USA > Ohio > Henry County > History of Henry and Fulton counties, Ohio : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 67
USA > Ohio > Fulton County > History of Henry and Fulton counties, Ohio : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 67
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John Hamler has lived to see this vast country cleared of its forest trees, its great swamp lands thoroughly drained, and where, forty years ago, there seemed but a trackless waste, are now finely cultivated farms, villages spring- ing up here and there, and the whole territory cut by well-kept thoroughfares of travel. And while our subject has lived to see all of this improvement, in its accomplishment he has borne no small part. In him the owners of land have had the fullest confidence, and to every trust reposed in him has he been faithful and true. He has been successful, but that success he has earned. He was chosen, and for twenty-four years held the office of assessor in Marion township; his acquaintance with the lands in the region especially fitted him for this service; in fact no man but he could locate them accurately. For several years he served as trustee and clerk of the township, and besides, has held other offices of trust and responsibility ; for thirteen years, in connection with his land operations, he held the office of notary public. About the year 1850 he was elected county commissioner, and served two terms of three years each. Under the administration of Mr. Buchanan he was appointed post- master at Ridgeland, the first such office in the township, and held four years. During the war Mr. Hamler was active in raising men for service, devoting much of his time, and using his own means for this purpose, asking and seek- ing no reward therefor. Up to this time he had been actively identified with the Democratic party in the county, but from that to the present time he has
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voted for men, not for party, but according to the dictates of conscience, and regardless and independent of party ties.
John Hamler has been a progressive man in the county, and particularly in his own locality ; every measure tending to benefit the township and its people has found in him a hearty supporter, and one not niggardly in his con- tributions for all substantial benefits and improvements. The growing and pretty little village of Hamler was so named in his honor. At this place is his present comfortable home, and here is he content to pass the remaining years of his life, still possessed of full mental and physical vigor, although now past the allotted three score years and ten of life.
By his marriage with Mary Ann Hollingshead there has been born to John Hamler six children, as follows : Mary Catharine, born July 12, 1846, married Jesse W. Hitt, of Marion township; Ellen, born March 18, 1849, married George Fredericks, of Hamler; Angelina, born February 21, 1852, died Jan- uary 24, 1856; Alice, born June 1, 1854, died November 17, 1855; John Flet- cher, born July 28, 1857, died March 16, 1858; Sarah, born August 12, 1859, married Richard H. Ebersol, now living at Linia, O.
K ELLEY, EsQ., WILLIAM C. For but a little more than two score years was Mr. Kelley a resident of Fulton county; yet, during that time he made a record as a citizen and lawyer second to none within its boundaries. As a lawyer he stood at the head of the bar in the county, and ranked equal with any in Northwestern Ohio. He possessed far more than ordinary legal ability, and was thoroughly successful both in the counsel room, and as an advocate before the court and the jury.
In the political history of the county, during the first ten or twelve years of his residence here, Mr. Kelley was a prominent central figure, and one of the recognized leaders of the Republican party. He fully enjoyed the excite- ment of a political campaign, and lent his every effort for the success of the candidates of his party, but he would never consent to become its nom- inee, except for some local office of minor importance. During the latter eight or ten years of his life he cared less for the exciting political issues of parties, but interested himself in the ability, honor, integrity and fitness of the candidate for the office. One reason for this was the fact that his professional duties required his careful attention, for he was as true to his client as he was to his friends. This was one of the marked and striking characteristics of the man, and one that always kept him high in the esteem of his professional associates and fellow-men. In a trial of a case he was entirely devoted to the interests of his client, yet equally watchful and careful of his client's conscience. He had true moral courage, and if at times aggressive, he never carried per- sonal feeling beyond the doors of the court room. He could, and he did look an antagonist squarely in the face and express his sentiments, uncomplimentary
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or otherwise, as forcibly as if out of his presence. He was also singularly free from professional jealousy. He desired consideration for himself, he demanded it, and obtained it too, but he never sought it at the expense of another. He wished his light to flame high, but he never thought it necessary for that end that other lights should be dimmed.
He won his position and success by sturdy and sterling qualities of mind, by undaunted courage, by mental readiness, by untiring industry, and un- flagging patience, by self-denial, and setting his face against temptations to idleness and frivolity.
By nature he was free from cant, and impatient of shams, and always gave more heed and attention to the substance than the form of anything, and thus, though not pretending to be polished in manner, was powerful and thorough in his work, holding with an unyielding grip every step he won in his business or profession. Possessing a thorough understanding of the law, he was not given to misconstruction of doubtful cases, and before the jury he was a log- ical, influential advocate.
William Clay Kelley, of whom these things are said by his associates at the bar, was born in Liberty township, Hancock county, O., on the 24th day of March, 1838. His father, Daniel R. Kelley, was a carpenter and joiner, but our subject, at an early age, showed a strong inclination for professional life. This was a determination more easy to arrive at than to perform. His father was a man in quite modest circumstances, and whatever young Kelley might accomplish must be the result of his own personal effort and perseverance. He was not wanting in any of the essential elements that make success possi- ble, and he had, moreover, an unusually bright mind and an abundance of perseverance. His early education was received at the Findlay High School, but prior to that time he had attended school only about twenty months. At the age of fifteen years he began teaching. During these years of study, and in those that followed, he supported himself by such work as he could find to do. In the month of December, 1859, he entered the law office of Hon. Henry Brown, of Findlay, for a course of study, having fully determined to enter the legal profession. He continued his studies until the month of July, 1861, when he dropped them for a time, and helped to recruit, and took a commis- sion as second lieutenant of Company D, 99th O. V. I. With this command he served until November, 1862, when his resignation was accepted because of impaired health.
In January, 1863, Mr. Kelley entered the Ohio Union Law College, at Cleve- land, and was graduated therefrom in June of the same year, and soon after was admitted to practice in the courts of the State. The next year, in March, 1864, Mr. Kelley came to reside at Wauseon, and became a member of the Fulton county bar. After having been a resident here of some three years, Mr. Kelley was, on the 2d day of November, 1867, married to Minnie L. Ayers,
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daughter of Eli Ayers, of Kossuth, Iowa. At the time their acquaintance was formed Miss Ayers was a teacher in the schools of Wauseon. Her home had been in Gouverneur, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., her parents having recently moved to Des Moines county, Iowa.
From 1864 until 1885, William C. Kelley resided and was actively en- gaged in practice at Wauseon, and during this time his life was one of almost uninterrupted success. But during the latter portion of this period the de- stroyer was not idle. Mr. Kelley was attacked with a malignant tumor of the throat, which resulted in his death on the 30th day of June, 1885.
In his religious views Mr. Kelley was a radical free thinker, although he never forced his theories upon unwilling listeners. At his burial ceremony re- marks were made by prominent members of the bar from Fulton and other counties, and while clergymen were present, they took no part in the services.
In concluding this sketch, no higher, or more fitting tribute of respect to the memory of this man can be written, than is embodied in the record of the Common Pleas of Fulton county, being the action of the bar upon the occasion of his death. The record is as follows :
" The State of Ohio, Fulton county, ss. In the Court of Common Pleas. At a Court of Common Pleas, begun and held at the court-house in the town of Wauseon, in the county of Fulton, and State of Ohio, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five. Present, Hon. William H. Handy, judge of said court.
"WHEREAS, It has pleased the Supreme Architect of the universe in His inscrutable wisdom, to remove from earth our esteemed friend and fellow member of the Fulton county bar, the Hon. William C. Kelley; and
"WHEREAS, In his untimely death the community has been deprived of the services of one of its most useful citizens, and the bar of this county one of its most faithful representatives, and his friends and relatives of one who was 'loved for his virtues and respected for his integrity ; therefore be it
" Resolved, That we hereby bear testimony to his acknowledged talents, his public and private worth, uprightness of character, and the many estimable and sterling qualities of mind and heart; that, feeling our own loss, we deeply sympathize and condole with the relatives of the deceased in their greatest be- reavement.
" Resolved, That these resolutions be ordered spread upon the journal of the court, and a copy thereof be transmitted to the relatives of the deceased."
R OBINSON, ANTHONY B., the subject of this sketch, was born in the valley of Salt Creek, Wayne county, O., on the 28th day of September, in the year 1825. His parents were George W. and Sarah Robinson, and of their ten children, Anthony was the oldest. The father was a farmer living in Salt Creek valley, and here our subject passed the days of boyhood and youth,
LITTI PHILA
JA. B. Robinson
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working on the farm and attending school. When he was eighteen years old, Anthony attended Edinburg Academy, in Wayne county, intending to prepare himself for teaching and civil engineering. After some four or five terms at the academy, he did commence to teach, and so continued for twenty eight terms, and gradually took rank with the best and most successful instructors. of the county. For four years he was one of the principals of the Fredericks- burg school, which was a " summer and winter " school.
June 17, 1847, then being twenty- two years of age, Mr. Robinson was mar- ried to Nancy Hutchinson, daughter of Jinisey Hutchinson, of Wayne county. From this time down to 1862, our subject was employed as teacher and at work on a farm, devoting, however, his leisure time to the study of civil engineering, intending to emigrate to Iowa and follow surveying, but the unexpected death of his father (September 26, 1846), materially changed his plans for the future, and he then decided to remain in Ohio, but, during the year last above men- tioned, 1862, he came to Fulton county and took up his residence on a farm about one and one-half miles southwest from Wauseon, and one-half mile south- west from that on which he now resides.
At that time the lands in this vicinity were in a comparatively undevel- oped condition, and there appeared nothing in the then future to materially enhance their value except the labor that might be put upon them. A few years later, however, the seat of justice of the county was removed from Ot- tokee to Wauseon, near which this farm was situate. Being a thrifty, enter- prising and industrious farmer (and takes an active interest in the farmer insti- tutes), Mr. Robinson soon possessed as good an agricultural tract as was to be found in the county, and the removal of the county seat greatly increased its value. To this he subsequently added other lands, until now he is the owner of nearly three hundred acres of as productive farm lands as can be found in the region, and they have, in the main, been cleared, underdrained and devel- oped by himself.
Mr. Robinson is among the staunch, stalwart Republicans of Fulton county, he being one of the delegates at its formation in 1854, at Columbus, O. Prior to his residence in the county, however, he had held the office of justice of the peace. In 1854, then being a Wayne county citizen, Mr. Robinson, as we said before, helped to organize the Republican party, and in its doctrines, teachings and policy he has ever since been a firm believer, and to its cause a faithful adherent and an efficient helper. In about the year 1872 he was elected county surveyor and held that office for twelve consecutive years ; in the office of justice of the peace of Clinton township, he served for an unbroken term of eighteen years. And in all measures pertaining to the educational interests of the township and the county, as well, has our subject been espe- cially active and prominent, and, in this branch of the local government, he has represented the township in various capacities. As an early teacher of
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understanding and experience, during his younger life, Mr. Robinson was well fitted to suggest and direct such measures as were of the greatest benefit, both to teachers and scholars.
To the marriage of Anthony B. Robinson and Nancy Hutchinson there has been born a family of ten children-five sons and five daughters-and of these all, save two, are still living.
Surrounded with family and friends, Mr. Robinson still lives in Clinton township on the farm adjoining that on which he first settled in the full enjoy- ment of health, although now past his sixty-second year, and possessed of sufficient of this world's goods to keep wife and self in comfort during the re- mainder of their days, and thereafter to leave a goodly inheritance to their children, all of whom are now married and living in Fulton county near the old home.
S COFIELD, JOHN N. In the year 1855 Mr. Scofield became a resident of Ridgeville township. Four years later he bought the land upon which was afterwards built the little hamlet of Ridgeville, being so named for the township. Perhaps no man has been so instrumental in building up and im- proving the place as he, and there are few, if any, who have done as much for the welfare of the township at large as has Mr. Scofield. With its civil and political history he has been closely identified for upwards of thirty years, and although his political convictions are not in accord with the majority of the voters of the township, his personal standing has been sufficient to break down party lines, and place him in some of the most important of its offices; still, he has not been, by any means, a politician, nor has he ever sought, while in office, to advance his own or his party's interest at the expense of the opposing party; his efforts, rather, have been directed toward the improvement and develop- ment of the locality, thus benefiting the whole people. As is well known, Mr. Scofield holds to the doctrine of Republicanism, and, in the various offices that he has been chosen to fill, he has always been the representative of the Repub- lican party. His candidacy for the county office of probate judge is well re- membered by the people of the county, and, although defeated at the polls, he ran well up with the ticket, notwithstanding the fact that he was opposed by one of the strongest Democrats of the county-a person of no less strength than James G. Haly.
John Newberry Scofield was born in Seneca county, N. Y., August 30, 1814. When he was but three years old his parents, Benjamin and Sally (New- berry) Scofield, with their children, left Seneca county and came to Ohio, locat- ing in Strongville township, Cuyahoga county, where the father purchased a tract of wild land, and upon which he commenced an improvement, although his former occupation was that of a carpenter. In the family of Benjamin Sco- field was thirteen children, and of these John was the eighth in the order of
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their birth. John lived with his parents until he became of age, and during these years acquired a very good common school education. At the age of twenty-one he went to Cleveland, where he learned the carpenter trade, and at which he worked some six or seven years continuously thereafter, but he de- voted considerable of his time to teaching and farm work in various portions of Cuyahoga county; in all his mechanical labors in this county covered a period of something like twenty years.
In the year 1837 he went to the town of Independence to teach school, and while so employed, became acquainted with Miss Anna L. Stafford, one of his pupils, to whom, on the 6th of September, 1838, he was married. From this time until 1855, Mr. Scofield was variously employed, part of the time on his father's farm, again at his trade, then he bought and improved a piece of land, but, in the year last named sold out and came to Henry county, locating in Ridgeville township, where he purchased a saw-mill property, completed the mill and set the machinery in motion. This he owned and operated success- fully for about twenty-one years.
In connection with his business operations in this locality Mr. Scofield has become possessed of large tracts of wooded land, and many fine farms show the results of his labor. In other branches of business, also, he has been very active, and established and operated them with good success. He built a cheese factory in the township in 1867, but sold it after one season. In Janu- ary, 1878, he started a general store at Ridgeville, and still owns and conducts it. In 1861, under the administration of President Lincoln, Mr. Scofield was appointed postmaster at this place, the name of the office being Ridgeville Cor- ners, but after about three or four years he resigned ; again, under President Hayes, he was reappointed and held until the year 1887, when, under the new administration, a successor was appointed.
In the year following that in which Mr. Scofield became a resident of Henry county, 1856, on the 2d of December, his wife, Anna, was taken away by the hand of death. She bore him six children, but all of these, save one, are dead. On the 16th of December, 1858, Mr. Scofield married Margaret N. Harring, of Port Byron, N. Y. She died March 26, 1886. Again, on December 30, 1886, he was married to Sarah E. Harris, of Ridgeville.
T HOMPSON, ABRAHAM B. About half a mile north from the village of Delta, in York township, stands the residence of Abraham B. Thomp- son. He is not a native of this country, but was born in Lincolnshire, England, on the 5th day of March, 1831. When Abraham was but three months old his mother died, and when a little over one year old his father left England and emigrated to the United States, leaving three small children, the oldest being but five years of age, entirely dependent upon the kind charity of relatives. The father did not return to England until the year 1848, and at that time our
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subject was seventeen years old. Upon again coming to America Abraham accompanied his father. They came to Royalton township, Fulton county, and here the son lived until he attained his majority, when he started out determined to work his own way in life, and, above all other considerations, to acquire, at least, a fair business education. After working out by the month for nearly a year, Mr. Thompson attended school at Maumee city, and here he remained as long as he had money to pay for board and tuition, but was finally obliged to give up further study for want of funds, and, at this time, he never so much realized the need of cash, as when compelled to leave the school before finishing the course he had marked out.
About this time there was considerable excitement over the wonderful gold fields of California, and many of the more venturesome young men of the east were going there. In 1854, then being twenty- three years old, young Thomp- son made the journey by the Nicaragua route. On reaching the Pacific slope small-pox broke out among the passengers, and many died before reaching their destination, while from this and other unfortunate causes, the arrival of all was much delayed. Upon reaching San Francisco our subject was entirely out of money, but by no means was he discouraged. He borrowed $30 from a friend, and started for the mines full of hope and expectation. For about four years he endured the hardships, privations and disappointments of life in the mines, when, in the fall of 1858, he returned to Ohio, having accumulated about $2,000 in money as the result of his toil. With this he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Amboy township, the improvement and cultivation of which he immediately commenced. Having got the farm and its build- ings in good condition, our subject realized that it was " not good for man to live alone," for we find that on the 27th of November, 1859, he was. married to Susan Ann Powlesland, a native of Devonshire, England, but who came with her parents to this country in the year 1849. Of this marriage five children were born, viz .: Addison Brooks, born October 1, 1860; Cara Dora, born May 18, 1862; Evaline Francetta, born June 20, 1864 ; Gertrude H., born June 7, 1867, died April 10, 1869; and Ira J., born May 10, 1868.
During his residence in Amboy township Abraham B. Thompson was recognized as one of its most thrifty farmers and enterprising business men. In 1869 he erected a suitable building and commenced the manufacture of cheese, which industry he has ever since continued with most favorable results.
In 1875 Mr. Thompson moved to his present home in York township, where, in 1877, he built the elegant residence which he now occupies. At this place, in 1875, he built an extensive cheese factory, and, until 1883, operated both this and that at Amboy, in which year the Amboy factory was sold.
It will be seen that in this manufacture Mr. Thompson has been engaged for the last eighteen years ; in fact, this has been as much, and possibly more, his occupation as farming, although at both he has been abundantly successful,
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and accumulated a comfortable fortune, the result of energy, perseverance and straightforward honesty. The cheese that he has produced has always been a standard article in the market, and brings good prices. It is shipped mainly to Toledo and Adrian, although a fair proportion of the output is used to supply a demand in the county.
While Mr. Thompson has been a very busy man in conducting his business affairs, he has, nevertheless, found time to show a patriotic interest in the wel- fare of his township and county ; and in the political history of each he has been a prominent figure as is shown by his various political holdings, and in each of which he has been the nominee of the Republican party. He has filled with entire satisfaction the offices of township road supervisor, school director (fifteen consecutive years), treasurer, trustee, justice of the peace, and in con- nection with the county's affairs, he filled the important and responsible posi- tion of commissioner for nine consecutive years.
In the most ancient and honorable order of Masonry has our subject been for many years a faithful craftsman. He joined the order in 1863, and has filled various offices of trust and responsibility in connection therewith ; from master of Fulton Lodge, No. 248, he has advanced and is now acting M. E. H. P., of Octavius Waters Chapter, No. 154, of Delta. In 1881 he became a member of Toledo Commandery, and went into the Scottish rites in 1883.
A YERS, EsQ., DAVID. Among the pioneers of the territory that is now embraced within the boundaries of Fulton county, was the family of Moses Ayers, a former resident of Wayne county, but who came to this locality in the year 1838. To the older residents of this county the name of Mr. Ayers is well known. He was a thorough, honest, intelligent and respected farmer, and one that contributed his full share in the development of Dover township. His wife was Elizabeth (Chrisman) Ayers. They had a family of seven children, five boys and two girls.
Moses Ayers built a small tannery and conducted it in connection with his farm work for some time. This event is probably forgotten by many of the old settlers, as it was done some fifty years ago. At that time Dover was a wild and uncultivated country, and Indians were more numerous than whites, but they were quite friendly and peaceable. The old tannery has long since gone to decay, and the farm is now occupied by David Ayers, who was the second child of this pioneer family.
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