DEATRICK, MAYOR AND ATTORNEY AT LAW,
was born in the old Arcade Building, Chambers- burg, Franklin County, Penn., November 26, 1829, and is a son of J. J. N. and Elizabeth (Boyer) Deat- rick, natives of Pennsylvania, both of whom were of German descent, When four years of age, his parents removed to Fredericksburg, Wayne County, Ohio, where he grew to maturity, and in the village school received a good practical education. In 1850, he went alone to St. Paul, Minn., where he resided until 1852, when he returned to Wayne County and located in 1853, at Defiance, with the intention of establishing a woolen factory. But future prospects not proving sufficiently encouraging, he abandoned the enterprise. His qualifications as a scholar eminently fitted him to teach, and during one winter he was en- gaged in that honorable calling, and for the two succeeding years was employed in agricultural pur- suits. Tiring of the inconveniences of farming in a new country, and the monotony that accompanies a rural life in a land yet vested in its primitive wilder- ness, he moved into Defiance and entered the law office of his wife's brother, David Taylor, and began the study of the law, Mr. Taylor being his preceptor. After completing the necessary legal course, he was admitted to the bar in 1856, after successfully passing an examination by a committee of lawyers who were
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appointed by the District Court. In 1857, he became connected with the Phoenix Insurance Company of Hartford, Conn., as their special agent, and is yet actively engaged in the business-representing all of the best companies, and has full control of the busi- ness in this city. His superior qualifications in this particular employment, combined with strong nat- ural forces and great reserve power, have won for him- a deserved popularity. In 1861, he was appointed Deputy United States Marshal, and as such continued until 1880, when he resigned and was elected to the mayoralty of Defiance, and was re-elected in 1882. In 1865, at Cleveland, Ohio, he was admitted to practice at the bar of the United States Courts. Although he is well posted in legal lore, he never en- tered fully into the practice, having acquired the knowl- edge more particularly for the benefit of his individ- ual business. His broad range of knowledge, ad- mirable tact, liberal and progressive views, have tended to keep him in pace with the spirit of the age. He bas been the nominee of the Republican party for Representative and Probate Judge, but at the present time. Mr. Deatrick affiliates with the Democratic party -- the party of power in Defiance County. He is an acceptable member in the Ancient Order of Ma- sonry, holding membership in Tuendawie Lodge, No. 195, Defiance Commandery, No. 71, and in the Consistory, which is inclusive of eighteen de- grees in the order. The effort, he has made in life has been justly rewarded, and although he began his career a pour boy, he has laid by a competency, besides suffering financial losses aggregating $35,000. He was married, December 28, 1853, to Miss Nancy, a daughter of the Hon. John Taylor, ex- member of the Ohio Senate. Eight children have been born to them, five of whom are now living, viz .: Frances M., now Mrs. Milton Sumner, of Defiance; Clande T., asso- ciated with his father in the insurance office; Fred L., Charles and Ralph M. The deceased were Edith May, aged four years; Nettie May, aged eight months, and Nannie Kate, aged four years.
SILAS T. SUTPHEN, ATTORNEY AT LAW.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch was born in Liberty Township, Fairfield County, Ohio, August 28. 1838. At the age of ten years, he removed with his parents on a farm near the village of Baltimore, in the above named township, where the succeeding ten years were spent in assisting his father and brothers in the arduous labor of the farm, and their united efforts resulted in producing one of the finest, best tilled and most profitable farms in that region of country. During the winter months of the period spoken of above, he regularly attended the union schools at Baltimore, and by diligently ap-
plying his mind, completed the course of study afforded and was prepared to enter college. In the spring of 1859, he entered the Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, Ohio, and became a member of the Freshman Class. From this institution he graduated in 1862, with the second honors of his class, and as a reward for his excellent deport- ment and the great proficiency he had made in his studies, he was awarded the valedictory address at the commencement exercise of the college for that year. Immediately thereafter, he commenced the study of the law with Judge James Pillars, at Tiffin, and was admitted to the bar of Ohio by the District Court at Fremont, Ohio, June, 1863, and in the same month located and entered upon the practice of his profession at Defiance. In October of the same year, he married Miss Sarah, the daughter of David and Sarah Huss, pioneers of Seneca County, Ohio, who came from Virginia and located upon the present site of the beautiful city of Tiffin, which then could only boast of two or three log houses of the primitive kind. Mr. Sutphen first opened an office in what is now the bar-room of the Empire House, and had his residence in the same building on the upper floor. Persistent and determined were his efforts to acquire success and standing among the attorneys at the bar before which he practiced, and it was not long before his popularity assumed a prominence that an older disciple of Blackstone might well have envied. In 1865, he was elected to the mayoralty of Defiance, a position he held two years, and in 1867 was elected Prosecuting Attorney of Defiance County, which office he held six consecutive years, and discharged the duties that pertained thereto fearlessly and to the entire satisfaction of all, irrespective of party. Dur- ing his terms of office, he encountered several impor. tant cases that involved great interests, and in con- sequence of which was brought into direct conflict with the best legal talent in Northwestern Ohio. But, without any assistance whatever, he managed all State cases in a manner highly creditable, and proved himself an adversary worthy the mettle of the best ad- vocates at the bar. Always cautious in his move- ments, and extremely careful in the preparation of his cases, he was able generally to bring about results favorable to the great commonwealth he represented. His tact and ability became noticeable, and he very soon attained to such a standing in his profession that he had no lack of clients, and for more than twelve years he has enjoyed an unusually lucrative practice, and during the time there has scarcely been an im- portant case tried in the county that he has not been engaged in. And as a result of this uniformly good practice, he possesses tangible proof of having accu- mulated a handsome competency, likewise evidencing
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1:11111 211 119 1111 3111111
VILLAGE RES. OF R. F. KERR, HICKSVILLE, DEFIANCE CO. OHIO.
VILLAGE RES. OF J. M. AINSWORTH HICKSVILLE, DEFIANCE CO. OHIO,
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
the fact that he has been no drone in the bee-hive of industry. In 1879, he erected a commodious brick residence, in which he now resides, on the corner of Jefferson and First streets, and it is said to be the finest, most elegantly furnished and conveniently ar- ranged residence in the county. It is located on one of the most beautiful sites in the city, and commands an unobstructed view of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers, Old Fort Defiance, and other more or less pic- turesque scenery. To Mr. and Mrs. Sutphen have been born four children, viz .: Mary, who died in infancy; Minnie G., born June 30, 1872; Richard H., born August, 1875; Robert, born September 9, 1880. The latter was a bright and promising little fellow, who died in 1881. Col. R. D. Sutphen, father of our subject, was born in New Jersey and settled in Fairfield County, Ohio, in an early day. He held several important offices of trust and confi- dence, and in the palmy days of the Ohio militia was Colonel of one of the finest and best disciplined reg- iments in the State. In person he was tall and erect, of dignified and commanding appearance, firm and res- olute, yet perfectly courteous to all; he won the esteem and confidence of his superiors in rank, and the re- spect and obedience of his subordinates. Col. Sut- phen was married to Sarah Zerkle, a daughter of David Zerkle, one of the pioneers of Fairfield County, Ohio, by whom he had seven children, viz .: Cathe- rino C., who married the late Henry Houk, of Carey, Ohio; Mary Jane, who married Noah Blosser, of Licking County, Ohio, she died in 1862; James Z. and Edward G., successful merchants at Carey, Ohio; Charles M., an advocate at the Van Wert bar, and David C., a merchant at Pleasantville, Fairfield County, Ohio.
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