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 24
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Mr. McMillin gives his influence and tangible cooperation in the promotion and support of enterprises and measures tending to advance the material and civic prosperity of his home city and county, and in Mt. Gilead he is an interested principal in a number of leading industrial corporations. He is president of the Buckeye Milling Company, is treasurer of the Hydraulic Press manufac- turing Company, one of the most important manufacturing cor- porations of Mt. Gilead, and is manager of the Mt. Gilead Savings & Loan Company. He is also a member of the directorate of the Commercial Savings Bank of Galion, Crawford county, and is the owner of valuable farming land in Morrow county.
Though never manifesting any predilection for political office, Mr. MeMillin is found arrayed as a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and in a frater- nal way he is affiliated with Mt. Gilead Lodge, No. 206, Free and Accepted Masons; Mt. Gilead Lodge, No. 169, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and Charles H. Hull Lodge, No. 195, Knights of Pythias, of which last named organization he is past chancellor. Mrs. McMillin holds membership in the Order of the Eastern Star, an adjunct of Masonry, and also in the Daughters of Rebekah, an
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auxilliary of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Both Mr. and Mrs. McMillin are most zealous and devoted members of the First Presbyterian church of Mt. Gilead and are active in the various departments of its work. He is a valued member of the Presbyterian Brotherhood and before the same has given a num- ber of effective addresses, while he has also been frequently called upon to deliver addresses before other church and public assem- blies, in which connection he has proved himself an interesting and effective speaker. In the midst of the many exactions of his busi- ness interests he finds time to enjoy the social amenities of life, and both he and his wife are prominent in the leading social activi- ties of their home community, their home being a center of cordial and gracious hospitality.
On the 27th of June, 1894, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McMillin to Miss Margaret Boner, who was born on the home- stead farm of her parents, near Chesterville, Morrow county, on the 24th of August, 1870, and who is a representative of honored pioneer families of this county. She is a daughter of S. and Mary (Thomas) Boner, both of whom were likewise born and reared in Morrow county, where her father has long been numbered among the representative exponents of the agricultural industry- a citizen of sterling character and influential in public affairs of a local order. Mrs. McMillin received excellent educational advan- tages, including a course in the Cardington High School, in which she was graduated, after which she attended the Marion Normal College, at Marion, this state. For some time prior to her marriage she was a successful and popular teacher in the schools of her native county. She is a prominent figure in social, church and literary circles in Mt. Gilead, where she is president of the Mt. Gilead Free Public Library and a charter member of Sorosis, besides which she is treasurer of the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Marion Presbytery. Mr. and Mrs. McMillin have two children, Mary Elizabeth and Edward Milton.
SAMUEL S. SNYDER .- As a successful agriculturist of North Bloomfield township, a trustworthy citizen and a man of strict integrity and high moral principles, Samuel S. Snyder is eminently deserving of special mention in this biographical work. A son of David Snyder, he was born March 28, 1862, in Sandusky township, Richland county, Ohio, coming from honored pioneer ancestry. Ilis paternal grandfother, Henry Snyder, came from Pennsylvania to Ohio in the earlier part of the nineteenth century. Locating in Sandusky township, Richland county, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, from which he improved a fine homestead, on which his twelve children were born and reared and on which he and his faithful wife spent most of their remaining years.
David Snyder was born on the home farm in Sandusky town- ship in 1825. Soon after his marriage he came to North Bloomfield
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township, and was here successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1884, owning and managing a well improved farm. He married Mary M. MeCollum, who was born in Ohio in 1828, and resides in Galion, this state, and they became the parents of four children, as follows : Harriet E., deceased, was the wife of the late Benton Mitchell; B. W., a prosperous farmer of Congress township, married Eva Dickerson; Samuel S., the subject of this brief sketch; and Frank C., who married. Flora Day, is a rural mail carrier in Galion, on route No. 1.
But a small child when he came with his parents to North Bloomfield township, Samuel S. Snyder attended the district schools during the winter terms and worked on the farm summers until nineteen years old, when he further advanced his education by an attendance at the Ohio Central College in Iberia. Fitted for a professional career, Mr. Snyder taught seven winter terms of school, being otherwise employed the remainder of the years. Preferring the occupation of his ancestors, he then turned his attention to agriculture, and has since devoted his time and energies to the tilling of the soil and the raising of stock, in both branches of indus- try being prominent and prosperous. He owns a farm of two hun- dred acres six miles southeast of Galion, and in its care and man- agement is carrying on a thriving business, his operations as a general farmer being extenive and luerative.
On March 16, 1887, Mr. Snyder was united in marriage with Frances R. Flowers, who was born in Sandusky township, Rich- land county, Ohio, October 8, 1865, and came with her parents, John and Rebecca (Hassler) Flowers, to Morrow county in 1866, and was here edueated. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Snyder, namely : David A. and John H., twins, born January 5, 1888. These sons were educated in the public schools, and each taught school three terms when young. David married Rachel N. Rhodebeck. John H. married May Wolford, and they have one daughter, Dale N. Wolford .. A Democrat in his political views, Mr. Snyder has served many years as township treasurer, and is ever interested in the advancement of local affairs. Both he and his wife are valued members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is one of the trustees and in which he has served as Sunday school superintendent.
JOHN MCNEAL .- One of the chief sourees of the wealth of the world, say the economists, is agriculture; and in the pursuits of this branch of industry in Ohio are men of ability, enterprise and skill; men who delve in the soil to good purpose, bringing forth abundant harvests from the richer ground and making the waste places fertile and productive. Prominent among this number is John McNeal, of Morrow county, who is living in Washington township, near Iberia, on the homestead where his birth occurred March 20, 1838.
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Joseph McNeal, his father, was born and reared in Washington county, Pennsylvania. Migrating to Ohio in early life, he located first in Marion county, where he established a carding mill and a linseed oil mill. About 1830 he came to Morrow county, which was then in its pristine wildness, deer, bears and wolves being plentiful, while the deep forests were still the Indian's hunting grounds. Entering a tract of land near Iberia, in Washington township, he hewed a homestead from the forest, and was there successfully employed as a tiller of the soil until his death, which was caused by a runaway accident while he was returning from a trip to Mansfield. He was a man of sterling integrity, prominent in the community, and served as justice of the peace many years. He was well educated, and as a young man taught school during the winter terms. He married, March 14, 1833, Martha Struthers, a native of Washington eounty, Pennsylvania, and to them five children were born, of whom John, the subject of this sketch, is the third in order of birth.
Brought up on the home farm, John McNeal aequired his preliminary knowledge of books in the district schools and in Ohio Central College in Iberia. During the Civil war, in 1861, Mr. MeNeal with a company of volunteers in Cardington and Iberia, it being Company I, Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with his comrades participated in many engagements. At the battle of Stone River he was wounded through the left pelvis, and lay on the battlefield ten days before receiving aid. Notwithstanding his exposure, he recuperated and served in the army three years. His
brother, Wallace McNeal, was killed in the engagement at Stone River. He was very popular both at home and in the regiment, and the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Iberia is named in his honor, being Wallace MeNeal Post, No. 687. Mr. McNeal was with Company I, Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but four months when it was disbanded, but he joined Battery E, First Regiment Ohio Light Artillery, in which he served three years, and now receives a pension of seventeen dollars a month. He is a member and past commander of the Wallace MeNeal Post, which was the first post organized in Morrow county. It was numbered fifty-nine when formed; but it disbanded and when reorganized was numbered six hundred and eighty-seven.
Mr. McNeal has continued in the independent occupation to which he was reared, and now owns seventy-eight acres of rich land adjoining Iberia. He is successful in his farming operations, being one of the leading agriculturists of his community. H raises fine stock, making a specialty of breeding Norman horses, while formerly he raised in addition to these many high grade roadsters.
Mr. MeNeal married in September, 1876, Mary Feerer, who was born in Morrow county, Ohio, October 5, 1852, and into their household six children have been born, namely : John HI., born
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August 11, 1877, was graduated from the Iberia High School and the law department of the University of Alabama, and is now practising his profession in Birmingham, Alabama; Walace H., born in 1879, is at home; Neal, born October 27, 1882, is a student in the veterinary department of the Ohio State University, being a member of the class of 1911; Joseph W., born December 27, 1885, is a member of the class of 1911 at West Point; Ray, born April 12, 1888, is a graduate of the Iberia High School; and Don, born November 9, 1891, was graduated from the Iberia High School, and is now taking the agricultural course at the Ohio State Univer- sity in Columbus.
Mr. MeNeal was brought up in the Presbyterian faith, but is not a member of any religious organization. A prominent mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias, he served as the first chancellor of the local lodge and is a member of the Grand Lodge. Politically he is a steadfast Republican, and has filled various offices of trust, having been assessor and trustee and for six years, and from 1887 until 1893, was county commissioner, during which time Mr. A. A. Crawford and Mr. F. A. Welch being the other commissioners, the County Infirmary building was erected.
DUANE SWETLAND is one of Morrow county's most prominent and successful representatives of the agricultural industry, which Daniel Webster has called the most important labor of man. His splendid two hundred acre farm is located four miles southwest of Fredericktown and is adorned with a fine country home, which is widely renowned in a region for its fine country homes. As a citizen he enjoys high regard, for his ideas are public-spirited and progressive, and he is ever ready to give his support to all good measures likely to result in the attainment of the greatest good to the greatest number.
The name of Swetland is one held in high honor in this part of Ohio, and William Swetland, father of the subject, is one of Morrow county's best known citizens. The family is one which has long been founded in America, the first Swetland having ar- rived on our shores about 1676, and its history is well worth con- sideration. At an early date the Swetlands are found on Penn- sylvania soil and it was from the Keystone state that the family came to Ohio. The Swetlands seem to have come into unusually interesting and sometimes disastrous contact with the Indians. The great-grandfather of the subject on the maternal side was killed by savages. Luke Swetland, his great-grandfather on the paternal side, was taken captive by the Indians at the time of the Wyoming massacre. The redmen took him with them to Cayuga Lake, New York, their headquarters, and as the winter was severe they suffered with hunger. Before spring, in fact, the Indians had killed and eaten every horse and dog they possessed, and Luke, learning of necessity, came to eat the horse flesh with a relish. Upon one
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occasion the Indians killed a deer, which without being dressed was cut up, hide and all, and put in the camp kettles to boil. He said he could have eaten even that had not the mullen leaves with which they had covered the meat while cooking, given it such an unpleasant flavor that he found it impossible. Luke hunted for his captors and was as useful and faithful to them as he could be and gradually he won their confidence. He often went out alone into the forests and remained longer and longer, but always re- turned and was apparently reconciled to his fate. In course of time he came to be fully trusted and decided to make his escape. He carefully secreted some provisions and one day, about eighteen months after his capture, when he started out for a hunt he took these with him and made a break for liberty and home. Facing the perils of the forest and not daring to fire a gun or build a fire, he wandered for a long time and after enduring many days of privation he came upon General Sullivan's army. The officers doubted his story and believed him to be a spy and at first were unkind to him, but one day one of the soldiers recognized him as an old acquaintance, after which he was treated with every kindness. During his captivity he kept a dairy on birch bark, which many years afterward was published by a Mr. Osborne of Pennsylvania, who had married one of the young women of the Swetland family. Luke's son Artemus, who was a boy at the time of the terrible massacre, came to Ohio in pioneer days. He was a soldier in the war of 1812 and of the stuff that the typically valiant pioneer was made of. He married Lydia Abbott, also a Pennsylvanian. The subject's grandparents were Giles and Sarah (Lewis) Swetland, who located in South Bloomfield township, and it was there that the father, William Sweetland, farmer and stockman, was born, the year of his birth being 1838. The maiden name of the mother was Cornelia. The parents of Mr. Swetland were married in 1861 and settled upon the old homestead which was owned by the grand- parents, and their prosperity, worldly and spiritual, has been of the highest character. The subject is one of a family of five ehil- dren, he being the eldest. Minnie R., married Frank Wolf, of Centerburg, Ohio, and their present residence is in Seattle, Wash- ington. Selinda, deceased, became the wife of Dr. C. A. Levering, of Mohicanville; Manning L. and his wife reside near the parental home; and Burton V., engaged in the tinning and roofing business, resides at Centerburg.
Duane Swetland was born upon the parental homestead on the first day of August, 1863. He received his education in the Gardner district school and in the matter of choosing a life work followed in the footsteps of his father, becoming a successful farmer and stockman. His fertile and valuable farm is most advantageously situated. He is an optimist in his views and be- lieves in enjoying the good things of life instead of waiting until age hinders him from enjoying them. With his wife he has taken
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several extended summer journeys, their last including the Seattle Exposition, the Pacific coast, Vancouver, Victoria, British Colum- bia, Portland, Denver, Colorado Springs and many other points of interest in the west. They returned with a particularly interest- ing collection of pictures and other souvenirs from the places visited.
On the 19th day of November, 1884, Mr. Swetland laid the foundation of a happy home life and congenial marital companion- ship by his marriage to Miss Clara Roods, daughter of Harrison and Maria (Bell) Roods. Their union has been blessed by the birth of three children, Edith, Roscoe A and Florence. The average age of the Giles-Swetland family is eighty years.
DANIEL GEORGE WASHINGTON SMITH, familiarly known to his large eirele of friends and acquaintances as "Wash" Smith, holds a position of prominence among the prosperous and progressive farmers of North Bloomfield township, his highly productive farm comparing favorably in its improvements and appointments with any to be found in this part of Morrow county: He is a native and to the "manner born," his birth having oceurred, January 10, 1855, on the farm which he now owns and occupies, it having at one time been the home of his father, the late William A. Smith, and also of his grandfather, George F. Smith.
George F. Smith was born and reared in Pennsylvania, and there married Margaret A. Albauch. A few years later he came to Ohio, bringing with him his young family and all of their world- ly possessions, the journey being performed with teams, the only mode of transporation in those days. He located first about two miles east from the present home of "Wash" Smith, and subse- quently purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land lying in the southeast quarter of North Bloomfield township. Selling that property to his son, William A. Smith, he continued his residence in the township until his death.
Born in York county, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1818, Wil- liam A. Smith was young when he came with his parents to Morrow county. He assisted in the clearing of the parental homestead, which he subsequently purchased and on which he lived a few years after his marriage, it being the farm now occupied by the subject of this sketeh. He was an industrious, energetie man, as a tiller of the soil meeting with much success, and he continued his farming operations until his death, June 12, 1889. He married Catherine Sorrick, who was born August 23, 1824, and died April 5, 1901. They became the parents of seven children, namely : Ephraim, born January 10, 1848; Emmanuel, born November 25, 1849; Lydia M. A., born February 7, 1853; D. G. W., the subject of this brief biographical review ; John P., born October 14, 1856; Mary A., born May 23, 1858; and Levi, born November 3, 1862.
Daniel G. W. Smith, the sole survivor of the parental house-
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hold, was reared on the farm where he now lives and educated in the township schools. Finding farming the occupation most con- genial to his tastes, he located soon after his marriage on the original homestead, the one which his grandfather hewed from the forest, and was there a resident for two years, when he returned to his father's farm. On March 15, 1890, he once more assumed possession of the old Smith homestead, and continued its manage- ment until 1901, when he purchased the farm on which he was born and reared. Here Mr. Smith has one hundred and fifty-seven and a half acres of highly cultivated and productive land, which he is carrying on with very satisfactory results, his yearly crops being abundant and valable. Mrs. Smith is also a landholder, owning eighty acres of good land about a half mile east of Mr. Smith's farm.
Mr. Smith married, December 13, 1877, Catherine Gattner. who was born April 5, 1855, in Morrow county, Ohio. Her father, Jacob Gattner, a native of Baden, Germany, came with his parents to the United States and subsequently resided in Morrow county until his death, July 1, 1901. He married Christenia Cronewerth, a native of Baden, Germany. She is still living, in 1911, as are eight of her nine children, their names being as follows : Catherine, Christenia, Mary A., Jacob, John F., Elizabeth, George and Wil- liam B. Fonr children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, namely : Frederick, deceased ; Charles, who married Laura Kinsey, has two children, Lonisa M. and Helen I .; Clara M., deceased; and Jacob C., a farmer. Politically Mr. Smith is a firm supporter of the principles of the Democratic party. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Smith belong to the Peace Reform church of North Bloomfield township, in which he is an elder, while Mrs. Smith is a member of the Ladies' Aid Society connected with it.
SEYMOUR MCANINCHI .- One of the native sons of Morrow county and a member of an old and honored family of this favored section of the Buckeye state, Mr. McAninch has gained prestige as one of the aggressive and influential business men of the county and his real estate and business interests are of noteworthy scope and in- portance. Energy, good judgment and close application have brought him into prominence as a man of affairs, and his care- fnl adherence to the principles of honesty, sincerity and in- tegrity has given him secure vantage ground in popular confidence and esteem. Hle has won large and definite success, but has not found it necessary to infringe on the rights of others, and he is known as a liberal and loyal citizen and as a man of abiding kind- liness and deep human sympathy and tolerance. His residence and business headquarters are in the village of Clima where he is an extensive buyer and shipper of grain, hay and other products and where he is the owner of commodious and well equipped grain elevators.
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On the old homestead farm of his father, which is endeared to him by the associations of the past, Mr. MeAninch was nshered into the world on the 22nd of May, 1861, and the homestead noted is situated in Washington township, Morrow county, at a point five miles north of Mt. Gilead, the county seat. He is a son of John A. and Mary A. (Sipes) MeAninch, who continued to reside on this homestead until their death, the father having passed away when about fifty-nine years of age and the mother having been seventy-three years old when she was summoned to the life eternal. John A. MeAninch was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and his wife, at Sumerset, Perry county, Pennsylvania. They were early settlers of Washington township, Morrow county, and ever commanded the high regard of all who knew them. The father contributed his quota to the industrial and social develop- ment of this section of the state and was influential in publie affairs of a local nature. He was originally a Whig and later a Repub- liean in politics, and both he and his wife held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church. They became the parents of one child, the subject of this sketch, who still survives them.
Seymour MeAninch was reared under the benignant influences and diseipline of the home farm and even as a boy assumed his share of duties and responsibilities in connection with its operation. The distriet school of the neighborhood afforded him his early educational advantages, and the lessons thus learned have been effectively supplemented by self-discipline and by association with men and affairs. He continued actively identified with agrieul- tural pursuits for many years and eventually beeame the owner of the old homestead. This is one of the well improved farms of the county and its owner takes much pride in keeping it up to the highest standard. both in the matter of improvements and facilities and in the various departments of its work. In 1903 he engaged in the general merchandise business at North Woodbury, this county with his son, where he remained about two years. For two years thereafter he was engaged in the same line of enterprise in the village of Climax, where he has sinee maintained his home. He finally disposed of his mercantile business and turned his atten- tion to the buying and shipping of grain, with which he has sinee been actively and successfully identified. In 1907 he ereeted the grain elevators in Climax, and the same have done much to promote the prosperity and growth of the village, while affording valued facilities to the farmers of the adjacent seetions. In eonneetion with the elevators is maintained the freight and tieket agency for the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad, on whose line the elevators are eligibly located. Mr. McAninch now controls a large and sub- stantial business as a buyer and shipper of grain and hay and his reputation for fairness and serupulous honesty in all transactions is unassailable. He is the owner of seven residenee properties in the city of Columbus, Ohio.
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As a progressive and public spirited citizen Mr. McAninch has naturally taken a lively interest in political matters and he has been an active worker in the local ranks of the Republican party. He is at the present time a member of the board of trustees of Canaan township, having held this position five years, and he gives to his official duties careful and discriminating attention, with the worthy purpose of doing all in his power to promote the best in- terests of the township and its people. He is affiliated with Caledonia Lodge, No. 299, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is past noble grand of the same. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mc- Aninch are zealous members of the United Brethren church in their home village and he has given to the same prolonged and effective service as a teacher in the Sunday School, of which he was also superintendent for two years.
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