USA > Ohio > Madison County > History of Madison County, Ohio : its people, industries and institution with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families > Part 118
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Michael Roseberry, the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Pearl J. Stoddard, was a sol- died in the War of 1812.
Mr. Stoddard is a worthy representative of the citizenship of Pike township, where he has given efficient service as township assessor.
In summing up the character of the subject of this sketch, progress and a high
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sense of honest business methods have very prominently figured as the keynote. Mr. Stoddard has found himself steadily and surely advancing in his individual affairs, as a result of his determination to keep abreast with improved agricultural interests, leaving behind those less active and less energetic along the highway of life.
LEROY WILSON.
Leroy Wilson, farmer, Plain City. Canaan township, Madison county, was born on May 3, 18SS, on "Cedar Grove Farm," where he now resides, and is a son of William and Mary (Slyh) Wilson. He was reared in Plain City, Ohio, by his sister, Ella, his mother having died when he was eighteen months old. His early education was received in the public schools, after which he entered the high school, and later the Wittenberg College, at Springfield, Ohio. After finishing at school, Mr Wilson took up the vocation of a farmer, which he has followed ever since, and in which he has been eminently successful. His splendid property, located in Canaan township, is located six miles north of West Jefferson and six miles south of Plain City, and con- sists of four hundred and thirty acres. Politically, Mr. Wilson is a stanch Republican, while his religious membership is with the Presbyterian church at Plain City, of which he is a regular attendant. His fraternal alliance is with the Alpha Tau Omega.
William Wilson, father of the subject of this sketch, was a son of William Wilson, Sr., who owned a large tract of land. William Wilson, Jr., was born in Canaan township, on the old Wilson homestead. and inherited fifteen hundred acres of land from his father. He was united in marriage with Mary Slyh, by whom he had two children : Ella, who became the wife of Ernest Beach, of Plain City, Ohio, and Leroy.
William Wilson, Sr., the paternal grandfather, was the possessor of great wealth, and owned thousands of acres of valuable land, of which he willed fifteen hundred acres to each of his six children.
Leroy Wilson was united in marriage, January 16, 1912, with Ruth Evans, daugh- ter of Rev. F. M. Evans. She was born in 1892 in Bowersville, Ohio, and attended the London high school. of which she is a graduate, and finished school at Ohio Wesleyan University. This union has been blest with one daughter, Ella Mae, who was born on September 1, 1914.
Rev. F. M. Evans, father of Mrs. Leroy Wilson, is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is district superintendent of the Marietta district.
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are young and energetic people, and honorable citizens of Madison county, Ohio.
GEORGE M. VAN DYKE.
George M. Van Dyke, a self-made and enterprising farmer, who owns the old Potee farm of one hundred and sixty-eight acres two and one-half miles west of Sum- merford, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, April 19, 1866.
At the age of one year. Mr. Van Dyke was brought to Madison county, Ohio, by his parents. Isaac and Nancy ( Allendra ) Van Dyke, both of whom were natives of Ohio. They settled in Range township, where Isaac Van Dyke died in 1884. He was a tenant farmer. His widow is still living in Van Wert county, and is now past the age of eighty-six. They had a family of ten children. all of whom lived to maturity and six of whom are now living. but only two, George M. and Eturra, are living in Madison county. The latter is the wife of Daniel Hill, of Lafayette. Isaac and Nancy Vain Dyke had but two sons, George M. and Peter. The latter is engaged in the manufac- ture of pine lumber at Shreveport, Louisiana.
When Mr. Van Dyke was eighteen years of age, his father died and he worked
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on the farm by the month at fifteen dollars a month for ten years. At the end of that time he had his wages increased to twenty dollars a month. He had saved about five hundred dollars and owned a good horse and buggy at the end of this time. Three of the ten years Mr. Van Dyke worked for Bryan Flynn.
On March 7, 1895, George M. Van Dyke was married to Minnie Crawford, the daughter of Jamies and Sarah (Coberley) Crawford, who was born in Paint township. Mrs. Van Dyke's father is still living. .
After his marriage, George M. Van Dyke became the foreman for Colonel Petty- man, and took charge of twenty-six hundred acres of land. He also had seventeen families to look after. He worked as "riding boss" for four years and received, during that time, one dollar a day with house rent. Colonel Pettyman was a good man for whom to work. After working as foreman for four years, Mr. Van Dyke rented three hundred and sixty acres of land of Colonel Pettyman for four years longer. He was aggressive in his methods and the management of his farm and made good in a large degree. Afterwards, he operated the Fifer farm and also the Judge Duncan farm, of four hundred acres. for nine years. During the latter period, he was heavily inter- ested in stock raising and fed many horses, cattle and hogs.
In 1912 Mr. Van Dyke bought the old Potee farm and is now engaged in raising Percheron horses and Chester White hogs. He feeds all of his crop to the stock and, in addition to what he raises, buys considerable grain. Since buying the Potee farni, Mr. Van Dyke has moved and rebuilt the barn and installed a cement floor and many other improvements. The place is now known as "Elm Spring Stock Farm."
For a number of years George M. Van Dyke kept a number of running horses and, although he found it exciting sport, he made no progress financially. since it was nec- essary to be a liberal spender when winning.
Mr. and Mrs. Van Dyke have been the parents of two children. Glenn and Ray, both of whom live at home with their parents. Ray is a student in the London high school and will graduate with the class of 1916.
As a Democrat, Mr. Van Dyke has held several township offices in Paint township. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Free and Accepted Masons, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the Daughters of Rebekah. In the Odd Fellows he has passed all of the chairs, and is past chief patriarch of London Encampment No. 126. Mr. Van Dyke is a member of Oak Run Grange. Mrs. Van Dyke is also a member of the Daughters of Rebekah.
JACOB H. BOGARD.
To be born into this world as one of fifteen children, and without help or inheri- tance work out a considerable measure of success, seems a difficult undertaking, but Jacob H. Bogard, of Sedalia, Madison county, Ohio, has successfully accomplished that which would have been deemed an impossible task by one of lesser ability and strength of character. Jacob H. Bogard was one of fifteen children born to Austin and Lavina (Van Gundy) Bogard, eleven of whom are living at the present time. He was born on January 26, 1872, in Ross county, Ohio, and what little education he received was gleaned from the district schools of that section.
On account of the unusual size of the family, Jacob H. Bogard was compelled to assist in the support of his brothers and sisters, and at the age of fifteen years he gave up his school work and began his agricultural duties on the home place, which occupied a period of six years. Remaining at home until some of his brothers were old enough to take his place, Jacob H. Bogard then hired out as a farm hand and con- tinued at this until his marriage, five years later.
Austin Bogard, the father, was born in Hancock county. Ohio, during the year of
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1850, and came to Ross county, Ohio, from the northern states, with his parents. In 1889, when tbirty-nine years of age, he removed to Pickaway county, Ohio, where he rented seven hundred acres of land from William Bowser, which he cultivated for four years, then moved to Fayette county, Ohio, where he died in 1898. Austin Bogard was road supervisor for two terms. Both he and his wife, Lavinia (Van Gundy ) Bogard, were members of the Christian church, but the wife has her letter in the Methodist church. She was born on April 15. 1849, in Ross county, Ohio, and is now living at Bloomingburg, Ohio.
Shortly after his marriage to Almeda Beatty, in 1898, Jacob H. Bogard rented land in Fayette county, but in 1905 he rented the present farm of one hundred and thirty- eight acres, in Range township, upon which he has made improvements of buildings and fences, and now is the owner of the same.
To support a family of eight on the proceeds of one hundred and thirty-eight acres of land and still save enough to become the owner in eight years, is no easy task, but Jacob H. Bogard did this very thing, purchasing, in 1913, the farm he had rented only eight years before. There are four acres of this farm that are in orchard and graded stock is one of the principal revenues.
Almeda Beatty, who became the wife of Jacob H. Bogard in 1898, was born in 1877. in Jackson county, Ohio, and was reared on the farm of her parents, James and Sarah (Roland) Beatty, who now live at Lancaster. Ohio. Jacob H. Bogard and Almeda ( Beatty) Bogard are the parents of six children: Paul, Ircel, Arthur, Char- lotte, Austin and Eskline.
Jacob II. Bogard is a Democrat and lends all his support to the benefit of that party. He follows the creeds of the Methodist church, doing all within his power to make its tenets a practical factor in his daily life. Fraternally, he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, in which lodge he is held in great esteem. He has been a hard- working man. accumulating his possessions through sheer force of character and well- directed energy, and has the respect and regard of all who know him.
ROBERT H. SCHRYVER.
One of the glories of the American social and industrial system is that it affords an opportunity of reaching success through individual effort. Wben this effort has finally bronght one the satisfaction of achievement, probably no greater service can be rendered in a community than that of opening to others a means by which they may realize a desired ambition. As secretary of the Building and Loan Association of Mt. Sterling, Robert H. Schryver, during his early business career, found ample opportunity for helping citizens in his community along the lines of business enterprise.
Robert Schryver was born at Mt. Sterling. Obio, on the 9th day of August. 1873, and is the eldest of the six children born to Martin W. and Barbara H. (Campbell) Schryver. The other children are: Florence N., who has charge of the Fayette Hospital, at Wash- ington C. H., Ohio; Guy H., who is an automobile salesman and mechanic, residing in Chicago : Clyde HI .. general manager of the Chicago Merchandise and Equipment Com- pany, Union Stock Yards. Chicago; Mrs. Helen R. Hosler and Mrs. Maude Waldo, who live in Mt. Sterling.
Martin W. Schryver was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, on October 12, 1848. He was reared on the farm, and after attending the district schools came to Mt. Sterling and began teaching school. He is proud of the fact that he was one of the first teachers in the school. He was successful in that vocation and remained connected with the Mt. Sterling schools for several years, serving as superintendent of the schools there in the years 1869 and 1870.
MARTIN W. SCHIRYVER.
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Martin W. Schryver came to Mt. Sterling in August, 1869, and brought the first printing press to the town in 1871, and established the Mt. Sterling Review, afterward changed to The Husbandman. He was a member of the council and clerk of that body from 1873 to 1877, during which incumbency he drew the plans and specifications, and supperintend the building of the stone culvert on South Columbus street, a mammoth undertaking at that day. He was a member and clerk of the school board from 1878 to 1885, during which time the high school department was added to the common course. Mr. Schryver organized the Mt. Sterling Building and Savings Association, 1869, and was secretary most of the time during its eleven years of existence, and in 1871 organ- ized the Mechanics' Building and Loan Association. After a few years this association fell into incompetent hands and failed. Mr. Schryver was appointed receiver, and by husbanding the scattered assets, closed the business up with but little loss to the stock- holders. In connection with several other public spirited citizens he aided in organizing the Mt. Sterling Building and Loan Company, in 1889. This was succeeded in 1898 by the "Security," for which Mr. Schryver drew up the constitution and by-laws, and which is still in successful operation. He was a member of the board of directors of that company from its organization, and was secretary from 1891 to 1898 and again served as organization for several years from 1905.
In addition to the foregoing, it should be stated that upon quitting the newspaper business, with which he had been associated for ten years, Martin W. Schryver started the first and only book store in Mt. Sterling. Later, he moved to Columbus, looking for a more lucrative field, but a year later, he returned to Mt. Sterilng and, in partner- ship with his son, the subject of this review, started a general merchandise business. After he retired from business he went west and became interested in a large tract of land near Spokane, Washington. Since then he has traveled extensively and is now located at South Mansfield, Louisiana, where he has a plantation of a thousand acres. His wife, who died in 1891, was the daughter of Robert Campbell and was born in Westfall, Pickaway county, Ohio, in 1851. Martin Schryver was the son of Jacob How- ard Schryver, a native of Pennsylvania, who later became a farmer in Pickaway county, Ohio, and then, through his interest in politics, became county clerk of the county in which he lived.
In the public schools and high school in Mt. Sterling, Robert H. Schryver received his education. When he was eighteen years old he began farming on twenty-five acres of ground which his father had bought at the edge of Mt. Sterling. He finally left the farm and engaged in the mercantile business with his father. Later he sold out to his father and became interested in the building and loan association, and also in fire insurance and real estate. In 1905 he sold half of his fire insurance and real-estate business to C. M. Neff. With O. W. Loufborrow, in 1904, he bought the telephone plant at Mt. Sterling, of which he became president after its organization into a company. Following the organization of the telephone company, his rise in the affairs of Mt. Sterling was rapid. He became vice-president of the First National Bank, the largest bank in Madison county, in 1905, and two years later he became president.
One who, though engaged in the active affairs of business, still devotes part of his time to improving and beautifying the city in which he lives, leaves an indelible mark upon its history. For the betterment of a greater Mt. Sterling, Mr. Schryver, in 1913, saw the need of adding more lots to the town, because of its ever growing population, and with his associates formed a company (of which he is president) and laid out lots in "Maplewood Addition," which was added to the corporation of Mt. Sterling.
In New York City, on the 21st of April, 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Robert H. Schryver to Lida E. Henkle, who was born in Fayette county, Ohio, in 1873.
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She is a daughter of Curren and Caroline ( Bryan) Henkle, both of whom were born in Ohio, where the former was a minister and farmer in Fayette county, until 1892, when he came to Mt. Sterling and engaged in the lumber business with his sons. After his death, which occurred in 1894, his wife continued to live in Mt. Sterling. Mrs. Schryver is a graduate of the Washington county high school and also of Hillsboro College, Hills- boro, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Schryver became the parents of six children : Alfred, who was graduated from Culver Military Academy, at Culver, Indiana, and is now attending school at the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia ; Harold, who died in infancy; Bar- bara, who died in her tenth year; Caroline, Martin and Naomi are still at home.
Well qualified for leadership in public affairs and distinctively a man of action, Mr. Schryver has taken part in county politics as a member of the Republican party. He has contributed largely to the support of the Methodist church, of which he is a member. He is also identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a member of the blue lodge, the Scottish Rite and the Mystic Shrine, at Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Schryver is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows: the Knights of Pythias, at Mt. Sterling; and the Farmers Grange.
CHARLES A. DORN.
In this review of the life of Charles A. Dorn, resident in Range township, Madison county, Ohio. the reader will at once perceive that he is a man whose strength of character has been unusual, and whose life of constant effort has been crowned with more than ordinary achievement. Born on February S. 1868, on his father's farm, in Ross county, Ohio, he was early taught that thrift and well-directed energy were the necessary attributes for the completion of a worthy career. Limited to the district schools of Range township, Madison county, and to those of Pickaway county for his book learning, his practical education was given an impetus through his chosen voca- tion of husbandry and broadened rapidly under the pressure of every-day necessity.
Until his marriage, which occurred when he was twenty-four years of age, Charles 1. Dorn remained at home with his parents, Peter and Katherine (Uhrig) Dorn, and assisted his father in the cultivation of the home place. For seven years after his marriage he rented land from his father and during that time his accumulations were such that he was able to purchase ninety-seven acres. thus being qualified to follow his agricultural pursuits independently.
Charles A. Dorn, among other improvements, erected a six-room house, with bath. in the year of 1900. Fourteen years later a barn, thirty-eight by eighty. which he planned himself, was built, several wells were dug and adequate tiling laid to insure proper drainage. The original farm of ninety-seven acres of unimproved land, has been added to until, at the present time, it consists of three hundred and fifty acres, entirely protected by fencing. and upon which nine thousand dollars' worth of improve- ments have been made. The breeding of Duroc-Jersey hogs is a specialty on this well- regulated farm, of which Charles A. Dorn is the scientific manager and owner.
On June 22, 1892. Charles A. Dorn was united in marriage to Jessie D. Field, who was born on March 10. 1873. in Sedalia, Ohio, and who is the daughter of Dr. Orestes G. and Josephine (Dille) Field. Jessie D. Field was the first pupil to graduate from the school at Sedalia, Ohio. Dr. Orestes G. Field. her father. was born on January 19, 1832. in Gorham, New York, and was the son of Dr. Able W. Field, who left New York state when his son. Orestes, was only five years of age, and settled in Darby Plains. Madison county, Ohio. A few years later the family removed to Plain City, Ohio, and it was there that Orestes G. began the study of medicine in the office of his father. In 1858 he was graduated from the Starling Medical College, and the same year began the
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practice of medicine, in connection with his father, in Big Plain, Ohio. While in Range township, school teaching was combined with his medical practice. On March 19, 1862, he received his commission as an army surgeon, at Columbus, Ohio, and served in that capacity until the close of the Civil War.
Returning to Sedalia, Ohio, this highly-educated man, beloved and cherished by a host of friends, remained until he passed to his abode in the silent city, in the year of 1895. His marriage to Mrs. Josephine (Dille) Latham occurred in 1866. She was born on January 1, 1848, near Washington C. H., Fayette county, Ohio. Her education was received in the Circleville Academy, at Circleville, Ohio. The Latham family were very aristocratic, being direct descendants of the old Kentucky family of that name. Each member of this family received a splendid education, and the only child of Mrs. Josephine (Dille) Latham, Mrs. Lillian (Latham) Clawson, of Range township, was a school teacher for several years previous to her marriage.
Dr. and Mrs. Orestes G. Field were the parents of two children: Jessie D. and Francis Floyd, a graduate of the Starling Medical College, who graduated in 1898 and is now located at Newton Falls. Ohio, where he has a fine and growing practice. He was graduated from the high school at Sedalia, Ohio, on May 22, 1894. Francis Floyd Field also organized and was president of the Groveport Bank, in Franklin county, but has resigned.
To the union of Charles A. and Jessie D. (Field) Dorn have been born four children, whose names follow : Howard F., born on May 8, 1893, and who is a graduate of the high school at Sedalia, Ohio, also of the Ohio State University, at Columbus, Ohio, and is now at home assisting his father; Josephine, born on May 28, 1901; and Evelyn and Elenor Mae, twins, born on January 17, 1910.
The mother of these children is a woman of talent and charm and a worthy help- meet and mother. She is endowed with the gift of oratory and won a gold medal in an oratorical contest, given by the Women's Christian Temperance Union. , Charles A. Dorn is a Republican, and is a member of the Presbyterian church. An honored mem- ber of the Free and Accepted Masons. surely Charles A. Dorn is well blessed with all a man can wish and now, in the prime of life, can view with satisfaction the work of his past efforts and gain inspiration for future achievements in the blessings of today.
CLOYD D. LOOKER.
There is no calling fraught with greater potentialities for the future than that of an instructor of youth, for "as the twig is bent the tree will grow." During compara- tively recent years the subject of the needs of childhood has been so generally dis- cussed and methods for the training of children in home and school have been so altered, that it is not too much to say that the men and women of the coming generation will enter on their duties and responsibilities with a much better equipment, physically, mentally and morally, than any previous generation has ever done. One excellent result of this awakaned interest in child life is the closer bond which is coming about between parents and teachers; parents beginning to realize that they owe much of their child's character and ability to the man or woman who has him in charge for the greater part of the day throughout the greater part of the year. One of the popular younger teachers in Monroe township, Madison county, Ohio, is Cloyd D. Looker, the subject of this sketch. Mr. Looker resides in Plumwood and served Monroe township as superintendent of its schools from 1911 to 1915, in addition to being principal of the Plumwood school.
Mr. Looker was born in Fayette county. this state, at Yatesville, on August 19. 1889, a son of Levi and Abbie (Durflinger) -Looker, the former being a son of Joseph Looker, who was one of the early school teachers of that section. Levi Looker was
MADISON COUNTY, OHIO.
for the most part of his life a farmer and truck gardener and lived for a good many years in the southern part of the county near Sedalia. He was a veteran of the Civil War, having served for three years as a private in Company G, Fifty-fourth Regiment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was with the western division of the army under Grant and was with him at Shiloh. Levi Looker was twice married, the children by his first marriage being Byron (deceased) ; Howard, residing in Fayette county, this state; and Laura, wife of Will Hume, of London, this county. To his second marriage were born, William, a farmer in Fayette county; Nettie, wife of C. E. Douglas, of Mount Sterling; and Cloyd, the immediate subject of this sketch. Levi Looker was for a number of years a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in the tenets of that faith he carefully reared his family of children.
Cloyd Looker received his elementary education in the district schools near his home, and was graduated from the Sedalia high school. He then went to Lima for more advanced education, attending college at that place for one year, followed by studies at Wittenberg and Oxford. His first position in his chosen field of endeavor was filled in Range township. this county, after which he was superintendent of the Monroe township schools for four years. Mr. Looker is now a student at Ohio State University. taking a four-year course in the college of arts and education.
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