USA > Ohio > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Ohio : her people, industries and institutions > Part 46
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about one mile and a half from Bloomingburg, was one of a family of six children, being the second child of the family. W. E., the oldest, lives in Madison township. this county, while Robert and Hugh are both residents of Paint township. Eliza, the only daughter of the family, is the wife of Doctor Murphy and resides in Vinton county, while Charles, the young- est of the family, is dead.
C. L. LaFollette in his early boyhood attended the schools of Delaware county, later attending those of Vinton county, where he finished his school days. When quite a young boy he began assisting with the work of the farm and early knew the meaning of hard work. At the age of twenty years he began life on his own resources, coming to Fayette county where he hired out among various farmers, receiving eighteen dollars per month for his services. After a few years passed in this manner. he purchased the farm which is his present home and where he has made all of the improve- ments. Mr. LaFollette has been twice married. His first wife was Nettie Dunlap, with whom he was joined in holy wedlock on February 6, 1889, and who was called to the higher life in 1901. She was an excellent woman, mnuch liked and admired by friends and neighbors. She was a devout mem- ber of the United Brethren church, being active in the work of her local organization, and she was buried in Vinton county, near her home. She was the mother of two children, Blanche and Howard, who married Blanche Reynolds. Mr. LaFollette was wedded the second time on March 20. 1902. to Ellen Dunlap, younger sister of his first wife, this marriage being with- out issue. Mr. LaFollette is a man who has worked hard, who possesses a commendable degree of energy and ambition and is well deserving of the success he has attained. He gives particular attention to the raising of live stock, which he finds a most lucrative line of business and in which he is highly successful.
While not a member of any church society, Mr. LaFollette is interest- ed in the work of all and contributes to the best of his ability from time to time to various deserving benevolences. Politically, he is a stalwart Re- publican, although not devoting much time to public issues. However, for seven years he has been a member of the school board of Paint township and in this and other ways shows the keen interest he feels in the educa- tional and other phases of community life. Mr. LaFollette has a host of warm friends in all walks of life, which is amiple testimony as to the value of his citizenship and the usefulness of his life.
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DAVID ALLEN.
A substantial and progressive farmer of Jefferson township, Fayette county, Ohio, is David Allen, who was born in this township sixty-five years ago. He is strictly a self-made man, and by his own hard labor has seen his possessions grow from a paltry ten acres to an extensive farm of three hundred and sixty acres. Not only has he gained material prosperity for himself and family, but he has also been very much interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of his community. For twenty-five years he per- formed unselfish service as a member of the school board of his township. and in this capacity did everything he could for the benefit of the children of his township. He and his wife have reared a family of six children to lives of usefulness and honor, all of whom are married and are rearing families of their own. \ greater thing than this can no man do, and for this reason, if for no other, David Allen should be classed among the rep- resentative men of his township and county.
David Allen, the son of Ethan and Susan ( Straley ) AAllen, was born in 1849 in the township where he has always lived. His father was a native of West Virginia, a son of Adam and Nancy Allen. Ethan Allen and wife reared a family of fifteen children. Elizabeth. Nancy, Adam, Joseph, Charles, Eliza, Harvey, David, James H ... William, Orville, Arthur, Susan. Alice, and one who died in infancy. Adam Allen was in the War of 1812. and to him and his wife were born five children, Aaron. Adam. William, Elijah and Ethan.
David Allen attended the schools of his home neighborhood and early in life began working for himself. He married at the early age of twenty, and he and his young wife took a horse, cow and one hog, rented a farm and started in to make their fortune. They worked and planned together. and as they prospered they added to their land holdings until they now own about three hundred and sixty acres of fine land in Jefferson town- ship. To the original ten acres which they bought was first added forty- three acres, then one hundred and twenty-seven, then fifty-nine, then sixty- four, and finally, seventy-two. As he has enlarged his land holdings he has improved his farm until now he has probably one of the largest farms of the township, and one of the most attractive as well.
Mr. Allen was married in 1866 to Isabel West, the daughter of Edmond and Mary (Edge) West. Edmond West came from Virginia and settled in Jefferson township, where Mrs. Allen was born. Six children have been
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born to Mr. and Mrs. Allen, all of whom are married: Edgar, Oscar, Clyde, Ernest, Lena and Mary. Edgar married Bertha Coin and has three children, Mabel, Donald and Marion : Oscar married Mata Patch and has three children, Annabelle, Harold and Florence: Clyde married Jennie Janes ; Ernest married Edith Baughn and has two children, Lester and Pauline ; Lena is the wife of N. W. Lemon and has two daughters, Ruth and Mar- jorie ; Mary became the wife of Chester Janes and has four children, Lucile, Carl. Helen and Janice.
Fraternally. Mr. AAllen is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while he and his wife are members of the Daughters of Rebekah. Politically, he is a Republican, and while never taking an active part in poli- tics, he has always shown his hearty support of all measures which he felt would benefit his community in any way. He has always stood for clean living and high thinking and is one of the substantial men of his township.
JOHN G. COUCH.
One of the representative farmers and stock growers of Fayette county, Ohio, is John G. Couch, who is known as one of the alert, progressive and successful agriculturists of this favored section of the Buckeye state. In his labors on the farm he has not permitted himself to follow in the rut in a blind way, but has studied and experimented and thus secures the maximum returns from his efforts. He has so ordered his course at all times as to command the confidence and regard of the people of his com- munity, being a man of honorable business methods and upright principles of life.
John G. Couch, who is now living near the town of Bloomingburg. in Paint township, was born August 12, 1857. near Bourneville, this state. He is a son of John and Margaret (Gregg) Couch, his father being a native of Pennsylvania and an early settler in Ross county, Ohio. John Couch, Sr., enlisted in Company D. Seventy-third Regiment Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and served two years before dying with the typhoid fever in Maryland. He is buried at Frederickstown, in that state. His brother, Asa F. Couch, was the captain of the company to which John Couch be- longed.
John G. Couch attended the public schools of Pike county, Ohio, and also was a student in the Waverly high school, in that county, for two years.
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At the age of twenty he began renting land and continued to live on rented land until 1899, when he purchased his present farm of one hundred and ten acres, which is located in Paint, Union and Marion townships. Since acquiring this farm he has placed many improvements upon it and has the satisfaction of seeing his farm yield handsome returns in response to his efforts.
Mr. Couch was married in April. 1882, to Anna E. Mark, the daughter of Alfred H. and Mary ( Harris) Mark, and to this union have been born four children, Maud, Edna, Harry and Martha. Maud married F. F. Eichelberger: Edna married Earl Speaks, and has two children, Kenneth and Juanita : Harry and Martha are still single and residing with their father. Mrs. Couch, the mother of these four children, died June 22, 1902.
In politics, Mr. Couch has long been identified with the Republican party, but has never been an aspirant for public office. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. as was his wife, and in its welfare he has always been very much interested.
MICHAEL C. CREAMER.
The true measure of individual success is determined by what one has accomplished. In enumeration of the men of the past generation in Fayette county. Ohio, who have succeeded in their special vocation we find that Michael C. Creamer occupies a very important place. The splendid suc- cess which came to him was the direct result of the salient points in his character, for with a mind capable of laying judicious plans and a will strong enough to carry them into execution, his energy, foresight and persever- ance carried him forward to a position in the front ranks of the success- ful men of his community. To accumulate a farm of eleven hundred acres is sufficient evidence that he was a man of keen business ability. At the time of his death he was one of the largest farmers in the county, and one of the four men who owned more than one thousand acres of land.
The Creamer family has been identified with the history of Fayette county for more than one hundred years. The family trace their ancestry back to Germany, where George Creamer was born in 1746. His wife, Barbara Clover, was also a native of Germany and after their marriage in 1774 they came to this country and located in Pennsylvania. Later they
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went to Virginia, and from that state migrated with their four sons, Michael. Joseph, David and George, to Fayette county, Ohio. This county was or- ganized in 1810 and in the summer of that year George Creamer, the great- grandfather of Michael C. Creamer, with whom this narrative deals, ar- rived in this county with his four sons, two of whom were already married and had families of their own. The two married sons were George and Michael, the latter being the grandfather of the present Michael C. Creamer. The whole family settled on Sugar creek, in Jefferson township, and in that township the descendants of the family have now been living for more than a century. After the surrender of General Hull at Detroit in 1812. Joseph, Michael and David joined the United States regular army and helped to drive the British out of this country.
One of the several children of Michael Creamer was Simeon, the father of Michael C. Creamer. Simeon married Elizabeth Connor and reared a family of ten children, William, Michael, Rosanna. George, Polly, Jacob. Philip, Christian, Wesley and Isaac.
Michael Connor Creamer, the second of the ten children born to Simeon Creamer and wife, was born March 20, 1830, in this county and died April 19. 1911, on his homestead in Jefferson township. He was born in a rude log cabin which stood on the site where the present substantial dwelling of the Creamer family now stands. As a youth he was very studious and. although his education was very limited, yet he was an omnivorous reader and was practically self-educated. He started to teach school in his early manhood and taught for several years, and during this time he farmed in the summer seasons. He finally left the school room and devoted all of his attention to his agricultural pursuits and with a success which was indeed remarka- ble.
Mr. Creamer was married October 14. 1862. to Ruhama Scott, the daughter of Charles C. and Jane ( Porter ) Scott, natives of Virginia and early settlers in Harding county, Ohio. To this union were born seven chil- dren : Ethel, deceased: U. G., unmarried, a farmer and stockman : C. L., who farms one hundred acres of the home place: S. C., who married Anna Mertz and has two children, Forrest and Dwight: Gertrude, who married James Coin and has two children, Tully and Lasca, deceased: Celeste. the wife of Frank Zimmerman and the mother of three children. Brenton, Fay and Ruth: Maude, the wife of Lewis B. Creamer, and Ethel. deceased.
Mr. Creamer enlisted for the one-hundred-day service in the Civil War and was mustered in as a member of Company D. One Hundred and Sixty-
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eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on May 2, 1864. He was a mem- ber of the Grand Army of the Republic post at Jeffersonville, while, re- ligiously, he and his family were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Although a quiet and unassuming man, with no ambition for public position or leadership, yet Mr. Creamer contributed much to the material, civic and moral advancement of his community. His admirable qualities of head and heart and the straightforward, upright course of his daily life won for him the admiration, esteem and confidence of the circles in which he moved. To him home life was a sacred trust, friendship was inviolable and nothing could swerve him from the path of rectitude and honor.
WILLIAM CLAY BOSTWICK.
Farmer, soldier and public spirited citizen, William Clay Bostwick has lived his life of seventy years within this county in such a way as to make him one of the most highly respected and honored citizens of the county. Enlisting for service in the Civil War when but a mere youth, he served gallantly and well, participating in a large number of the severest engage- ments of that memorable struggle. Upon the close of the war he returned to peaceful pursuits and by good management, close economy and strict attention to his interests, he has accumulated an estate of one thousand one hundred and seventeen acres in Madison township, this making him one of the four men in the county who owns more than one thousand acres of land. The Bostwick family has been identified with the history of this county for more than a century, and during all of these years the family has occupied a prominent place in the various phases of the county's de. velopment.
William Clay Bostwick, the son of Oliver and Malinda ( Thomas) Bostwick, was born on the farm where he is now living, May 28. 1844. His father was born in this same township in October, 1816, and died April 29, 1867. Malinda Thomas was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, March 25, 1816, and died at Mt. Sterling, Ohio, July 14, 1885. Oliver and Malinda Bostwick reared a family of eight children: Morton, deceased; Francis. who married Sarah Smith: AAnnette, the wife of James Jones, deceased : Eliza, the wife of S. F. Terry, deceased: William Clay, whose history is here presented; Melvina, the wife of C. H. Strawbridge: Sarah, deceased,
FAYETTE COUNTY, OHIO.
who was the wife of Charles Miller, and Jane, who was the wife of Will- iam Green.
Oliver Bostwick was the son of William and Sallie ( Carter ) Bost- wick, natives of Vermont and early settlers in this county, where they reared a family of eight children, all of whom are deceased, Adoniram. Sarah. Joseph, Frederick C., William, Lucy Ann, Oliver and Adley. William Bost- wick came from Vermont to Fayette county, Ohio, about 1805, and settled on land in the vicinity of Yankeetown. William was the son of Joseph Bost- wick, a native of Vermont, who, in turn, was a descendant of Arthur Bost- wick, the first member of the family to come to America.
William C. Bostwick attended the rude district schools of his neighbor- hood, and when eighteen years of age answered the call of his country for volunteers and served for nearly three years at the front. He enlisted Au- gust 13, 1862, at Mt. Sterling, Ohio, in Company G. One Hundred and Thirteenth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His regiment, under the command of Col. James A. Wilcox, was attached to the Army of the Cum- berland and saw service in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and finally participated in the Grand Review at the nation's capital at the close of the war. Among the battles in which this regiment participated may be mentioned the following: Chickamauga, Knoxville, Rocky Face Ridge, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesboro, Savannah, Averasboro and Bentonville. Mr. Bostwick was with Sherman on his famous march through Georgia to the sea, and thence northward through the Carolinas into North Carolina. He was finally discharged at Columbus, Ohio, July 6, 1865, lacking but a month of being in the service three years. Mr. Bostwick is a loyal member of the J. C. Bostwick Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Mt. Sterling, Ohio.
Immediately after the close of the war Mr. Bostwick returned to Fayette county and started farming on a farm of one hundred acres. To this as a nucleus he has gradually added to his land holdings until he now owns one thousand one hundred and seventeen acres of fine farming land in Madi- son township. In the accumulation of this splendid estate Mr. Bostwick has found a true helpmate in his wife, who has ably assisted him and who is entitled to a due share of the credit.
Mr. Bostwick was married November 6, 1873, to Clara Beatty, the daughter of Isaac and Margaret ( Hidy) Beatty, of Pickaway county, this state. She was born October 22, 1852. and was one of three children, having a brother, Scott, and a sister who died in infancy. Mrs. Bostwick's grand-
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father came to Fayette county, Ohio, from Virginia in 1818. James Beatty was a soldier in the War of 1812, and about the year 1847 served as associate judge of Fayette county. He died in 1879, at an advanced age. Mr. and Mrs. Bostwick are the parents of two children, Harley Oscar, born October 10, 1875, and Oliver Newton, born May 6, 1880. Harley O. married Maude S. Welton, and has two children, Medrith and Welton; Oliver Newton mar- ried Loye A. Julian, and has one daughter, Willa Jean.
Politically, Mr. Bostwick has long been identified with the Republican party, and while always taking a deep interest in the current issues of the day, yet has never been an aspirant for public office. He retired from active work several years ago, but still maintains his interest in the breeding of pure-bred Shire horses. He is an extensive stockholder. a director and vice-president of the First National Bank of Mt. Sterling, Ohio. The man- agement of his farm has been entirely turned over to his two sons, Harley Oscar and Oliver Newton.
In 1884 Mr. Bostwick organized a military company in Mt. Sterling. of which he was elected captain and served the state in that capacity for more than eight years.
PHILIP F. ORTALAN.
The invention of the automobile and its subsequent development has created several industries in the United States in which there are several millions of dollars invested. When Elwood Haines displayed his first little gasoline motor in the streets of Kokomo in 1801. he probably little realized that within the course of a few years the automobile would be the highly developed machine it is today. Automobiles have been built which have traveled faster than any engine which was ever placed on a railroad track, and the makers of automobiles say that the limit has not yet been reached. The automobile and its manufacture has given employment to thousands of men, while other thousands are engaged in automobile repairing. There is scarcely a city of any size in the United States but has a garage of some kind with facilities for the repair of automobiles. Washington C. H. boasts of one well equipped garage and repair shop and Philip F. Ortman, the manager of the P. F. Ortman Motor Company, is recognized as one of the most expert machinists of this section of the state.
Philip F. Ortman, the son of Charles Louis and Elizabeth (Yeoman) Ortman, was born in Fayette county, Ohio, March 21, 1868. His father
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was born in Prussia, Germany, and came to this country when a young man, settling first in Ross county, Ohio, and later in. Fayette county. After coming to this country he married Elizabeth Yeoman, who was born in this county, she being his second wife. His first wife was a Miss Compton, and to his first union four children were born, George, John, Albert and Charles. To the second union there were four children born also: Enos, a farmer of Union township, this county; Amy, the wife of M. L. Johnson. of Columbus, Ohio; Philip F., with whom this history deals, and Mil- ton C .. of Washington C. H. Charles Louis Ortman was a soldier in the regular army in Germany and served three years, as was required by the law of that country. He died in Fayette county in 1875, being about sixty years of age at the time of his death. The parents of his second wife. Elizabeth Yeoman, were Enos and Amy ( Baughn) Yeoman, natives of Fayette county. Enos Yeoman and wife were the parents of thirteen chil- dren, Elizabeth. Lucy, Bethiah, Sarah, Allen J., Walter, Milton, Newton, Albert and four who died in early childhood.
Philip F. Ortman was reared in Fayette and Ross counties, Ohio, on the farm and received a good common school education in the public schools and remained with his parents until he was grown. He then opened a general repair shop in Lattisville. Ohio, and a year later moved to Fayette county, where he opened a shop in Eber, and lived there for several years. In 1908 he came to Washington C. H. and opened the first automobile agency in the city, since when he has sold several hundred machines in the city and the surrounding community, handling several different kinds of automobiles. He also has a large garage and a machine shop equipped with all the latest and most approved machinery for any kind of automobile repairing. Being an expert mechanic it was easy for him to become ac- quainted with the mechanism of the automobile, and he has built up a rep- utation as an expert in this new line of business.
Mr. Ortman was married August 16, 1891, to Vianna Davis, the daughter of Ira and - ( Bryan) Davis, and to this union has been born one daughter. Lela Grace. Mrs. Ortman is a native of this county. as were her parents. Her mother died several years ago and her father is still living in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Davis are the parents of several children, Amaljah, Vianna and several who died in childhood.
Fraternally, Mr. Ortman is a member of Confidence Lodge No. 265, Knights of Pythias. Politically, he is not affiliated with any particular party, but casts his vote, especially in local elections, for the best men, and
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not because they happen to be on some party ticket. While living in Union township. in this county, he served as school director, filling that position in an acceptable manner for fifteen years. He is a popular business man and as manager of and stockholder in the P. F. Ortman Motor Company, has built up a business which is second to none in the county. He has a large acquaintance throughout the county and is well known and highly esteemed as a reliable and straightforward business man and good citizen.
DAVID H. WISSLER.
The fifty years which David H. Wissler has spent in Paint township. Fayette county, Ohio, has given his neighbors a chance to know him in every phase of his character, and that they respect him and hold him in high re- gard is due to the fact that he has led a life free from blame and censure. lle is one of the successful farmers of his township, and has succeeded in his chosen vocation through his own courage, persistency and good manage- ment. He is a man who believes in lending what aid he can to his neigh- bors and to the general public, while at the same time advancing his in- dividual interests. He has always been identified with the civic life of his community, giving his fellow citizens conscientious and efficient service.
David H. Wissler, the son of Christian and Eliza ( Core) Wissler, was born January 10, 1864, on the farm where he is now living, about six miles from Bloomingburg. His farm of one hundred sixty-one acres, known as the Spring Brook farm, is on the Danville pike and is one of the most at- tractive farms of the township. His father, Christian Wissler, was the son of Henry and Susan ( Neff) Wissler, both father and son being born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. Christian Wissler located in Madison county, this state, in 1855. In 1856 Henry Wissler came to Ohio and he and his son. Christian, both came to Fayette county and bought farms in Paint township. Christian Wissler and wife reared a family of five children. Charles, David H., Mrs. Evelyn Hosier, Emma and Howard, the last two named being deceased.
David H. Wissler attended the Wissler school in his home township. and then spent three years, 1881-4, in the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, where he took the commercial and civil engineering courses. After the death of his mother, in 1886, he returned home and took over the management of the paternal estate, and at the death of his father, in
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