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 25
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On the 8th of December, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McAninch to Miss Emma J. Dye, who was born and reared in Washington township, this county, where her father, the late Justice Dye, was a representative farmer. Walter L., the elder of the two children of Mr. and Mrs. McAninch, married Miss Austa Allwein, of North Woodbury, Ohio, and for three years was a teacher in the public school at that place. He is now a resident of Columbus, the capital city of Ohio, where he is freight clerk in the offices of the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad. He was born on the old homestead farm,, on the 6th of October, 1883. He is affiliated with the Masonie fraternity and Knights of Pythias, being a member of Mt. Gilead Lodge, No. 206, Free and Accepted Masons, also of Gilead Chapter, No. 59, Royal Arch Masons, and Iberia Lodge, No. 561, Knights of Pythias. Alta Mae, who was born on the 12th of September, 1891, is a student of music, in which art she has fine talent, and at present she resides with her parents at Climax, Ohio.
LAFAYETTE GATES .- The present able and popular incumbent of the office of county commissioner of Morrow county, Ohio, to which position he was chosen for a second term in 1910, is Lafeyette Gates, who is a farmer and merchant of prominence and influence in this section of the fine old Buckeye state. He was born on the 13th of November, 1846, the place of his nativity being a farm located about one mile and a half south of Pulaskiville, in Frank- lin township, Morrow county. He is a son of John and Polly (Truax) Gates, both of whom are deceased, the former having been summoned to the life eternal on the 19th of January, 1891, at the age of eighty-two years and seven months, and the latter having passed away on the 7th of June, 1886, at the age of sixty-eight years and four months. Mrs. Gates was a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, whence she came to Ohio in 1838, at which time she was a child of but five years of age. Her parents located on a farm in Morrow county and continued to be identified with Vol. II-14
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agricultural pursuits during the residue of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Gates were devout members of the Baptist church, with which he was affiliated for a period of thirty-three years.
Lafayette Gates, or "Lafe" as he is generally known, was reared to the invigorating influence of the home farm and he was the elder of his parents' two children, both still living. His edu- rational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the district schools of the locality and period and he continued to be identified with farming operations cn the old homestead until the time of his marriage, in 1871, at which time he located on his mother's old home farm, where he erected a small frame house. In 1873 he purchased an additional tract of nineteen acres and in 1882 he added to the original estate another tract of sixty acres. He has since bought and sold many parcels of land and his present estate consists of some one hundred and sixty acres of most arable land. All the buildings on the place are of the most modern type and his residence is one of the most beautiful in this township. Residing with him is his son Clay, who is his assistant in the work and management of the farm. In February Mr. Gates and his son, C. Clay, purchased a general store in Pulaskiville, which they operated nntil 1901, at which time on account of the death of his daughter and the subsequent illness of his wife, Mr. Gates returned to the home farm, where he remained until March, 1903. He then purchased a store at Shauck Post Office, which he conducted until the 11th of November, 1905. In 1906 he located on a farm of one hundred acres in Gilead townhip, which he disposed of in 1908, when he again became the owner of a store in Shauck's Post Office. In 1909 he disposed of his interests in town and returned to the old home farm, where he has since resided. On the 12th of October, 1909, he bought an additional tract of forty acres of land.
In his religious faith Mr. Gates has ever been aligned with the Baptist church, in whose faith he was reared. In politics he is a stalwart Democrat and he is now serving his second term as county commissioner of Morrow county, to which he was elected in 1908. Just after he had attained to his legal majority he was elected to the office of assessor of Franklin township, of which he continued in tenure for one year. For nine years he was township clerk and for four years was township treasurer. All his public service has been characterized by ardent devotion to duty and as a loyal and public spirited citizen he has no superior.
On the 1st of January, 1871, Mr. Gates was united in marriage to Miss Jane E. Mann, and concerning her life and death the following lines from a local paper may be appropriately inserted here :
"Jane E. Gates, daughter of John and Christena Mann, was born August 7, 1847, and died September 3, 1901, aged fifty-four years and twenty-seven days. She was married to Lafayette Gates January 1, 1871. To them was born two children, one son who
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remains to mourn the loss of a kind and loving inother, and one daughter who preceded her to the eternal life just five months ago. On the 21st day of February, 1871, she was baptized by Rev. B. M. Marrison and united with the Franklin Baptist church, and ever afterward remained a faithful and consistent member. Many times during her sickness she expressed a willingness to be taken home to heaven. For about two years she was a constant sufferer from that dread disease, consumption, and during the last seven weeks of her life she was confined to her bed, being constantly at- tended by her friends and neighbors, who rendered to her every kindness in their power, for which the relatives offer their heart- felt thanks. On the fifth day of September, 1901, her body was taken to Bryn Zion, where the funeral was preached to a very large congregation by Rev. W. II. Bedell, whom she had chosen before her death for that purpose, after which she was laid to rest in the beautiful cemetery beside her daughter, with whom she has been reunited on the shores of eternal bliss." She was ever a potent influenee for good in the home and was a devoted wife and mother. Cassius C. Gates, the son, was born on the 13th of October, 1872, was educated in the public schools of Morrow county and on the 23rd of December, 1897, was united in wedlock to Miss Augusta McCracken, a daughter of Wayne and Frances McCracken, of Harmony township, this eounty. They have two children, John M., whose birth occurred on the 26th of August, 1898; and Dale W., born October 14, 1903. Cassius Gates is a Baptist in his religious faith and fraternally he is a member of Johnsville Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Cora Anita, the deceased daughter of Lafayette Gates, was born on the 3rd of May, 1877, and she married Clay Snyder, of Denmark, on the 31st of October, 1900. She died April 5, 1901. She was educated in the common schools and was a faithful member of the Baptist church, a worker in both the Sunday School and church.
DANIEL J. HALDEMAN .- It is most pleasing to the publishers of this work on Morrow county to be able to incorporate within its pages a brief history of a man whose entire life thus far has been spent in this favored section of the fine old Buckeye state, where his success as an agriculturist has been on a parity with his own well directed endeavors. Mr. Haldeman is the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and seventeen acres in Troy township, the same being eligibly located three miles north of Johnsville, Ohio. He is engaged in general farming and the growing of good stock and is recognized as one of the most successful agriculturists in this section of the county.
A native son of Troy township, Morrow county, Ohio, Daniel J. Haldeman was born on the 20th of August. 1860, and he is a son of Henry and Lydia (Ettinger) Haldeman, both of whom are deceased. Henry Haldeman was a son of Jacob and Anna
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(Mimiek) Haldeman, the former of whom was a native of Berks county. Pennsylvania, where was solemnized his marriage and whence he and his wife immigrated to Ohio about the year 1818. Location was first made near Frederickstown, Richland county, and subsequently the Haldeman family removed to Morrow county, where Jacob Haldeman entered half a section of government land, namely, the northwest quarter of section 29, township 19, and the northeast quarter of section 30, township 20, the date of entry being the 11th of March, 1818. A portion of this land has been in the Haldeman name down to the present day and Jacob passed the residue of his life on one of his farms in Morrow county. Henry Haldeman was born in this county, in 1822, and he was reared to maturity under the invigorating influence of the old home farm, his early educational training consisting of such advantages as were afforded in the schools of the locality and period. After his marriage to Lydia Ettinger they settled on one hundred and forty acres of his father's estate, where he continued to be identified with farming during the greater part of his active career. He and his wife were zealous members of the Evangelical Association and in lieu of a religious place of worship church meetings were held in their home. They were much interested in church work and he was class leader and superintendent of the Sunday School for a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Haldeman became the parents of eight children, five of whom are living at the present time, namely : William Wesley, who married Miss Mary Marshall and who is a traveling salesman by vocation, his business head- quarters and home being in the city of Cleveland, Ohio ; Reuben J., married Miss Mary Portner and they reside at Fort Collins, Colo- rado, where he is engaged in the merchandise business; Daniel J., is the immediate subject of this review; Irene is the wife of J. S. Steele, of Loveland, Colorado; and Ulysses Sidney Grant wedded Miss May Yeager and is identified with the Steam Shovel Company at Marion, Ohio.
Daniel J. Haldeman passed his boyhood and youth on the old homestead farm, in the work and management of which he early began to assist his father. He attended the district schools until he had reached his legal majority and after his marriage, in 1882, he settled upon the parental estate, where he has resided during the long intervening years to the present time. Religiously he and his wife are affiliated with the Evangelical Association of Troy township and in the same he is a member of the board of trustees. In a fraternal way he is a valued and appreciative member of the Modern Woodmen of America, in which he carries insurance, and he is also connected with the Johnsville Grange. He is a stanch advocate of the principles set forth by the Republican party in his political proclivities and he has served his township most credi- tably as treasurer for two terms. His splendid farm is located in Troy township, three miles north of Johnsville, and the same is
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kept in a high state of improvement. It is interesting to note that one of the barns on the farm was erected in 1825 by Mr. Halde- man's grandfather. It is still in splendid condition.
On the 12th of October, 1882, was recorded the marriage of Mr. Haldeman to Miss Nettie Ruhl, whose birth occurred in North Bloomfield township, Morrow county, on the 12th of December, 1862. She is a daughter of William H. and Mary (Sorrick) Ruhl, the former of whom was a son of Amos and Catherine ( Hoke) Ruhl. The Ruhl family was one of old standing in Pennsylvania, whence Amos Ruhl immigrated to Ohio in the pioneer days. Wil- liam H. Ruhl was the father of six children, concerning whom the following brief data are here incorporated : Amos F., is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Congress township, Morrow county ; Cathe- rine is the wife of Enos Ruhl, of the same name but no kinship, and they reside at Edison, Ohio; Charles and Miles are both farmers in North Bloomfield township, this county; Laura is the wife of William Gattner, of North Bloomfield township; and Nettie is the wife of him to whom this sketch is dedieated. Nettie (Ruhl) Haldeman received a good common school education in her youth and she is a woman of innate refinement and most gracious per- sonality. To Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman have been born four chil- dren, three sons and one daughter, namely: Charles, born on the 11th of January, 1884, married Miss May Garweick and they live in Troy township; Irene, born March 26, 1886, is the wife of Walter Stull, of Columbus, Ohio; Clyde, born November 27, 1889, is un- married and remains under the parental roof; and Harry, born June 27, 1899, is enrolled as a pupil in the district schools.
EDWARD R. COILE .- The descendant of an honored pioneer family and an honored resident of South Bloomfield township, Edward R. Coile is numbered among the enterprising and thrifty agriculturists of Morrow county, where he owns a well-kept farm, in the management of which he exercises great skill and good judg- ment. He was born on the homestead where he now lives, March 28, 1867, a son of Reuben Coile and grandson of Abraham Coile, an early pioneer of Ohio, coming to this state from Virginia.
Reuben Coile was born in Virginia, but was reared in Morrow county, Ohio, coming here with his parents. He began life for himself in South Bloomfield township, buying forty acres of land, on which he carried on general farming until his death, in 1900. He married, February 13, 1845, Margaret Prosser, who survived him, passing away in 1904. Eleven children were born into their home, as follows: Alonzo, born March 8, 1846; Alford, born Janu- ary 25, 1848; Thomas, born January 28, 1850; Leroy, born October 17, 1851; Lycurgus, born May 21, 1853; Mary, born October 1, 1855, married, August 4, 1874, Judson Smothers; Riley, born June 13, 1858; Luceilia, born January 11, 1860, married, in November, 1878, Thomas James; Johanna, born February 5, 1862; Daniel,
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born April 1, 1864; and Edward R., the subject of this sketch. The father of these children was a Republican in politics and a member of the United Brethren church.
Until after the death of both of his parents, Edward R. Coile resided on the parental homestead, which has become his through inheritance. Since a boy of fourteen years he has been engaged in agricultural pursuits, and as a general farmer and stock breeder and raiser has met with unqualified snecess. For the past five years he has also been running a saw mill in Knox county. On his homestead Mr. Coile has three apple trees and a pear tree that were set out by his Grandfather Coile in 1831. The pear tree, which is sixty-five feet in height and nine feet in circumference, bore fruit every year until 1910, never missing a season. Mr. Coile is a firm supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and has served on the local school board. Religiously he belongs to the United Brethren church.
JOHN R. CLARK .- Though not unusual it is always interesting to find in the successful business world a man who has advanced step by step through the various stages of adversity until on the horizon of his visionary dreams he perceives the dawn of success. Such men are the making of the great American republic and it is to them that this country owes its prestige as the foremost nation in the world. Colonel John R. Clark has through his own en- deavors achieved a noteworthy success and in addition to his fine farms and other interests in the vicinity of Mount Gilead he is known as one of the best auctioneers in Morrow county, Ohio.
Colonel John R. Clark was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, on the 25th of March, 1858, a son of James W. and Martha Jane (Hart) Clark. The Clark family came to Knox county, Ohio, in 1862, locating in Middleburg township, where the father was iden- tified with farming and where the parents passed the residue of their lives. They left their old home in Virginia because it had become a battleground in the Civil war. They were quiet, unos- tentations people, honest and upright in principle and highly es- teemed in the community. Colonel Clark was but four years of age at the time of his parents' arrival in Ohio. What schooling he received as a boy came in the intervals of a rugged life of farm work and hard manual labor. He continued to attend the district schools until he had attained to the age of eighteen years, when he devoted his entire time and attention to the work and manage- ment of the home farm. When he had reached his legal majority he accepted employment with another farmer in the immediate neighborhood and so well pleased was his employer with the service he rendered that he kept him as an assistant for a period of twelve years, During all that time he had saved but little money, less than a hundred dollars in all, and he had met, wooed and married Miss Elizabeth J. Dawson, a young and interesting lady in
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"SPRING BROOK FARM," RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. JOHN R. CLARK
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JOHN R. CLARK AND FAMILY
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Morrow county, the ceremony having been performed in 1888. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Clark were very poor in worldly goods and they immediately rented a farm in Franklin township, this county, where they turned their energy to good account. Both were hard workers, the wife applying herself with the same vigor which characterized her husband, and in the busy seasons she too worked in the field. Through their untiring industry they have now acquired a competeney, owning two fine farms of two hundred and fourteen acres in Morrow county and a beautiful residence in Mount Gilead. In 1908 they removed from their farm to Mount Gilead, where they have since resided and where they are esteemed as most useful and influential citizens.
Frequently attending publie sales, John R. Clark would lister. to the auctioneer and coming home on one occasion he remarked to his wife: "I can do auctioneering as well as anybody." Accord- ingly he hung out his shingle. This was in 1890 and the first year was one of marked success in his new vocation, in which Colonel Clark won for himself an enviable reputation as an auctioneer. He has cried as many as one hundred and ninety-six sales in one yar ; fifty-nine in sixty working days; has made sales in six differ- ent states and in thirty-two counties in Ohio. His services are required nine months out of the twelve and on this account lie finally removed from his farm to Mount Gilead, where his services fre constantly in demand. During the fall of 1909 he conducted one of the largest farm chattel sales ever made in Ohio. The sale occurred on the farm of Cepter Stark, at Sunberry, Ohio, and the amount of the sale was over $43,000.00 of chattel property.
Mrs. Clark is a woman of splendid business ability and she has managed every branch of the farm with alacrity. She is a woman of fine native intelligence and refinement and is deeply admired and beloved by all who have come within the sphere of her gracions influence. In addition to his two farms and his residence in Mount Gilead Mr. Clark is an extensive stockholder in the Peoples' Sav- ings Bank and in the Citizens' Telephone Company. He is a liberal hearted man and is always on the alert to back np measures advanced for the general welfare.
In July, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Clark to Miss Elizabeth J. Dawson, who was born at Waterford, Knox county, Ohio. She is a daughter of Alfred W. Dawson, who was likewise a native of Knox county, where his birth occurred on the 3d of June, 1840. Alfred W. Dawson was a son of Turner and Lucinda (Tolle) Dawson, both of whom were born and reared in Virginia, whence they came to Ohio in an early day. Mr. Daw- son early became identified with the work of the home farm anu although he received but meager educational training in his youth ms natural alertness enabled him to acquire extensive information un various subjects and to become a man of influence in the com- munity in which he resided. On July 9, 1861, he married Miss
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Martha J. Stephens, born in Center county, Pennsylvania, who came with her parents to Morrow county, Ohio, in 1849. In Franklin township, this county, she grew to maturity and was educated. Mr. and Mrs. Dawson became the parents of six child- ren, whose names are here entered in order of birth : Mrs. Clark, George W., John S., Franklin T., Charles W. and Burgess, who died in infancy. Bradford Dawson, an unele of Mrs. Clark, served two terms as sheriff of Morrow county and for a time was deputy state warden in the prison at Columbus, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have one daughter, Martha B., who was born on the 13th of Feb- ruary, 1897, and who is a student in the graded schools at Mount Gilead.
Politieally Colonel Clark is aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party and he has been most active in the local councils of the party. He is a member of Charles H. Hull Lodge, No. 195, Knights of Pythias, and his wife is a devout member of the Christian church. Colonel and Mrs. Clark have achieved a splendid suecess in life and are recognized as two of the foremost citizens in Mount Gilead, where the number of their friends is coincident with that of their acquaintances.
REVEREND SCHUYLER E. SEARS, pastor of Trinity Methodist Episcopal church, Mt. Gilead, Ohio, was born in Sharon township, Medina county, Ohio, April 7, 1868. He is the son of Earl B. and Mary E. (Frizzell) Sears. Mr. Sears traces his ancestry back to Richard Sears, of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, one of the early Eng- lish settlers who located there in 1639. His grandfather's name was Calvin, son of Calvin, son of David, son of James, son of Silas, son of Silas, son of Richard Sears. His grandmother on his father's side was related to Commodore Perry and to Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, the great inventor of telegraphy.
His father being a farmer, Mr. Sears passed the first eight years of his life on a farm. Then the family home was changed to Wadsworth, Ohio, where he attended the graded schools and high school. After his graduation from the Wadsworth high school, in 1886, he accepted a position as elerk in that town, and was thus occupied there until the fall of 1889, when he entered Baldwin University at Berea, Ohio. He completed a course in this institution and graduated in 1893, with the degree of A. B. His education was now being directed with a view to his entering the ministry, and following his graduation from the university he went to Drew Seminary, Madison, New Jersey, where he completed a theological course and graduated, in 1896. After this Baldwin University conferred upon him the degree of A. M. In the fall of 1896 he entered the North Ohio Conference, and was assigned work at Perrysville, Ashland county, Ohio, where he filled a charge three years. He was ordained deacon at Wellington, Ohio, Sep- tember 27, 1896, by Bishop Charles HI. Fowler, and received his
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elder's orders at Millersburg, Ohio, September 25, 1898, at the hand of Bishop Daniel A. Goodsell. Reverend Sears was at Creston, Ohio, from 1899 to 1905; at Columbia, Ohio, one year ; at Thirteenth Avenue church, Lorain, Ohio, three years; and since the fall of 1909 has occupied his present position as pastor of Trinity Metho- dist Episcopal church at Mt. Gilead. Unabated zeal for his work, together with his special fitness for the ministry, has made Reverend Sears a potent force for good in the different pastorates he has filled. He is a writer as well as a speaker. Both prose and poetry from his pen have appeared in religious and secular papers.
Mrs. Sears, formerly Miss Inez Gortner, is a native of Shelby, Ohio, and a graduate of the Shelby High School and Baldwin University, she having received the degree of B. L. from the latter institution in 1893. The Reverend and Mrs. Sears have one son, Kingsley G., born August 1, 1902.
WILLIAM A. BROLLIER .- Eligibly located at a point six miles northwest of Mount Gilead, in Gilead township, is the fine farm- stead owned and operated by Mr. Brollier, who is known as one of the progressive agricnlturists of Morrow county and whose stand- ing in the community is such as to entitle him to representation in this historical compilation.
William A. Brolhier was born in Ashland county, Ohio, on the 13th day of July, 1856, and is a son of Levi and Mary (Rowland) Brollier, the former of whom was born in the state of Pennsylvania, and the latter in Ohio. The father was a farmer by vocation and both he and his wife are deceased, the father dying in Allen county and the mother in Morrow county. They were earnest and indus- trious folk of sterling character and ever held the esteem of all who knew them. William A. Brollier was about four years old at the time of the family removal to Knox county, this state, where he was reared to adult age on the home farm, in the work of which he early began to lend his aid, the while he duly availed himself of the advantages of the district schools. At the age of sixteen years he came to Morrow county, and at the age of eighteen years he initiated his independent career by securing work as a farmi hand. He was thus employed by the month for a number of years and finally he purchased his present homestead, which comprises one hundred and two and one-half ares of excellent land, nearly all of which is under effective cultivation. Energetic and progres- sive in his methods, Mr. Brollier exemplifies the best modern sys- tems and methods in the various departments of his farming industry, and he gives his attention to diversified arienlture and the raising of high grade live stock. He has been indefatigable in his efforts and his success has been worthily won, the while his course has been so guided as to retain to him at all times the confidence and good will of his fellow men. In politics he accords a stanch support to the cause of the Republican party and he is
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