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 49
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He has one of the finest suites of rooms in the city. On December 6, 1871, he was married to Miss Mary A. Thacker, youngest daughter of I. N. Thacker, M. D., one of the oldest and best physicians of the city. To them were given three boys-Eddie S., I. Newton and Charlie Thacker, the last of whom died in the spring of 1880, at the age of eighteen months, with that terrible disease, scarlet fever.
Ludger Blanchard was born in Canada, November 12, 1842. His father, James, and his mother, Har- riet, were Canadians by birth. The latter died in Canada in 1851, and the former in Paulding County, Ohio, May 26, 1876. They had ten children, nine boys and one girl, who died in infancy. Their names are as follows: James, Joseph, Ludger, Gideon, Simon, Malina, Philip, Philleus, Patrick and Ed- mund. Simon, Malina and Philip are dead. Joseph, Gideon and Ludger are living in Defiance, Philleus being in Paulding County, Patrick in Wyoming Ter- ritory, James and Edmund in Canada. The mother died when Ludger was eight years old, and the fam- ily were scattered. At the age of seventeen years, Ludger went to Montreal to learn the cabinet-mak- ing. After serving three years, he went to Platts- burg, N. Y., and worked there eighteen months. From Plattsbnrg he went to Defiance, in the fall of 1863, and worked for the firm of Hoffman & Geiger eight years. In 1872, he commenced the undertaking business, and still continues in it. December 25, 1866, he was married to Bridget T. Downs, of Defi- ance, who was born in Toledo, March 22, 1843. Eight children have blessed this union -- Joseph J. . A., Ovid D., Annie H. (deceased), Eugenie Z., Mina T., Charles G., Albert L. and D. A.
Joseph Blanchard is engaged quite extensively in the timber business in Defiance. He married Sarah Hess, of Defiance, in the fall of 1874, and they have five children-Frank, Nettie, Josie, James and Mary M. James and Josie are deceased.
Gideon Blanchard is a resident of Defiance, where he has been engaged in the timber business for the past twenty years. His wife was Margaret Mum- ber, of Paulding County, to whom he was married June 6, 1865, and they have six children living- Gideon, Harriet, John, Eddie, Zelia and Israel.
Charles Carroll Strong was born at Thetford, Vt., June 30, 1829, and is a descendant of the Elder John Strong, of Taunton, Somersetshire, England, who came to America in 1629. The father of Charles Carroll, Horace Strong, was born in Lebanon, Conn., April 9, 1791, and was married, at Thetford, Vt., October 22, 1818, to Laura Allen, who is a sister to Dr. Jerome and Bella Allen, with whom so many of the pioneers of Defiance are acquainted. Horace Strong died September 24, 1836, leaving a wife and
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five children, of whom Charles was the youngost. At the age of sixteen, he loft home for Chicopee Falls, Mass., to learn the machinist's trade. July 12, 1851, he was married to Frances K. Cheeney, daughter of Elias and Lucy F'. Cheeney, at Thetford, Vt. Their children were Frances and Sarah, twins, born at Nashua, N. H., April, 1852; Harriet M., born at Windsor, Vt., March, 1855; Horace, at Defianco, Ohio, February, 1861; Kato. at Defiance, December, 1863; Nellie (1. and Addie G., at Defiance, Novem- ber, 1865. Of a family of soven children, only two are now living, Harriet M. and Addie G. They moved from Philadelphia, Penn., to Defiance, March, 1858. He, with his brother Samuel and Marcus Orcutt, bought the foundry then owned by P. Ketten- ring, they adding a machino shop.
John McCollister was born in Mad River Town- ship, Champaign Co., Ohio, January 7, 1840, and in September, 1850, he removed with his father to Jen- nings Township, Van Wert County, at that time almost a wilderness. The nearest school being three- miles off, his father provided a boarding place about half-way to school, and John and his brother Noah, and his sisters, Polly and Anna, went to school, in 1850 and in 1851, to David Price. In September fol- lowing, his sister Nancy died, and then his mother and sister Anna, all in three weeks, so his fourteen- year-old sister Polly was left to keep house. About this time, our subject had an exciting and dangerous tussle with a wild hog, which he killed after putting five balls into him. On another occasion, he was obliged to enlarge a hole in a hollow tree, in which his little nine year brother was stuck. In August, 1855, his father died, aged fifty-five. He was a native of Shenandoah County, Va., and his mother of Tennessee, her maiden name being Sarah Taylor. He then lived with his uncle, John Taylor, of Defi- ance, going to school to Angeline Meredith, a daughter of Thomas Warren, then to Eldridge Willie, and next to W. Wells, and finally, in 1859, to Oscar Myers. On December 25. 1860, he married Esther Brown, by whom he has had nine sons and three daughters; of the boys, only Charles Strong, David Locke, Lafayette Burchard and an infant not named, now survive. The girls are Clara Covila, Emma Dell and Fannie Augusta. In 1862, Mr. McCollistor en- listed in Company A, Sixty-ninth Battalion Ohio Na- tional Guards, and in April, 1862, they were or- dered to Cleveland, there mustered into the United States service and ordered to Washington. They were stationed at Fort Ethan Allen, seven miles from Washington. He was transferred, at Cleveland, into the One Hundred and Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, in Company K, Capt. Bowlus, Lieut. Love-
berry. He was honorably discharged at Camp Cleve- land, August, 1861.
A. Viers, son of John and Rebecca Viers, was born near Delta, Fulton Co., Ohio, March 27, 1845. His father was also a native of Ohio, born January 9, 1800, and was married to Rebecca Salisberry, born in Pennsylvania June 8, 1806. They moved to Fulton County at an early day, being the third white family in the county. They cleared a large farm, and raised a family of nine sons and four danghters. Five of .the sons served their country in the late war, in which two lost their lives. John Viers died July 2, 1873; his wife is still living. The subject of this sketch was married, June 17, 1869, to Alice M., daughter of Adam and Mary J. Stout, born March 12, 1851. They first settled in Florida, Henry County, remain- ing until 1871, when they moved to Defiance, where he entered into mercantile life as salesman for Messrs. Flickinger & Blair. In the spring of 1883, he formed a partnership with Thomas Hilton in the grocery business, and opened np in the Holgate, Pot- terf & Tittle Block, opposite the Russell House. His family consists of two children-Nettie B., born March 16, 1871, and Adam C., born February 2, 1874.
Enos Blair was born in 1839 in Green wood, Steuben Co., N. Y. His father, William M. Blair, was born in Massachusetts in 1799, and died at Litchfield, Mich., in 1846. His mother, Selinda Wheeler, was born in New Hampshire in 1799, and is still living at Litchfield, Mich. They were married, in 1820, at Dryden, N. Y., and a few years after moved to Greenwood, N. Y., and then, in 1845, to Litchfield, taking with them their six-year-old son, Enos, and from that time until he was thirteen he lived on his brother's farm. In 1852 and 1853, he attended school at Defiance; re- turned to Michigan, remaining until 1857, going then to Illinois, working on a farm in summer and teach- ing in the winter for two years. He then entered into the stove trade in Defiance for two years, when he went into the dry goods business, in the fall of 1863, in partnership with C. A. Flickinger, and they still continue to do a thriving and prosperous busi- ness. He married, September 2, 1868, Amanda M., daughter of J. J. and Susan M. Myers, of Deti- ance, who was born at Mogadore, in Summit County, November 15, 1848. They have three children- Eva M., born June 15, 1869; Hattie A., November 10, 1873; Elmer Enos, July 26, 1876.
John M. Preisendorfer was born in Oberstine, Bayern, Germany, October 22, 1838, and is son of Adam and Agnes Freisendorfer, who had a family of five sons and one daughter, of whom three survive- John M., Joseph and John. His father died in 1846, the mother in 1881. John M. came to this country
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in 1860, remaining in New York until February, 1861, when he came to Defiance, working eleven months for A. Dolke, at the boot and shoe trade, when he went into business with his brother Joseph, but after five years bought out the latter. In 1867, he built, at a cost of $4,200, his present place of business, 49 Clinton street. He married, November 24, 1865, Elizabeth Wilhelm, of Henry County, by whom he had nine children-Mary A., John J., Adam (died in infancy), Agnes E., Alphonso R., Anthony F., Frank S., Adam and Louis Charles. In politics, Mr. P. is an active and faithful Democratic worker, and has held office as Corporation Treasurer from 1870 to 1878, and now, in connection with his boot and shoe business, in which he carries a large and carefully selected stock, he is prepared to suit all. He has kept abreast of the times, and has never al- lowed any competitor to surpass him in the complete- ness and variety of his stock, the fairness of his prices and liberality of his dealings.
He also represents a large number of first-class American and European fire and life insurance com- panies, and takes risks on all commercial and farm property. Defiance has a good representative in Mr. Preisendorfer, who is an honorable and upright citizen, and a merchant of reliability and established reputation.
William Higgins, son of Schuyler and Sophia (Carter) Higgins, was born on the Western Reserve, in South Amherst, Lorain Co., Ohio, June 9, 1828. Left fatherless at the age of ten years, he and his seven brothers and sisters were dependent on their own exertions for a living and education. Endowed with a large amount of energy and perseverance, he manfully resolved to win for himself " a name and a fame." At the age of fifteen, with his school books and personal effects tied up in a cotton handkerchief, he left home for Sandusky, en route for the then far West. Arriving at his brother Franklin's, who lived thirty miles west of Chicago, he worked for two months at $8 per month. With the money thus earned, he furnished himself with suitable clothing, and came back to Valparaiso, Ind., where he attended school. War having been declared between Mexico and the United States, August 3, 1846, at the age of seventeen, he enlisted in the mounted rifle regiment at Michigan City, Ind., and was immediately ordered to Jefferson Barracks, Mo., where the regiment was organized, drilled and equipped. Here he was as- signed to Company G, commanded by Capt. John L. Simonson. After three months' camp life at Jeffer- son Barracks, he was ordered to Jackson Barracks, New Orleans, where the regiment continued cavalry drill till the February following, when orders were received to proceed at once to the mouth of the Rio
Grande. A few weeks' stay here, and they were or- dered to Lobos Island, in the Gulf of Mexico. Two weeks later, the fleet was organized, and sailed for Vera Cruz, intending to besiege and bombard the city. Mr. Higgins, with others, was transferred from the ship "Diadem," to the sloop-of-war " Al- bany." From the " Albany " he was one of the first to enter the surf-boats and effect a landing under cover of the fire from the fleet. After a siege and bombardment of four days, the city of Vera Cruz and the castle of San Juan de Ulloa surrendered. From here the army marched to Plandel Rio, where they stopped for rest and to prepare to storm the heights of Cerro Gordo. He was now with Gen. Twiggs, in the storming party that flanked the enemy on the right and rear; which movement, Manuel M. Jimen, in the Mexican official journal, El Diario, afterward likens to the passage of Bonaparte across the Alps, and "that the road by which the enemy flanked us was imprac- ticable." On the forenoon of the 18th, while storm- ing the main heights, led by Lieut. Ewell, with the shot and shell falling thick and fast around them, and many a poor comrade breathing his last, our hero fell, badly wounded, which unfitted him for further service. After a tedious stay in the hospitals at Jalapa and castle of Perote, on the 31st day of October, 1847, he was discharged, and went immediately home, where he was an invalid for eighteen months, from the effects of his wound and disease contracted in the army. With the partial return of health, his old energy and force of character began again to assert itself, and in the fall of 1848, at the age of twenty years, he engaged in his first speculation, which con- sisted in the purchase and shipment to Chicago of one hundred barrels of green apples; the sale of which he personally superintended. January 19, 1849, he located his land warrant, and became the possessor of a farm of 160 acres of rich prairie land in Grundy County, Ill, which he still owns. In March following, he returned to Birmingham, Ohio, and made all necessary arrangements for a journey across the plains to California during the coming summer. At the appointed time, his expected part. ner concluded not to go, and thereby caused him to de- fer till a later day his trip to the land of gold. Septem- ber 1, he again enrolled himself, not as a soldier but as a student at Baldwin University, Berea. On the 8th day of April, 1850, he started from Birmingham for California across the plains, and reached Ringgold September 22 following. Here lie followed the occu- pation of a miner till March, 1852, when he engaged in mercantile business at Placerville, in which he continued till January, 1854, during which time he built the pioneer or first brick business block in Placer- ville, situated on the corner of Main and Sacra-
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
monto streets; it is strictly fire-proof, and is now occu- pied as a post office building. In February, 1854, he rotarnod to Ohio by the Nicaragua route, passing most of the time till September in traveling through the Western and Southern States, when he again started for California, by the Panama route, and reached San Francisco in October. He again fol- lowed the occupation of a miner, spending the greater part of his timo at Monte Christo, on the celebrated
. Blue Load, until January, 1858. when, the home at- tractions becoming stronger than all else, ho again returned to Ohio. On the 8th day of May, 1858, he came to Defiance, where he has since resided, spend- ing the first four years of his stay in the law office of Hon. William Carter, since docoased. August 19, 1862, he consummated a very important event of his lito, viz., his marriage with Miss Delia Stone, of Adrian, Mich., a teacher in the public schools and an accomplished and highly estoomed lady. Four years later, his wife died, leaving him a childless widower. In October, 1867, he married Miss Amelia Tinnoy, of Irving, Erio Co., N. Y. The fruits of this union were Bertha H., Lora D., William E., Schuyler R. and Minnie E. In 1873, he, with three others, built the fine edifice on the corner of Clinton and Third streets, known as the Keystone Block. In November, 1875, his wife, Amelia, died, leaving him again a widower. January 1, 1877, the dread angel Death again visited his family, and Schuyler, his second son, was taken. June 24, 1880, he again embarked on the soa of matrimony, and married another teacher, Miss' Clara E. Peck, of Erie County, Ohio, whoso home was near his own birthplace. One beautiful little girl, Mary Augusta, has come to bless their union. Financially, he has been more successful than could have been expected from one whose business has been so varied and changeful as his. By his strict integrity and uprightness of character, he has won many friends and been honored with offices of trust by his fellow-townsmen, among which was the Mayoralty of the city. He also held a commis- sion under Gov. Tod during the late civil war, as Colonel of militia. He is positive in temperament and outspoken in manner, showing the world his strict ideas of right and wrong regardless of consequences. Politically, he is a life-long Democrat, of the true Bourbon stripe. Religiously, a supporter of the Church, a friend of the poor and needy, and an ad- herent of the doctrine that a quiet, conscientious, con- sistent life is a better example of true Christianity than loud spoken words and acts "to be seen of men."
Lewis Neill, a lineal descendant on the mother's side of Gavin Hamilton, of Scotland, the patron of Burns, the Scottish poet, and on the father's side, of
Hugh O' Neill, the Earl of Tyrone (the unyielding Irish patriot who battled so long against the armies of the British crown), is a son of Lewis and Corbina E. Neil (both deceased), of Jefferson County, now West Virginia. His forefathers came to colonial America whilst Lord Fairfax held and lived upon his " grant " of the " Northern Neck of Virginia, " and Lowis Neill, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, at one time owned 12.000 acres of that Fairfax land. Lewis Neill has two surviving broth- ers, George W. Neill (unmarried), and Samuel B. Neill (married), and two surviving sisters-Mary S. Neill (unmarried), and Virginia Johnston (married). Lewis Neill, our subject, married Ellen M. Greer, only daughter of Judge James S. Greer and Louisa Greer, both of Defiance, Ohio, the former a native of Maryland, and the latter of Vermont. Mrs. Neill, his (now deceased) wife, was born in the village of Defiance May 2, 1844, and Mr. Neill was born in Jefferson County (now West Virginia) March 16, 1821. They had one child only -Lewis Greer Neilt (living), who was born March 18, 1866. Mr. Neill was Justice of the Poace and County Recorder for six years. He settled in Defiance County in the year 1863.
William C. Holgate, banker, lawyer and capitalist, was born November 23, 1814, at Burlington, Vt., of English and Scotch descent. He has in his posses- sion an ancient English coat of arms, without date, of which he has no knowledge save that it has been handed down from his ancestors. He was the son of Curtis and Alvira (Prentice) Holgate. A sketch of his father will be found on another page. William C. Holgate attended the academy and select school at Utica, N. Y., and was admitted to Hamilton Col- lege in the year 1832, graduating in 1835. In 1841, the college bestowed on him the degree of A. M. He studied law with Willard Crafts, of Utica, and then with Horace Sessions, of Defiance, Ohio, where he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio in the year 1838. About this time, he was ap- pointed Clerk of the Court, which office he resigned in 1839, then receiving the appointment of Prosecu- ting Attorney of Williams County, in which position he had his first experience in the practice of law. His first case in a court of record was where Morrison R. Waite, now Chief Justice, delivered his maiden speech as opposing counsel. In the winter of 1844- 45, he went to Columbus with a petition for the erec- tion of Defiance County, and succeeded in securing the passage of a legislative enactment establishing the county. The bill was drafted by him, and by his untiring efforts carried through the Legislature, amid the most violent opposition, in the short space of three months. On his return home with a certified copy
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HISTORY OF DEFIANCE COUNTY.
of the law, he met such a reception from his fellow cit- izens as was never given to any other man in the county. Well they might, as of some twenty-five projects of a similar kind, his was the only one that succeeded. About 1851, a Mr. Allen, with his agents, was found listing and taking possession of nearly all the vacant land surrounding the town of Defiance, under a contract with the Governor of the State, by virtue of an adroitly framed resolution of the Legis- lature, reading in such a way as to mislead the mem- bers passing it, and also the Governor and Auditor of State. Ascertaining that this contract would put Mr. Allen in possession of nearly 40,000 acres of land in close proximity to Defiance, and so smother the growth.and prosperity of the village and surrounding country, and believing there must be a great fraud and wrong underlying the matter, Mr. Holgate called upon the leading men of Defiance to see if they would join with him in an 'attempt to thwart the proceed- ing. He found that nearly all of them had already been interviewed by Allen, and been led by him to
concur in the legality of his claim "But," said they, " if it is wrong, what can we do about it, with all the leading officials of the State against us ?" Mr. Holgate replied that he would show them what " we could do about it," and immediately called a public meeting of the town, in which, as Chairman of a committee appointed by the meeting, he made an elaborate report of the law and facts relating to the matter, which was received and adopted, and, with appropriate resolutions, was published in the papers of the town and republished throughout the State. A great consternation was aroused among the people on the subject. The officials of the State were led to review and reconsider their action in the matter, and to hedge Mr. Allen's procedure with difficulties. The Auditor soon brought the lands to sale, and the most of them were bought by actual settlers, Mr. Allen, having failed in getting action of the Supreme Court in his favor, finally abandoned his claims to the lands, and thus were the great interests of the State
as well as the people of Defiance, saved by the action
Railroad and the Pittsburgh & Fort Wayne Rail. of Mr. Holgate. When the Michigan Southern
road went through the State, cutting off most of the territory tributary to the business interests of Defi- ance, business men talked about removing to other places, and everything looked as if the doom of the town was sealed, and no one to lift a helping hand, only to say there was no hope. It was then that William C. Holgate came to the front once more and
secured to the town the Wabaslı, St. Louis & Pacific
Railway. None can now appreciate the really hard mental as well as physical work it took to accomplish this object. Late at night and early in the morning,
Mr. Holgate worked and worked on. He corresponded with nearly every railroad man and interest-east as far as Buffalo, and south as far as Cincinnati, and west as far as La Fayette-and the correspondence would now fill a volume. Nearly every railroad meet- ing within those limits was attended by him, and he depicted in vivid colors in the newspapers of the town the advantages of railroad routes through De- fiance. The strain upon him in doing this work, in connection with his law office and large real estate interests and infirmities produced by a bilious and debilitating climate, caused his health to give away in 1853, to such an extent as to render him unfit for active business for the succeeding twelve to fifteen years. He could not read or write for much of this time, and was compelled to give up his law practice, and now rarely attends to any but that in which he is personally interested. Though tolerably comfort- able, Mr. Holgate has never entirely recovered from the prostration that came upon him in 1853. In
1864, when the land contracted to the town fourteen years previously for the Detiance Female Seminary had been forfeited to the State for the non-payment of purchase money, and a bill was about being passed by the Legislature requiring the State Auditor to sell the same, he went to Columbus and secured the passage of an act authorizing a deed of the land upon payment of the money due. . Mr. Holgate and Horace Sessions advanced the money from their pri- vate funds and secured the deed, thereby saving to Defiance the 1,280 acres. It was about the year 1869 the citizens felt the want of increased railroad facilities to accommodate the manufacturing inter- ests of the place, and this again brought him to the front in the interests of the people. Several lines for a railroad were proposed and urged by the leading citizens of the town. Feeling that the most important route for the next railroad through the place would be from the southern bend of Lake Michigan, as Chicago could be most directly connected through it with the cities of the Atlantic seaboard, Mr. Holgate organized a company in Ohio and Indiana, its line surveyed two years later being accepted and built upon by the Balti- more & Ohio Company. The beneficial effects of this railroad upon the business prosperity of the town are incalculable. He was appointed Director in this new road. The city and county of Defiance are almost wholly indebted to Mr. William C. Holgate for securing to them that great improvement in their interest known as the "Second Street Bridge." A Board of Com- missioners in 1873, had advertised the letting of a con- tract for the construction of a $40,000 stone and iron structure at the crossing of the Auglaize River at Hop- kins street, which, if proceeded with, Mr. Holgate saw would so exhaust the bridge moneys of the county that
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