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 62
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Isaac Donafin was born March 30, 1834, at or near Lancaster, Ohio. His parents were David and Eliz- abeth (Hartle) Donafin. His mother died when he was about eight years old, leaving him to the cold charity of the world and friends. Nothing in par- ticular is known of his youth from this until 1855, except that he had to shift for himself, and that in the meantime he had learned the cabinet maker's trade. In 1855, he removed to Auburn, Ind., where he be- came acquainted with Miss Julia G. Gray, dangh- ter of John B. and Julia (Rowland) Gray, to whom he was married Angust 24, 1856. She was born May 8, 1831, in Ashland County, Ohio, and is a de- scendent of the Nickerbockers of the East, and can trace her family history back 200 years. The fruit of this marriage was two daughters-Hattie, born Au- gust, 24, 1857, who who stricken down in the bloom of womanhood in Hicksville, August 8, 1881, much beloved and highly esteemed by a large circle of friends whom she had served for a number of years as clerk in the post office of her native town. Hicks- ville, where she had grown up. The other daughter, Julia M., was born June 25, 1860, and is now clerk- ing in the same office, for her mother, Mrs. Donatin, who received the appointment of Postmistress at Hicksville, February 16, 1870. In 1858, Mr. Don- afin moved to Hicksville and continued the cabinet business until the breaking-out of the rebellion, when he enlisted in the service of his country in Company E, Twenty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, September 12, 1861; was taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga, and was conveyed hence to tlie Southern prison pens, and was retained a prisoner nn-
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til near the close of the war, when he was exchanged, and on his way home lost his life by the explosion of the ill-fated Sultana, on its passage up the Mis. sissippi River, consigning the body of Mr. Donafin and many other brave comrades to a watery grave. The Post of the G. A. R., at Hicksville, is called " I. Donafin Post " in honor of the brave comrade. Isaac Donafin, whose remains were carried away by the great waters of the Mississippi.
D. G. Huffinan, born in Ashland County Decem- ber 9, 1829, was the eighth of a family of ten chil- dren of Abraham and Margaret (Cuppy) Huffman. His father was the second person who settled in Clear Creek Township, Ashland County, in May, 1813. At the age of nineteen. he commenced teaching school, and taught six years in his native county. He then moved to Iowa in 1856, and en- gaged in the drug business for seven years, then came to Defiance County, and in the fall of 1872 settled in Hicksville. He was railroad agent five years at this place. Then engaged in insurance and land agency. Was elected Justice of the Peace in April, 1881. He was married to Fannie J., dangh- ter of Aldrich and Anne Carver, of Ashland County. in 1852. They have had five children, one now liv- ing, Fanny J., who married Charles G. Shephard.
James Maxwell was born October 4, 1817. in Jefferson County. Ohio; remained at home with his parents until twenty-one, helping to clear the farm and carry on same, attending district school in winter. His parents were born. the father in Adams County, Penn., the mother in Westmoreland County. Penn. They afterward came to Ohio, settling in Jefferson County, where they died.
In the spring of 1843, Mr. Maxwell came to Wayne County. Ohio. In 1846, came to Defiance and located 160 acres of land in Hicksville Town ship. in Section 5. In IS4S, he moved on to it, cleared up and put it under cultivation, except forty acres which remains in timber. He married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Isaac and Dorotha (Akins) Miller, who was born October 13, 1819, in Holmes County. Ohio. Their family consists of six children, three boys-Samuel A .. Isaac MI .. Robert B .: three girls -- Sarah M., Mary A. and Charlotte E .- all liv- ing but Robert. When Mr. Maxwell first came to the county, game was plenty-deer. turkey. wolves, and occasionally a bear Wolves were quite troublesome to sheep. Deer were frequently seen in flocks of from five to twenty. They frequently fed on the wheat fields in the spring, and as they were easily shot, venison was plentiful. In 1849, he owned a fresh cow and the wolves were bound to take her and the calf. Mrs. Maxwell was obliged to build a fire near by to keep them away. The dog being a coward. and Mr. Maxwell
not at home, Mrs. M. was obliged to watch all night, frequently hearing the snapping of their teeth in the darkness. They often killed and ate young calves. Mr. M. caught, at one time, a half dozen young wolves in a hollow log. The premium was $2.50 per scalp, paid by the Treasurer from the county taxes. They disappeared about the year 1852.
About 1849, they hal no schoolhouse, and Mr. Maxwell was joined by his neighbors, Adamson Tan. nehill, Joshua Hall, Matthew K. Scott and John A. Isaac and James Miller, and put up a hewed-log schoolhouse on the corner of his farm, Mr. Maxwell furnishing most of the lumber and shingles and hewing the timber. Elizabeth Powell was the first teacher. Mr. M. removed to Hicksville in 1878, and located on Lot No. 63, on which he now resides. He also owns Lot No. 62 and 64.
George Clemmer, carpenter, Hicksville, was born in Perry Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, June 13. 1816, and is a son of David and Martha (Wilson) Clemmer, the former of Pennsylvania. and the latter of Rockingham County, Va. They were married in Virginia and removed to Montgomery County in 1815. He died about 1867, she in 1865. They were the parents of twelve children, viz .: Robert, Polly, Andrew, John, Nancy. Eliza. George. Joseph, Phebe, William, Martha and David. Our subject, after serv- ing fifteen years on the farm, served apprenticeship to carpentering at Dayton; then worked two years at Cin cinnati, and there, in 1836, married Elizabeth Repteo of Albemarle County, Penn. In September, 1838, he came to Hicksville, assisting to build the first grist mills in the county. He worked steadily at his trade until 1862. when he enlisted in Company D, One Hundredth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was sent to check Gen. Kirby Smith; was in the Knoxville siege: then, for four, months. bridge-build ing, when he raptured himself and was sent to hos- pital; came home three months on furlough; then re- joined his regiment at Nashville, but being unable to do duty he was put in a field hospital, and was dis- charged at Wilmington, N. C., when he returned home. and has followed his trade ever since. To Mr. and Mrs. Clemmer have been born nine children viz .: David, Greenville, Francis. Martha A., Ma liada. George H., Adelaide 'and Adeline (twins) and Benjamin. He is a member of Donafin Post. G. A.
R He and wife are members of the Disciples Church. He was the first Assessor of the township.
L. E. Griffin, of the firm of Thompson & Griffin, attorneys at law, Hicksville, was born in New Cum- berland, W. Va .. June 10. 1858 His early life was passed in his native place, and in the com- mon school he received the rudiments of an educa- tion. In 1874. he entered Hiram College. at Hiram,
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Ohio, in which he prosecuted his studies until the following year, when he entered the Northwestern Normal School at Fostoria, Ohio, from which insti- tution he graduated in 1877. In 1878, he entered the Northwestern Normal School at Ada, Ohio, from which he graduated in July, 1879, and during the time he was connected with this school acted in the capacity of preceptor. From 1875, he taught school during the winter months, and in this manner sup- ported himself while at school. As a teacher, he won an enviable reputation, and ranked among the lead- ing educators of the county in which he taught. In 1878, he began reading law privately, and in 1879 he began reading under the direction of Smirk & Batteson, prominent attorneys at Kenton, Ohio, who were his preceptors until June, 1880, when he came to Hicksville, and in December of the same year, was admitted to the bar. January 12, 1881, he en- tered into a copartnership with F. M. Thompson. He is an honorable member of the F. & A. M. Lodge of Hieksville, No. 478.
F. M. Thompson, of the firm of Thompson & Griffin, attorneys at law, Hicksville, was born in Ash- land County, Ohio, December 29, 1851. Mr. Thomp- son's boyhood was spent on the farm, and he received his rudimentary education in the common schools. At the age of seventeen years, he entered the Acad- emy at Newville, Ind., where for three years he ap- plied himself closely to study. After which he at- tended high school at Edgerton, Ohio, one year. During the winter months of the above time he taught school, and thus maintained himself during his school days. In the winters of 1875 and 1876, he was employed as a clerk in the State Insurance Department at Co- lumbus, and during this time he began reading law under the tutelage of Hill, Myers & Cameron, who were his preceptors until admitted to the bar of Ohio, at Toledo, March 19, 1879. Immediately thereafter, he opened an office in Hicksville and began practic- ing in the courts of the county. In 1876, he was appointed one of the school examiners of the county, which position he yet holds. October 12, 1876, Mr. T. was married to Mercy daughter of Rev. N. Crary, by whom he has had two children, viz. : Harry F. and Ray S.
J. C. Ryan, attorney at law, Hicksville, was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1837, and is a son of James and Sarah (Carns) Ryan. The advantages Mr. R. enjoyed in early life for an education were such as common schools afforded, and with an ad- ditional course of study in the Salem Seminary, com- pleted liis educational course. He began reading law in 1859, and'in 1860 entered the law office of Kennett & Ambler, of Salem, Ohio, with whom he studied until admitted to the bar, 1863. After which
he entered into a partnership with his preceptors, which continued eight years. He afterward opened an office in Washingtonville, in the above county, where he practiced until 1877, at which time he came to Hicksville. He was admitted to practice in the United States Court in 1868. He has been a close student in his profession, and is one of the best read lawyers in North western Ohio. Athough bodily de- formed, he is well developed mentally, and his well- balanced mind is stored with the fruits of constant · and intelligent research. In 1872, he was married to Miss Emma A. Royer, of Dundee, Mich., who has borne him four children. viz .: John G., Otis W., Pearl J. and an infant unnamed.
John Swilly, deceased, was born in Wurtem- berg, Germany, July 16, 1835. At the age of twen- ty-one years he immigrated to America, and settled in Preble County, Ohio. He learned the wagon-maker's trade, and after locating in Eaton, in the above coun- ty, he plied his trade until September, 1852, at which time he came to Hicksville, Ohio, and continued his trade, which he abandoned in 1871. In 1869, he be- gan keeping hotel, and made a popular and accom- modating landlord, and hundreds of traveling men, who enjoyed his liberality and sociability, will re- member him as " mine host," who was always untir- ing in his efforts to please. October 6, 1853, he was married to Miss Maria E., daughter of Michael and Catherine Huffman, who bore him eight children, five of whom are living, viz .: Catherine Richards, nee Swilley, Amelia, Clara M., Mina C. and Eddie H. The deceased are Ellen Tannehill, nee Swilley, Isabella C. and George W.
Mr. Swilly was quite successful in his business operations, and at his death, which occurred June 19, 1882, left a handsome property in the village of Hicksville.
J. C. Clay, manufacturer of lumber, Hicksville, was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1832, and is a son of Benjamin and Mary (Coughnour) Clay. He was born in Pennsylvania, and she in Virginia. The early life of our subject was spent in his native coun- ty, and he obtained a good practical education in the district schools. When old enough, he began work in a saw mill, which gave him employment un- til 1863, at which time he located at Hicksville and founded his present business, which has been largely increased since the beginning, he having now one of the best equipped mills in the county. He manufact- ures about two million feet of lumber every year, and gives employment to about twenty-five employes. Mr. C. is a member of the subordinate lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellowship, and also a member of the Disciples' Church, and he has also held the offices of Trusteo and Treasurer of the town-
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ship, and has been a member of the School Board for quite a number of years. In 1862, he was married to Miss M. R. Sager, who has borne him two children, viz. : E. L. and A. A.
Amos Forlow, farmer, and manufacturer of drain tile, Hicksville, was born in Butler County, Ohio, August 21, 1833, and is a son of Benjamin and Cath- erine (Emmerick) Forlow, who settled in Detiance County in 1843. The subject of this sketch was ten years old when his parents located here, and in the common schools he obtained a good, practical edu- cation. Upon attaining his majority, he launched into business on his own responsibility and purchased eighty acres of land, the same upon which he now resides. The land was covered with a dense growth of timber, which he cleared away almost entirely by his own hands. August 14, 1862, he responded to his country's call for men, in the time of danger, and volunteered as a member of Company F, of the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infan- try. Immediately thereafter the regiment was trans- ferred to Cincinnati and thence across the river to the soil of Kentucky, on which they did duty in campaigning, and participated in the famous Mor- gan raid, chasing that redoubtable worthy from New Albany, Ind., to Portsmouth, Ohio, near which place the disbandment of Morgan's force took place. His regimeni was then annexed to Burnside's army, and took part in the Knoxville campaign, but owing to ill health our subject did not take a part. Then came the ever-memorable campaign of Atlanta and vicinity, and in this his regiment fought in many of the battles that occurred in and around that almost impregnable stronghold. Next, the regiment accom- panied the Twenty-third Corps in the chase after Gen. Hood, and eventually brought up at Nashville. When Lee surrendered, the regiment was at Raleigh, N. C. He was discharged at Salisbury, N. C., July 14, 1865. and returne:l to his home
J. B. Forlow, brother of our subject, enlisted at the same time, and in the same company and regi- ment, and had a similar experience.
George and William, his other brothers, also did service; the former in the Forty-sixth Regiment and the latter in the Twenty-first Regiment. All were honorably discharged and returned home.
Upon his return to civil life, the subject of this sketch resumed his labors upon his farm, and has been successful to a marked degree.
He assessed the township in 1866, 1867 and 1868. He is much interested in religious matters, and he and his family are exemplary members of the United Brethren Church. He has been Class Leader and Sunday School Superintendent ten years, and Sec- retary to the Quarterly Conference. November 19.
1856, he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Myers, who has borne him seven children, six of whom are living, viz .: Frank L., Alice E., Lucinda A., Edward A., Amanda E. and Cora B .; George, deceased, aged fifteen months.
Mr. F. formerly voted with the Democratic party. but for twelve years past has acted independently of party ties, and voted for men who represented the principles of temperance and justice, rather than for a blind zeal of political fanaticism. He also takes ·much interest in pioneer history, and is Secretary of the Old Settlers' Society, a position he has held siuce its organization in 1876.
A. Summers was born in Washington County, Penn., June 30, 1812. and settled in Crawford Coun- ty, Ohio, in 1849, and remained there until 1872, and then removed to Hicksville, Defiance County. He read law with Judge Avery, of Wooster, in 1844, and was admitted to the bar in 1851. He practiced in Bucyrus, and was County Clerk there six years, up to 1864, at which time he began the practice of the law, and was elected twice Prosecuting Attorney and twice Judge of Probate, and continued until 1872, when he came to Hicksville and started an office and was elected Mayor in 1880. Mr. Summers has n > family, but has adopted and raised many children. In this particular he has been remarkably generous. He has long been an active friend of the common school system of Ohio, and did all he could to aid the sys- tem. He lives in a nice residence, noted for the appearance of its architecture and worth about $6,000, built in 1877.
C. V. Tannehill, dentist, Hicksville, Ohio, was born in Hicksville Township October 12, 1852. He remained on his father's farm, two miles north of Hicksville, until eighteen years of age. He then attended school at Perrysville, Ashland Co., Ohio, for a term of two years, boarding with his uncle, Charles O. Tannehill; on leaving school, he commenced the study of his profession with Dr. J. L. Scott, of De- fiance, Ohio, and, after completing his studies, he practiced in Doylestown and Willshire, Ohio. In the latter part of 1878, he married Ella, second daughter of John Swilley, of Hicksville, and located, for the practice of dentistry, in the above-named town, where he still remains. He has one son, Charles Herbert, born in 1879.
Mark W. Babb was born in England, Somerset- shire, February 11, 1812, and came to America, land- ing in New York in 1833; after spending a short time in the city, went to Utica, N. Y., and worked at his trade a few months, and then went to Canton, Stark Co., Ohio, and remained there a short time, and went to the town of Bethlehem, Stark Co., Ohio, where he remained until 1846. He then removed to Hicks-
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ville Township. Defiance Co., Ohio, having purchased a farm, all in the woods, in above township. in the fall of 1842, paying $3 an acre for it, which was the gen- eral price of land there at that time. In 1842, when he came to Hicksville Township, Hicksville was a very small village. There were eleven votes cast in the township in 1842.
Mr. Babb married Miss Mary Magdalene Smith, of Stark County, Ohio, in 1836, and they lived happily together for about two years and a half, when sick- ness entered their quiet home, and Mrs. Babb died of typhus fever in 1839, aged twenty-six years, leav- ing two children-Uriah E. and Elvira M. He married, for his second wife, Miss Mary Hollinger, of Stark County, Ohio, August 6, 1843. His children by this marriage are Alfred J., Lucinda C., Harriet E., Eliza A., Malinda J. and Mary A. Three of the children are deceased; Elvira M. died April 12, 1872; Eliza A. died July 17, 1874. and Malinda died February 27, 1879. Mr. Babb is a shoe-maker by trade. He commenced the trade when fifteen years of age, and served an apprenticeship of six years in England, and still works considerably at the bench, having worked pretty steadily at the business for fifty-six years. He still owns the farm he purchased here in 1842, but resides at present in the village of Hicksville, now a thriving town of about 1,600 inhabitants. He is in his seventy-first year of age, and is a stout, ro- bust man for his years.
William Kinmont was born in Scotland February 2, 1794, and came to America in 1824, and settled in Richland County, Ohio, in 1825, where he purchased a farm of 100 acres in Monroe Township. He re- mained there about three years. He married Miss Nancy Pope, of Richland County, in 1827. By this marriage he had nine "children. Their names are Alexander, Amanda, Thomas C., William, Lucy, Charles, Elizabeth, Nancy, Annie A. He removed to Cincinnati in the winter of 1827-28, where he taught the languages in Alexander Kinmont's Academy un- til the year 1835, when he removed to Champaign County, Ohio, on a farm, and came to Hicksville. Township in 1848, where he cleared up a farm of eighty acres in four or five years, with the help of his boys. He settled on his present homestead of thirty acres in 1860. All his children are living but Charles and Elizabeth. Mrs. K. died December 13, 1881, at the age of seventy-seven years. Our sub- ject is a highly educated man, and followed the occupation of teaching during the winters until he came to Hicksville Township,when he gave up teach- ing, except in his own family. He has been, and now is, a constant reader, of a remarkably retentive memory, in conversation always asking questions of old or young. He is a thorough believer in the doc- trines of Emanuel Swedenborg.
Dr. T. C. Kinmont, son of William Kinmont, was born October 8, 1832, in Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., Ohio, and removed with his parents, in 1835, to Champaign County, Ohio. He attended school in Champaign and Crawford Counties, under his father as teacher, in the winters, and under other teachers during the summer, and came to Defiance County with his parents in October, 1848. He attended high school at Newville, DeKalb Co., Ind., the winters of 1854-55 and 1856-57. In November, 1857, he went to the Territory of Kansas, and remained in Kansas until September, 1859, when he returned to Defiance County, Ohio. In 1860, he built the house his father now lives in, as he then had learned the trade of a carpenter. In 1861, he enlisted as a private soldier in the Twenty-first Regiment Ohio Volunteers for three months, was honorably discharged at expiration of his three months' service, and re-enlisted in Sep- tember, 1861, in the Forty-fourth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry for three years. At organization of the Forty-fourth, he was elected Second Lieutenant of Company F of said regiment. He served in that capacity until the battle of Fort Donelson, in Ken- tucky, when he took command, and led in the final charge at the surrender of the fort. He continued in command of Company F until the battle of Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh, when, in the first day's battle, on Sunday, April 6, he fell pierced through the thigh with a musket ball, which disabled him for life. He commenced the study of medicine while confined to his bed from his wounds, in the spring of 1863, and continued his studies with Dr. B. M. Rakestraw, at his office in Hicksville, Ohio, until he graduated at Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1866, after taking two full courses of lectures at Ann Arbor, Mich., and one summer course at the Berkshire Medical School at Pittsfield, Mass., and commenced the practice of medicine at Hicksville in 1866 in partnership with Dr. B. M. Rakestraw, which continued one year. He is now in his own office. Dr. Kinmont married Miss R. C. Albertson, daughter of Edward Albertson and Abigail Albertson, of Wayne County, Ohio, December 24, 1865. He has no family. He belongs to the Medical Society of Hicksville, and also to the Northwestern Ohio Medical Society. He served first term as Mayor of Hicksville after its incorporation. He has always had a good paying practice, when his health would permit him to follow his profession.
Joseph Bunnell. Byron Bunnell, the father of Joseph Bunnell, was born at Binghamton, Broome Co., N. Y., February 7, 1802; was married, June 2, 1828, to Miss Lucy Lounsberry, who was born Au- gust 4, 1804. Their family consisted of Joseph S., Emily, Sarah L., John and William. In the spring of 1836, Mr. Bunnell and his family left their home in New York, stopping six months in Trumbull Coun
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ty, Ohio, when they again resumed their journey, by land and water, which in those days were not short- ened by railways. Waiting in Defiance three days for the arrival of Lucius Lounsberry. they again journeyed on. After traveling a few miles, their in- fant of six months was taken sick. Mrs. Bunnell, thinking it was caused by the jolting of the heavily loaded wagon, started to walk, carrying the child in her arms; but it grew worse. She walkod on as rap- idly as possible, in the hope of finding a house where she might rest herself and secure help for the little sufferer. Coming upon Mr. Hamilton plowing, she asked him if he knew where she could stop and rest, as her child was very sick. He very kindly took her to his homo, where everything that could be was done for its relief. The teams arrived soon after, having been delayed by the falling timber. That was a night long to be remembered by Mrs. Bunnell. They were all tired, and slept soundly, while she watched over the sick one as none but a mother can. In the morning, she was sick and unable to travel, but the teams must go on. Mr. Bunnell, thinking rest would restore them to health, left the family with these kind strangers and went on to Hicksville, as it required one man to hold the wagon while another drove over the fallen timber. Rest or medicine could not re- store the child. however, and before his return they had laid the little sufferer to rest on the banks of the Manmee. After bidding their kind entertainers fare- well, with saddened hearts they journeyed on, that night stopping with Andrew Clemmer; next morning they started for Hicksville, Mrs. Bunnell alone driving five cows a distance of nine miles through unbroken forest without a single settler's cabin. It rained most of the way; late in the afternoon she arrived at Hicksville, wet and weary. The town at that time consisted of a double log cabin, standing on the crossing of the streets now known as Main and High streets, occupied by Mr. Comstock. The first man she met at Hicksville was Joseph Clark. He took charge of the cows while she went into Mr. Comstock's to wait for the teams. Next day, went to their land near Newville, Ind., taking some men with them to ent a road. They moved into a small log cabin until Mr. Bunnell cleared a spot and pre- pared the logs for their cabin, bringing lumber from Fort Wayne, up the St. Joe River in a long dug-out, known as a pirogue. Men came from several miles distant to help raise the cabin. Mrs. Bunnell cooked dinner for the raisers over a fire built between two stumps, with a pole laid across on which to hang the
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