USA > Ohio > Morrow County > History of Morrow County, Ohio; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Vol. II > Part 21
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
In South Bloomfield township, Morrow county, Ohio, on the 5th of June, 1828, occurred the birth of Joseph C. Swetland, who is a son of Giles T. Swetland and a grandson of Artemus and Lydia (Abbot) Swetland. Giles Swetland was born on the 19th of
S.C. Swetland
Mary
El Invettand
679
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
August, 1799, and in 1822 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Sarah Lewis, whose birth occurred in 1798. The father died in 1881 and the mother, who preceded her honored husband to the life eternal, passed away in 1864. The grandparent of him to whom this sketch is dedicated were in the Wyoming Massacre, in 1777, they being children of nine and seven years of age at the time. They were the only ones spared by the Indians and subse- quently they removed to Ohio, where was solemnized their mar- riage. Of their grandchildren five are now living. namely : Byron L., who has attained to the age of eighty-six years and who lives at Mount Vernon, Ohio; Joseph C., the immediate subject of this sketch, eighty-two years of age; Emily, who is in her eightieth year and who maintains her home at Evansville, Indiana ; Warren, aged seventy-six, a sketch of whose career appears elsewhere in this volume and William, a resident of Sparta, aged seventy-two years. Lambert died aged twenty. Giles Swetland was identified with agricultural operations during the major portion of his active business career and he was a man of prominence in Morrow county during his lifetime.
Joseph C. Swetland was reared to maturity on the old home farm and his preliminary educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the schools of the locality and period. He remained under the paternal roof until he had reached the age of twenty-five years, at which time he was married. After ' that important event he turned his attention to farming on his own account, the scene of his operations being in Chester township. As time passed he accumulated an estate of nine hundred acres of fine farming land and gave the same his personal supervision. In 1878 he was honored by his fellow citizens with election to the office of county commissioner, remaining in tenure thereof for some six years, during which time the present county jail was erected. During the process of construction the architect died and Mr. Swetland finished the work at a cost of twenty-four thousand dollars. Mr. Brooks and George Hershner were the other commis- sioners that Mr. Swetland served with during the early part of his incumbency of that office. . Later he was associated with Mr. Atkinson who was subsequently elected a commissioner and William G. Brenizer, and these were connected with Mr. Swetland in the building of the county jail at Mount Gilead. In addition to his farming interests Mr. Swetland and his brother William conducted a general merchandise business at Mt. Vernon for nine years. They were eminently successful as merchants and their large and representative patronage were good indications of their popularity in that section of the country. Mr. Swetland continued to reside on his farm in Chester township, until 1906, in which year he established his home in Chesterville, where he and his wife are passing the deelining years of their lives in full enjoyment of former years of earnest work and endeavor. While on his farm
680
IIISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
Mr. Swetland had all the latest devices introduced in order to simplify the work thereof. He had pipes carrying water from the many springs to different parts of the estate, making it convenient for the raising of stock, he having had as many as one thousand head of sheep at one time. He has won renown for his many ex- cellent exhibitions in the stock shows at the county fairs.
Mr. Swetland has been thrice married, his first wife having been Miss Emily Howard, a daughter of Jesse and Mary (Burns) Howard, of West Virginia. She was born in 1832 and prior to her marriage she taught school for two terms in Morrow county. Mrs. Swetland spun the last tow in this part of the country. Her Grandmother Howard was a woman of remarkable vitality. She would knit and sew on her travels to and from different places, and while at home would walk a mile and a half to milk every day. To. Mr and Mrs. Swetland were born six children, whose names are here incorporated in respective order of birth : one child who died in infancy; Truanna, Averilla, Elzina, Henry W. and Wil- liam H. Mrs. Swetland was summoned to her reward on the 2nd of January, 1892, and subsequently Mr. Swetland was nnited in marriage to Miss Mattie Gordon, a daughter of Silas Gordon. She died in 1904, without issue. For a third wife Mr. Swetland chose Mary E. (Slater) Struble, who was born on the 14th of October, 1847, and who is a daughter of John and Sarah A. (Jones) Slater, of Licking county, Ohio. The Slater family consisted of three daughters-Carrie, Belle and Mary. Mrs. Swetland was first married to J. A. Struble, by whom she had two children-Charles and Laura Mae, both of whom are now deceased. Charles Struble married Miss Adda Jones, of Cardington, and they became the parents of two sons-Richmond and Lloyd, both deceased. The father died on the 8th of November, 1902. Laura Mae Struble passed away on the 9th of March. 1902.
In his political convictions Mr. Swetland accords a stalwart allegiance to the principles and policies promulgated by the Repub- lican party, in the local councils of which he has ever been an active and interested factor. As previously noted, he held the office of county commissioner for six years and in discharging the duties thereof he acquitted himself with all of honor and distinction. He has held other important offices of public trust and in the early days paid out seven hundred dollars to clear the township draft. He has always manifested a great concern for the welfare of the community and county in which he resides and no citizen in Mor- row county is accorded a higher degree of confidence and esteem by the inhabitants of this section of the state than he is. He is eighty-two years of age at the present time, in 1911, but his activity makes him pass for a man much younger .. In their religious adherency he and his wife are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the various departments of whose work they are deeply and sincerely interested. Mrs. Swetland is a woman of
681
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
gracious refinement and she is affiliated with the Missionary and Ladies Aid Society and the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
DEXTER J. BABSON .- Among the various profitable industries of our country that of the poultry fancier, raiser and dealer is fast forging to the front, the breeding of fine blooded birds having become both a science and an art. Acquiring by observation and experience a practical knowledge of this business, Dexter J. Bab- son, whose name we have placed at the head of this brief sketch, is carrying it on successfully in Cardington, Morrow county, where he has a model chicken farm, which he devotes to the breeding and raising of pure blooded White Plymouth Rock and Langshan chickens. A native of Ohio, he was born March 3, 1869, in Wash- ington county, where the birth of his father, Hezelton Babson, occurred in 1841.
Hezelton Babson has been engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout his active career, and has met with a fair share of success, being an extensive landholder in Washington county, one of his farms containing seventy-five acres of choice land, while his home estate is still larger and more valuable. He is a eitizen of worth, highly esteemed as a man, and is an active member of the Republican party and belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married Diantha Johnson, who was born in the same county as himself and in the same year. She is a woman of refine ment and a valued member of the Universalist church. Of the seven children born of their union six are living, namely : Daniel T., engaged in the insurance and loan business in Kansas; Dexter J .; Nora, the wife of John E. Pfaff, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Ashley, Ohio; Sylvester, a prosperous manufacturer in New York city; Clark, of New York city, manager of an exten- sive manufacturing business ; and Ellen, of Washington county, Ohio.
Reared on the home farm, Dexter J. Babson obtained the rudiments of his education in the district schools, after which he was graduated from the Normal School at Lower Salem and from the R. M. Bartlett Business College in Cincinnati. For two years after his graduation Mr. Babson was engaged in professional work, teaching in Washington county. Turning his attention then to mer- cantile pursuits, he spent two years as a grocer in Marietta, Ohio. In 1894 he embarked in a new line of business in Cleveland, for ten years being a dealer in poultry food, in his venture making quite a sum of money. On November 4, 1904, Mr. Babson located in Cardington, Morrow county, and having purchased ten acres of land within the corporate limits of the village has since built up a fine business as a poultry fancier, breeder and raiser. He takes great pride as well as much pleasure in his operations, and as breeder of fancy stock has made fine exhibits at various state fairs and winter shows. In January, 1909, at the poultry show in Cleve- Vol. II-12
682
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
land, Mr. Babson carried off three first prizes on three different birds of the Langshan breed, of which he makes a specialty, another of his favorite breeds being the White Plymouth Rocks, both of which are good all-around birds, well worthy of a place in any modernly equipped poultry yard.
Mr. Babson is likewise identified with an industry which has made rapid strides in regard to its development within the past few years, and has to a large extent changed the mode of life in both city and country, the automobiles having made their mark in agricultural as well as in manufacturing and commercial eircles. Interested in motor cars from the time of their introduction, Mr. Babson has represented different manufacturers, and is now ager for two firms, handling successfully the Maxwell automobile and the Brush.
Mr. Babson married, August 7, 1902, Mary I. Williams, who was born May 15, 1880, in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, a daughter of John and Elizabeth ( Harberson) Williams, neither of whom are now living. She is a talented and accomplished musician, both in vocal and instrumental music, and is well educated, having com- pleted her early studies at Berea College. Four children have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Babson, namely : Hezelton, a bright and ambitious student for his age, shows especial talent in drawing; G. Alton, Helen, and Daniel.
Mr. Babson cast his first presidential vote for Benjamin Har- rison, and has since been a loyal supporter of the principles of the Republican party. Fraternally he belongs to Cardington Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of which he was formerly master of the ex- chequer, and his wife belongs to the Rathbone Sisters, of Carding- ton, Ohio. Religiously Mrs. Babson is a consistent member of the Congregational church, while Mr. Babson is identified by member- ship with the Baptist church. Both are highly esteemed throughont the community in which they reside, and their pleasant home on Mount Gilead street is a center of social activity, its hospitable doors being ever open to their numerous friends and acquaintances.
PROFFESSOR CLINTON O. HIGGINS .- Talented and cultured, possessing the mental temperament, tastes and caliber that naturally ineline one towards a professional career, Professor Clinton O. Higgins wisely chose teaching as a vocation, and is now successfully employed as superintendent of the Troy Town- ship High School and as superintendent also, of the district schools of Troy township. A son of Enoch Higgins and his first wife, whose maiden name was Leah Lovett, and their only child, Profes- sor Higgins was born on a farm in Franklin township, Morrow county, Ohio, and there spent his earlier life.
Laying a substantial foundation for his future education in the district schools of Franklin township, Clinton O. Higgins afterward continued his studies at the Mt. Gilead High School. On
683
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
leaving that institution he began life as a teacher and taught sehool several terms. Desirons of further fitting himself for his life work, he subsequently entered the Ohio Northern University, at Ada, and there completed the seientifie course, receiving the well- earned degree of bachelor of science. Sinee his graduation from the university Professor Higgins has devoted his entire time and energies to teaching, having taught in the district sehools and serving as superintendent of the Congress township district schools for two years. He was subsequently eleeted by local board of edu- cation as superintendent of the Troy Township High School and of its district sehools, and is now serving his fourth year in that capacity, his retention in this position from year to year being proof of his ability and suceess as an educator and superintendent.
Politically the Professor is a stanch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and has served as chairman of the Morrow County Convention and as president of the Republican Central Committee. He has also been elerk of Franklin township. Fra- ternally he is a member of Chester Lodge, No. 283, A. F. and A. M., of which he is past master; of Gilead Chapter, No. 59, R. A. M .; of Eveline Chapter, No. 146, O. E. S., of Chesterville; and of the Charles H. Hull Lodge, No. 195, K. of P. He is also a member of the Sons of Veterans Camp at Mt. Gilead, Ohio. Religiously Professor Higgins belongs to the Pulaskiville Methodist Episcopal church, and has served as superintendent of its Sunday school. For six years he was one of the members of the board of school examiners for Morrow county, retiring from the position in August, 1910. He is one of the stockholders of the Morrow County Tele- phone Company, one of the more important enterprises of this part of the state.
Professor Higgins makes his home in Franklin township, where he was born, reared and educated, and where he is held in the highest esteem for his sterling worth and high integrity of character as a cultured gentleman and faithful teaeher.
JAMES B. LANNING .- Among the many worthy families of Morrow county, Ohio, whose genial manner and progressive spirit have won for them the confidence and esteem of the community and a conspicuous place on the record of Morrow county's repre- sentative families, we find the name of Lanning. Situated on a fine, rolling traet of land on the banks of Owl creek, southeast of Chesterville, is the Lanning homestead, which is recognized as one of the finest little farms in this section of the state.
James B. Lanning, farmer and stockman, was born in Morrow county, Ohio, on the 16th of Angust, 1869, and he is a son of Steven E. and Ilannah E. ( Bebee) Lanning, the former of whom was born and reared in the state of New Jersey and the latter of whom claimed Ohio as the place of her nativity. During the major portion of his active career Steven E. Lanning was engaged in
684
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
agricultural pursuits and he and his wife were the parents of two children-James B., the immediate subject of this sketch ; and Mary M., who is now Mrs. Lewis Caton. Mr. Lanning, of this notice, was reared to maturity under the invigorating influences of the old homestead farm and his elementary educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the public schools of Mor- row county. After his marriage, in 1900, he and his wife settled down on the old Lanning estate that has been in the possession of the Lanning family since 1854. Through persistency and un- usual industry Mr. and Mrs. Lanning have succeeded in modern- izing their farm and in raising it to an exceedingly high state of cultivation. He devotes his attention to general farming and to stock-growing and in both lines of enterprise has achieved note- worthy success.
On the 30th of August, 1900, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Lanning to Miss Minerva Black, who was reared and educated in the fine old Buckeye state of the Union and who is a daughter of Frederick and Rebecca J. (McQuistian) Black. Mr. Black was born in the state of Pennsylvania and his wife is a native of Ohio. Mrs. Lanning had one brother and a sister and one half brother and two half sisters. For a time after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lanning lived in Chesterville, where they gained prominence and popularity, making many new acquaintances and friends. They are widely known as very courteous, sociable and whole- souled people, whose genial manners and deep human sympathy command to them the love and esteem of all with whom they have come in contact. Mrs. Lanning is an energetic woman and like many of her country women is a great lover of horses and dogs. In 1911 the Lannings returned to their farm from Chesterville and this beautiful place, comprised of seventy-five acres of most arable land, has since represented their home. The finely cultivated fields and substantial buildings afford ample proof of Mr. Lanning's abil- ity as a practical farmer and his fat, sleek horses and well fed stock show that he is a kind and considerate master.
In his political convictions Mr. Lanning accords a stanch al- legiance to the cause of the Democratic party and while he is no office seeker he is ever on the qui vive to do all in his power to advance the best interests of the community in which he has long maintained his home. He and his wife are affiliated with social organizations of a local character and in their religious faith they are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Chesterville, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Lanning, by virtue of their exemplary lives and genial kindliness, have won for themselves a high place in the hearts of their fellow citizens and they are every where accorded the unalloyed regard which is so indicative of sterling worth and integrity.
685
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
MILES BYRD, of the firm of Byrd & Company, liverymen, Mt. Gilead, Ohio, was born in De Kalb county, Missouri, January 10, 1867, a son of John and Jane (Hull) Byrd. When a babe he was brought by his mother to Morrow county, Ohio, and here, in the vil- lage of Williamsport, he grew to manhood, attending the local schools until he was eighteen years of age. Then he obtained em- ployment in a general store in the village, and subsequently ran a huckster wagon for Mark Cook and bought and sold produce. Next we find him at Mt .. Gilead, in charge of the livery barn of Vanatta & Weiland, with whom he remained one year, following which he spent three years in a similar business at Marion, Ohio, and was for a time in the livery business at Newark, this state. Disposing of his business at the last named place he returned to Mt. Gilead; and has since conducted a livery establishment here, under his own name, with a barn on East Center street. And in connection with the livery business he gives some attention to farming, owning and operating forty-one and a half acres in Gilead township. He built the barn occupied by his livery, and he owns the comfortable home he lives in on Union street.
Mr. Byrd married Miss Rose M. Rule, of Woodview, Morrow county, daughter of Dr. Amos Rule. They are the parents of eight children : Roma, born January 15, 1887; Caroline, March 4, 1889; John A., June 15, 1891; Charles M., December 15, 1893; Glenn N., September 14, 1897; Harold R., August 17, 1898; Anna R., August 27, 1901, and Robert W., March 5, 1910. Caroline is a graduate of the Mt. Gilead High School.
Although not active in politics, Mr. Byrd has always been a conscientious voter, and has cast his franchise with the Democratic party. Mrs. Byrd's religious faith is that of the Lutheran church, of which she is a consistent member.
ADAM E. SELL .- A prominent and prosperous citizen of Mor- row county, Adam E. Sell has been for several years prosperously engaged in agricultural pursuits in North Bloomfield township, where he owns and occupies a highly improved and attractive farm of eighty acres. Industrions, far-sighted and progressive, he has met with well merited success in his undertakings, and is held in high regard, his integrity and worth everywhere recognized. A son of Adam Sell, Jr., he was born in North Bloomfield township, Morrow county, Ohio, January 24, 1863, coming from pioneer an- cestry, his paternal grandfather, Adam Sell, Sr., having migrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio many years ago.
Adam Sell, Jr., was born in Pennsylvania, and came with his parents to Ohio when young. He became a farmer from choice, and was engaged in tilling the soil in North Bloomfield township until after the breaking ont of the Civil war. Enlisting then for service in the army, he, with other of his comrades, was captured at the battle of Chickamanga and died in Andersonville prison.
686
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
lle married Lucy Garverick, a Pennsylvania girl, and to them were born the following children: Jacob G., a farmer in Jackson county, Missouri; Wesley, deceased; Mary, wife of Arthur Book- walter, of Galion, Ohio; Franklin, deceased ; and Harriett, deceased.
Making the best of his opportunities to obtain an education, Adam E. Sell attended the winter terms of school, during the sum- mer seasons helping in the care of the home farm. Scholarly and ambitious, he made excellent use of his time, and at the age of twenty years was granted a teacher's certificate. Instead of enter- ing upon a professional career, however, he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for ten years. Subsequently turning his attention to agrielture, he bought forty aeres of land where he resides. Succeeding well in its management, he afterwards bought the forty acres across the road from where he resides, and is carry- ing on general farming and stock raising with satisfactory pecuniary results, his eighty acres of land yielding bountifully of the productions common to this region.
Mr. Sell married, January 1, 1894, Clara Hirth, who was born in Morrow county, Ohio, June 28, 1870, a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Shire) Hirth, both of whom were born in Germany, came to this country when young, and were married in Morrow county, Ohio. Mrs. Sell was educated in the district schools of Johnsville and at the Mount Gilead High School. At the age of eighteen years she began teaching school, and taught eight terms in Morrow county, being a successful and popular teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Sell are the parents of three children, one of whom died in infancy, while two are living, namely : Eugene, born November 17, 1900; and Mary E., born September 10, 1910.
An active member of the Democratic party, Mr. Sell has served as township clerk six years, and is now filling that office. Both he and his wife are valued members of the Reformed church, in which he is one of the deacons and in which he has served as Sunday school superintendent. The attractive homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Sell is known as "Englewood .. "
BYRON H. OSBORN .- Byron H. Osborn, one of the most intelli- gent and thriving agriculturists of Morrow county, owns and occupies a vahable homestead in South Bloomfield township, which is his native place, his birth having here occurred on Wednesday, February 4, 1846, at half after nine in the morning. He is a son of the late John II. Osborn, and grandson of Thomas Osborn, who settled in Ohio in pioneer days.
Thomas Osborn was born and reared in Connecticut, and as a young man followed the sea, being captain of a vessel. In 1814 he was wrecked and cast on the Isle of Jimairi. He subsequently landed in New York, and having determined to abandon seafaring pursuits was engaged in farming in Connecticut for a year. A brother-in-law, a Mr. Manning, who was then surveying land in
687
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
Knox county, Ohio, induced him to come to this state in search of a home. He located in the late fall of 1815 in Knox county, and having taken up one hundred and sixty acres of heavily timbered land cleared and improved a homestead, on which he spent the remainder of his years. He married Olive Manning, and to them two children were born, a son and a daughter.
John H. Osborn was born in October, 1815, in Connecticut, and as an infant was brought by his parents to Ohio. He remained beneath the parental roof-tree until eighteen years of age, assisting in the farm labors, and then served an apprenticeship of three years at the carpenter's trade, which he subsequently followed until seventy-five years old, being active in business pursuits until his death. IIe married Nancy Severe, whose father was Jesse Severe, who came from his home at Point Pleasant, Virginia, to Knox county, Ohio, in 1805, making the long journey on horseback, and being the second householder to locate in Liberty township. Seven children were born to their union, as follows: Thomas E .; Laduska E .; Byron H., the special subject of this sketch; William D., deceased ; Mary J .; Rose L .; and Clarinda, deceased.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.