USA > Ohio > Huron County > History of Huron County, Ohio, Its Progress and Development, Volume II > Part 17
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LYMAN ASHLEY.
Lyman Ashley, a resident of Chicago, Ohio. who is now living retired from the. labors of the farm, is still the owner of valuable farming property, having one hundred and eight acres of land in Greenfield township. He belongs to the native sons of Huron county, having been born here, February 20, 1832, and during a long and useful life has borne his part in the upbuilding of his locality. He is a son of Dennis and Lurany ( Bliss) Ashley, and grandson of Luther and Eunice Ashley, and Jacob and Bertha (Brown) Bliss. These grandparents were all na- tives of Massachusetts. Dennis Ashley was a farmer all his life, and at the time of his death owned sixty-six acres of land in Greenfield township. Lyman Ashley
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was the eldest of the children born to him and his wife, the others being : Luther, who lives in California; Lucy and Norah, both of whom are deceased; E. S .;. Mary, the deceased wife of Charles McMasters ; Deptor and Ward, also deceased ; and Charlotte, who married J. A. Wheeler and lives in Huron county. Luther and E. S. served in the Civil war.
Lyman Ashley attended the district schools until he was sixteen, at which time he was forced to leave school and go to work in the mills, learning to be a sta- tionary engineer, which occupation he followed for twelve years. Then, in 1853, he went to Iowa, where he purchased eighty acres of government land for one hundred dollars, and during the two years he owned it, the property increased so in value that he sold it for eleven hundred and seventy-five dollars. . Following this sale hc returned to Huron county, which has been his home ever since. The farm he owns in Greenfield township has been in his possession since 1856 and for thirty-eight years, he successfully operated it.
On March 29, 1863. Mr. Ashley married Mary L. Young, who was a daughter of the late James and Sarah (Frost) Young, farmers of Huron county. Mrs. Ashley is the older of the two children born to her parents, her brother being Curtis Young, who resides in Miami, Florida. Mr. and Mrs. Ashley are the par- ents of the following named children : Cora B., who married James Baker, of North Fairfield, and has two children Glen and Nina; Joseph B., who married Lucy Reed and has five children, Eunice, Leo, Lois, Carl and Ralph; and Lewis C., who married Hattie M. Lindley and has two children: Helen M. and Mary Louisa.
Mr. Ashley has served very acceptably as township trustee, school director and road supervisor, and upon six separate occasions has served as juryman at Norwalk. While a republican in national matters, having cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, in local affairs, he uses discrimination, preferring to. select the man he deems best fitted for the office, rather than confine himself strictly to party lines. Neither he nor any member of his family are connected with a church organization. They are possessed of many good qualities which have won for them the friendship of the people whose opinion counts, and while enjoying the comforts of life their hard work has gained them, Mr. and Mrs. Ashley are tenderly remembered by their old friends in Greenfield township, where. they lived for so many years.
GEORGE S. CATLIN.
After an experience of almost four decades as a successful teacher and school superintendent George S. Catlin has returned to agricultural pursuits, to which he was reared and on the land he owns in Boughtonville, Ripley township, devotes himself to farming and the breeding of brown Leghorn chickens. He was born in Huron county, July 21, 1857, and is a son of Hudson and Theresa (Scobey) Catlin. Of remotely Irish ancestry on both his father's and mother's side, Mr. Catlin is the scion of families which have from the earliest years of the nation participated in its struggles and history. The Scobeys date back to colonial days,
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when some of that name were familiar with the Indian wars that involved two European powers in mortal conflict. Theresa Scobey, who became the wife of Hudson Catlin and the mother of George S. Catlin, was born in 1835, in Schuy- ler county, New York. Her father, Archibald Scobey, who was the son of James Scobey, was born on Long Island in 1800. In his young manhood, he married Miss Sarah Ann Van Valor, a native of Buffalo, New York, and ten years his junior. Of this union, there were born eight children: Andrew, Augustus, Cath- erine, Jane, Cornelia, Isabel, Margaret and Sarah Ann.
Hudson Catlin, the father of George S. Catlin, comes from a family that was identified with the history of the country on this side of the Alleghenies in the early decades of the last century. He was a son of Burge Catlin, a native of Medina county, Ohio, who entered upon this life in the year 1812. By his wife, who in her maidenhood was Miss Eliza Reed (Burge) Catlin, became the father of nine children: Mason, Victor, Allen, Seymour, Cynthia, Anna, Lorene, Eliza and Celia. Hudson Catlin grew to manhood in this state and after the inaugura- tion of the Civil war, responded to the nation's call for troops, enlisting in the One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Although his period of services comprised only two years and nine months it was crowded with memorable experiences and numerous engagements. The latter included about twenty battles, while the forty days spent in Libby prison made pictures upon his mind which years did not efface. To Hudson Catlin and wife were born seven children : George, Archibald, Burge, Wayne, Maud, Cora and Mae.
George S. Catlin began his school life in Shiloh, and after completing the pre- scribed course of study there went to the Mansfield Normal School for further training in the profession which was for many years to be his vocation. Though not a man in years when he undertook to teach his first class, he possessed that insight in human nature and the ability to impart knowledge which is considered the peculiar property of older and more experienced men and from the first was successful in his direction of a school and his control of its pupils. For twenty- five years, in common and graded institutions of popular instruction, Mr. Catlin taught the elementary branches of English education and then, having proved his efficiency as a teacher, he was made a superintendent of schools, in this capacity serving in different cities through a period of eleven years. But the responsibili- ties were heavy and exhausting, and when an opportunity presented itself, Mr. Catlin retired from his profession and sought rest and recreation on his farm. Always a chicken fancier, he has turned to the breeding of fine brown Leghorns, contemplating engaging in the poultry and egg business on a large scale in the near future.
On the 3d of June, 1882, Mr. Catlin was married to Miss Lovina Truxell. She was born on the farm on which her husband now lives, August 27, 1865, and is a daughter of David and Sarah (Howard) Truxell, both natives of Huron county, for Milan, Ohio, was, at the time of the father's birth in 1819, included within the boundaries of this county. Mrs. Truxell was born in Green- field township in 1839. David Truxell was of remotely German descent, his grandfather, Christopher Truxell, having been of German birth, although he came to this country, where he died only five months before he reached the hun- dredth milestone on life's journey. His son William, the father of David Trux-
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ell, was born in Pennsylvania about 1792. He married Miss Mary Brubaker, who was born in Virginia in the first year of the nineteenth century. She was the daughter of Christopher Brubaker, a native of Germany, and by her marriage became the mother of eight children: Andrew, Addison, William, James, David, Mary Jane, Elizabeth and Maria. When William Truxell came to Ohio he stopped first at Florence. From there he and five companions walked to Nor- walk, where they assisted in erecting the first two buildings of that city. Thence they went to Greenfield township, entirely covered with timber at the time, pur- chased their farms, cleared their land and put up rude houses for themselves. David Truxell, too, experienced the hardships of pioneer days, for he bought his farm in 1844 and had to remove the timber before it was habitable. He had worked for his father until he was twenty-one, and then, dressed in homespun, set out from home literally to cut his own fortune. He began by chopping trees for the small sum of four dollars and a half an acre and used the money thus gained for the purchase of other clothes. After working for Miner Lawrence for about eight years, he was able to buy his farm. Alone and unaided, he cleared the fields and built his first home, and now though a man well advanced in years is still of strong physique and able to work like many a younger man. The strength of his constitution he attributes to the fact that he has never smoked, chewed, nor drank and tells with pride that he has never been inside a saloon. He has always been a liberal supporter of the churches, has been a professed member since he was eighteen, and in politics is a republican. His first presidential vote was cast for William Henry Harrison, the whig candidate, and when he marked his ballot in the fall of 1908, he had signified his choice of a national executive for the eight- eenth time. To Mr. Truxell and wife have been born five children: Lafayette ; Nettie ; Lovina ; one who died in infancy ; and Perry.
Mr. and Mrs. Catlin's family consists of three children : Lela, the eldest, who was born January 5, 1884, married W. J. Wilkinson, the North Fairfield agent for the S. N. & M. railroad. Millicent, born March 2, 1885, married F. W. Devoe, and they have two children : Robb and Donna. Clarke, the youngest, born Octo- ber 27, 1887, is a school teacher.
Mr. Catlin is a member of the Methodist church and is very prominent as a church worker, having been for years the leading spirit in the congregation, a class leader and chorister. Politically, he affiliates with the republican party, and though his own duties have always been heavy, he has found time for the past nine years to render his fellow citizens invaluable service as justice of the peace. A man of undeniable ability, he is also possessed of indefatigable energy and has won the esteem of all who know him.
HARVEY NEWTON MILLER.
Harvey Newton Miller a retired farmer of Ripley township, Huron county, now living in Plymouth, was born in Cass township, Richland county, August 1, 1854, and is a son of Jacob and Mary (Noble) Miller. Jacob Miller, a son of John Miller, was born in November, 1827, in Crawford county, Pennsylvania.
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His parents having died in his infancy, he was taken by his grandparents who brought him to Ohio in 1832, when he was less than five years old. In his early manhood, he married Miss Mary Noble, who was born in Crawford county, Penn- sylvania, in 1827, and was only two years of age when, in 1829, her parents, Har- vey and Maria (Little) Noble, came to Ohio. She was one of a family of six chil- dren, John, James, William, Elizabeth and Minerva, being the others.
Reared on a farm and working in the fields during the summer vacations, it was but natural that Harvey Newton Miller should devote himself to agriculture. The farm of eighty acres in Ripley township, which he turned over to the care of his son in the spring of 1909, was for twenty-two years his home and the scene of his daily toil. Nine years ago, he purchased the land, for he felt that it was as rich and fertile a tract as could be obtained in that neighborhood, and also the fact that he had worked on it for so many years and knew all the peculiarities of the soil urged him to the step.
On the Ist of August, 1877, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Ella Bowlby, who was born July 8, 1858, in Ripley township and is a daughter of Emanuel and Lucretia (Park) Bowlby. Her parents had five children : David, William, Martha, Addie and Ella. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have three children : Park, was born September 15, 1883. On the 20th of March, 1906, he married Miss Florence Waddington, a daughter of Chory and Elizabeth (Nothacker) Waddington. Oliver, was born January 24, 1890, and is now employed in Lof- land's grocery at Plymouth. Frey, the eldest son, was born March II, 1878, and died May 26, 1883.
Mr. Miller and the members of his family belong to the English Lutheran church and are regular in attendance on its services, and consistent in their prac- tice of its teachings. In politics, he espouses the republican party and invariably casts his vote for its candiate. He is not a politician nor an office seeker, however, though he has rendered valuable service to his fellow citizens as a member of the school board. A man of high principles, whose life has been devoted to con- scientious labor, he is well deserving of the rest which he is now enjoying in Plymouth.
SEBASTIAN SCHNURR.
Sebastian Schnurr, who throughout his entire life has been numbered among the worthy and respected residents of Huron county, is the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and seventy acres in Ridgefield township, on which he has now made his home for fifty years. He is today one of the oldest native born citizens of the county. His birth occurred in Peru township, on the 4th of November, 1835, his parents being Plasey and Teckla (Barman) Schnurr, both of whom were natives of Baden, Germany. In the year 1829 the father crossed the Atlantic to the United States, taking up his abode in Peru township, this county, where he worked for others for a time and then purchased a farm of thirty acres. He was identified with general agricultural pursuits throughout his active busi- ness career and had attained the age of sixty-five years when he was called to his final rest, the community thus losing one of its most esteemed and well
MR, AND MRS, SEBASTIAN SCHNURR
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known early settlers. His wife was fifty-five years of age when she passed away. Unto this worthy couple were born twelve children, six of whom died in infancy. The others were as follows: Cornelius and Rosie, who are now de- ceased ; Sebastian, of this review ; Philip; Katie; and Frances.
As stated above, Sebastian Schnurr has remained a resident of this county throughout his entire life and has always devoted his time and energies to the work of general farming. For the past half century he has made his home on his present farm of one hundred and seventy acres in Ridgefield township and as the years have gone by has won a gratifying measure of prosperity in the cultivation of the cereals best adapted to soil and climate. The place is well im- proved and in its neat and thrifty appearance indicates the supervision of a prac- tical and progressive owner.
On the 22d of June, 1863, Mr. Schnurr was joined in wedlock to Miss Emma Friend, a native of Germany, who in early life was brought to this country by her aunt. By this union there are five children, namely: Ida, who is at home; Emile, living in Peru township, who married Miss Amelia Gise and has two children, Josie and Paul; Flora, who makes her home in this county and mar- ried Jacob Russman, by whom she has ten children; Bertha, living in Ridgefield township, who gave her hand in marriage to John Bachman, by whom she has two children, Ciralus and Frances; and Otto, a resident of Ridgefield township, who wedded Miss Mary Dernwald and has two children, Emery and Ellis.
Mr. Schnurr is a communicant of the Catholic church and his life has been honorable and upright, so that in the evening of his days he receives the re- spect and veneration which should ever be accorded to one of advanced years. He has been an interested witness of the county's growth and development as it has emerged from pioneer conditions and taken on all the evidences of our modern civilization and well deserves mention in this volume as one of its most worthy and well known citizens.
ALFRED BARNARD.
Alfred Barnard, carrying on agricultural pursuits in Lyme township, Huron county, is the owner of eighty-six acres of land, to the cultivation of which he is devoting his time and energies. He was born in Shelburn, Massachusetts, Aug- ust 9, 1824, a son of Anson and Lucinda (Nims) Barnard, also natives of that place. The father was born February 22, 1792, and the mother March 27, 1795, while they both passed away in April, 1859, the father's demise occurring on the IIth and the mother's on the 30th of that month. Their marriage was celebrated December 2, 1819, and in their family were eight children, namely : Anson A., who was born October 14, 1820, and died April 11, 1859; Frederick A., who was born September 8, 1822, and died in 1854 ; Alfred of this review ; Charles, who was born August 22, 1829, and died in 1908; Helen A., who was born September II, 1828, and passed away December 24, 1861 ; William, born October 12, 1830; Lucinda, who was born June 30, 1833, and died January 3, 1864; and Asa W., born Octo- ber 21, 1836.
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Alfred Barnard spent the early years of his life under the parental roof and acquired liis education in the common schools. He remained at home until twen- ty-two years of age, when he came to Huron county, this state, where he re- sided with his uncle, Samuel Nims, for about seven years. On March 1, 1855, he was married to Ruth A. Bemiss, who was born March 10, 1827, and is a daugh- ter of Elijah and Sophronia Bemiss, pioneer settlers of this district. After his marriage, he removed to the farm which is now his residence and which was given to him by his wife's father. When the land came into his possession, it was entirely covered with timber and brush, but with characteristic energy and industry, he set about its improvement, erecting a house, clearing the land and cultivating the soil until, in due course of time, the fields began to yield substan- tial harvests in return for his time and labor. Mr. Barnard is practical in his methods, studying the best ways of plowing, planting and harvesting, while to- day his place is a well improved property, containing all the equipment and ac- cessories of a model farm of the twentieth century.
In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Barnard were six children : Helen, at home, who is a graduate of the Painsville College, and has been a district school teacher for many years ; William E., who married Lillian Haynes, by whom he has two children, Rachel and Alfred, and who resides with his father, assisting in the operation of the home farm; Charles, who died at the age of twenty-three years ; Mary, who passed away at the age of two years ; Lyman, living at Toledo, Ohio, who married Bertha Kessler and has two children, Dorothy and Kenneth; and Clara, who married Frank Seymour, a resident of this township, by whom she has four children, George B., Ruth H., Ethelyn and Alberta Y. In 1892, the wife and mother was called to her final rest, leaving husband and children to mourn her loss. She was a lady of excellent traits of character and enjoyed the high regard of a large circle of friends.
Mr. Barnard's political affiliations are in accord with the principles of the re- publican party and for six years, he served as trustee of his township. He is a prominent member of the Lyme Congregational church, in which he served for many years as deacon. Honorable and upright in all his dealings, the salient char- acteristics of his life have ever been such as command the respect, confidence and good will of his fellowmen.
JONATHAN S. WHITE.
Jonathan S. White, one of the most prominent citizens of the progressive vil- lage of Greenwich and cashier of the First National Bank there, was born in Ripley township, Huron county, Ohio, February 24, 1844, and is a son of John C. and Nancy A. (Taylor) White. The latter was born in Pennsylvania, but the father's birthplace was Orange county, New York, though he was but fourteen years of age when brought by his parents to this state. The family settled in Richland county, near Mansfield, and engaged in farming, though the father for many years taught in the district schools during the winter. John C. White moved to Huron county in 1840 and bought a large tract of land which he set
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about clearing, a task that was not entirely completed when his son Jonathan became old enough to assist him. His wife, who shared with him the toils of those early days, bore him four children: Mary E., Jonathan S., Jennie and Margaret A., the last named being the only member of the family beside the subject of this sketch now surviving. She married Joseph H. Lombard and has now been a widow for some years, living in Jamestown, New York. Both Mr. and Mrs. John C. White have passed away, the former in August, 1883, the latter eleven years later in the month of April, and both are buried in Edwards Grove ceme- tery, Ripley township. Mr. White was always a farmer, sincerely interested in the public weal, though he was never a participant in the political life of the community. He was devoted to his family and in every way a most exemplary citizen.
Jonathan S. White was educated in the district schools, spending his youth on the farm and engaging in the general work there under his father's supervision. During the Civil war, he served as a private in Company C, One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and was chiefly engaged in post duty in and about Washington and on the Potomac river. When he was discharged at the close of the war, he taught school for a number of winter terms, and in the summer devoted his ener- gies to farming. For about one and a half years, he clerked in a general store in New London, and then returned to farming in Ripley township. After his mar- riage, Mr. White, not only pursued a general line of agriculture, but also en- gaged in stock raising and feeding, in both of which he prospered.
In politics, he is a republican and has ever taken an active and creditable part in public matters. For one year, he served as township trustee and then was elected town clerk, in which capacity he rendered efficient and faithful serv- ice during a period of thirteen years. In 1886, he was nominated and elected audi- tor of Huron county and filled the position to the entire satisfaction of his con- stituents and with credit to himself for the space of six years. It was during this period, that Mr. White moved his family to Norwalk. When he retired from the office of auditor, carrying with him the best wishes of the community, he had served, he entered the First National Bank of Norwalk as cashier. From Jan- uary, 1894, to October, 1902, he filled that position, leaving it to become cashier of the First National Bank of Greenwich, in December, 1903, where he has re- mained to the present. At that time, he took up his residence in Greenwich and has since identified himself with every movement that has had in view the advance- ment of the village and the increase of its prosperity.
On the 25th of February, 1869. was celebrated the marriage of Mr. White and Miss Marietta Barre, a daughter of John and Amy (Stout) Barre, of Ripley township. The Barres came to Ohio from Niagara county, New York, as a newly married couple, and here took up the life of farmers. Fifteen children were born to them, all but two being still alive: Cornelia E., deceased ; David E .; Herman B., deceased ; Eliza J .; Jonathan S .; Theodore W .; William H .; Mar- rietta E .; Ira E .; Lyman S .; James K .; Corbis M .; Dwight M .; Josephine E .; and Jessie F. The mother of these children died in May 1882. Mr. Barre was prospered in his private affairs. When death overtook him, in 1883, he was mourned as a public spirited citizen, whose life's record was one of integrity and
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of good works. To Mr. and Mrs. White there have been born three children : James E., deceased ; Blanche M., at home ; and John G., who married Myrtle Bev- eridge of Greenwich and is now cashier of the Wakeman Bank Company of Wake- man, Ohio. He is an alert, efficient and popular young business man, that gives promise of a successful career.
Mr. White is, and has been for many years, a stanch Mason, belonging to Greenwich Lodge, No. 543, and to the Chapter at Norwalk. In religious mat- ters, he and his family give their support to the Congregational church, of which Mr. White is trustee, and in whose Sunday school he has been superintendent, and otherwise prominent in all that concerns the work of the church. Mrs. White and her daughter, Blanche M., are well known for the conspicuous part they play in the social and literary life of the village. In short, they are active coadjutors to Mr. White in maintaining his reputation as the best citizen, in point of effi- cient activity, toward bettering the conditions of the village. His influence is always thrown on the side of progress, for the improvement of the educational opportunities here, better streets and roads, and better government.
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