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 29
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
JOHN B. CULP .- Numbered among the valued and highly es- teemed residents of Morrow county is John B. Culp, a well-to-do agriculturist of Westfield township. IIe was born June 7, 1838, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, a son of Andrew Culp.
Andrew Culp, a native of Pennsylvania, was born in Cumber- land county in 1809, and was reared to agricultural pursuits. He carried on general farming in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, until about 1859, when he came with his family to Ohio, where he spent his remaining years, passing away February 10, 1890. IIe married Leah Beam, who was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1812, and died in Ohio in February, 1867. Eight children were born of their union, as follows: Catherine S., who married Michael Hoke; Fannie became the wife of John Phillips; Maria married Jacob Smith ; Sarah became the wife of Edward Robinson ; John B., the special subject of this brief personal review; Samuel, a soldier in the Civil war, died at Washington, D. C .; Simon and George.
Growing to manhood on the home farm, John B. Culp obtained his education in the district schools, attending the winter terms only, his help being needed at home during seed time and harvest. At the age of twenty years he came with the family to Ohio, locat- ing in Marion county. In the fall of 1864 he enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Seventy-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Twenty-third Army Corps, commanded by General William Tecumseh Sherman. With his regiment he took part in numerous engagements, including the battles at Over-
758
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
alls Creek and Murfreesboro and the one at Wise's Cross Road. At Murfreesboro, Mr. Culp was wounded in the left foot, the bullet which penetrated it being still in his possession. Ile now receives a pension of fifteen dollars a month. Receiving his honorable dis- charge from service at the close of the war, Mr. Culp returned to Marion county, where he lived until 1866. He subsequently spent a short time in Waldo. Missisippi, where he was an engineer and a blacksmith. On coming to Morrow county, soon after his mar- riage, he settled in Westfield township, where he has since been prosperously engaged in tilling the soil, his well-kept farm of fifty acres lying five miles northwest of Ashley.
Mr. Culp has been twice married. He married Catherine Strine, who died in September, 1865, leaving no children. Mr." Culp married for his second wife, November 6, 1866, Mrs. Margaret (Strine) Waddle, a sister of his first wife and the widow of Isaac Waddle, who at his death left her with three children, namely : John S. Waddle, born July 5, 1854; James G., born September 9, 1856; and Benjamin I., born September 11, 1858.
Mrs. Culp's father, John Strine, was born in Cumberland county, Pemsylvania, in 1805, and died in Marion county, Ohio, June 7, 1888. Hle married Mary Monosmith, who was born in the same county, in 1807, and died in Marion county. Ohio, June 9, 1886. They were the parents of eleven children, as follows : Cather- ine, the first wife of Mr. Culp; Margaret, now Mrs. Culp. who was born in Marion county, Ohio, April 5, 1834; Elizabeth ; Nancy J .; Mary M .; Jacob; John M .; James; Peter; Martin and Henderson, Jacob, Peter and John M. all served as soldiers in the Civil war, Peter losing his life in the battle at Kenesaw Mountain.
Mr. and Mrs. Culp have no children. Politically Mr. Culp supports the principles of the Democratic party, and has filled various local offices to the satisfaction of the people, including those of township trustee and assessor. He is well known throughout this section of the county, and both he and his estimable wife art held in high regard.
RANDALL L. BEARD .- An industrious, enterprising farmer of Morrow county, Randall L. Beard is an excellent representative of the agricultural community of Bennington township, in the prosecution of his independent calling having met with signal suc- cess, at the same time winning the respect and esteem of his neigh- bors and friends. He is a native of this section of Ohio, his birth having occurred in Morrow county, December 20, 1851. His father, Reuben Beard, born June 2, 1805, married Eliza Loveland, whose borth occurred October 19, 1810. The parents lived on a farmi in this vicinity, and here brought up their family of six children, two of whom, in 1911, are still living, namely : Randall L., of this sketch, and Lucinda, wife of Abram Harran, of Columbus, Ohio.
Brought up in Bennington township, Randall L, Beard profited
-
---
-
-
"THE MAPLE GROVE FARM," RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. R. L. BEARD
.
761
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
by the facilities afforded him in his youthful days to obtain an education, attending the winter terms of the district schools until sixteen years old, when he began doing a man's work on the home farm. Finding the occupation a most congenial one, he has con- tinued an agriculturist until the present day. Prosperity has smiled upon his efforts, his home estate containing one hundred and seventy acres of as fine farming land as can be found in the locality, and this under his intelligent management has been highly cultivated and improved. Mr. Beard formerly owned two hundred and seventy acres of land, but when his children married he assisted them in establishing homes of their own by giving them either money or its equivalent in land.
On February 16, 1870, Mr. Beard married Sarah M. Frost, who was born in Bennington township, April 24, 1852, and was reared on the farm of her parents, Alfred and Sarah J. (Price) Frost. Mr. and Mrs. Beard have three children living, namely : Manley, born November 26, 1870, married Ida Corwin, and resides in South Bloomfield township, Morrow county ; Alice, born June 6, 1879, is the wife of B. J. Knouff, of Centerburg, Ohio; and Anzy, born June 13, 1889, married Bertha Dunham, and lives in Ben- nington township.
Mr. and Mrs. Beard occupy an assured position in the com- munity in which they reside, and are consistent members of the Christian church of Sparta. In his political relations Mr. Beard is identified with the Republican party. He has served three years as assessor of the township, and was appointed township trustee. Fraternally he is a member of Marengo Lodge, No. 216, Knights of Pythias.
WARREN SWETLAND .- Many people gain wealth in this world, many gain distinction in the learned professions, and many are hon- ored with public offices of trust and responsibility, but to few is it given to attain so high a place in the esteem and affection of their fellow citizens as that enjoyed by Mr. and Mrs. Warren Swetland, who are known throughout Morrow county as Uncle Warren and Aunt Margaret. Their spacious and comfortable residence in South Bloomfield township is widely renowned for its generous hospitality and is often referred to as the "Orphans Home," hospice having frequently been given to those unfortunates, who at an early age, have been bereft of their parents. Farming and sheep-growing have ever been Mr. Swetland's chief occupation and he is prominent throughout the state as an authority on wool.
A native son of the fine old Buckeye state, Warren Swetland was born in South Bloomfield township, Morrow county, on the 24th of April, 1834, and he is a son of Giles aod Sarah (Lewis) Swet- land, the former of whom died in 1881 and the latter of whom was summoned to life eternal in 1864. Of the six children born to Giles and Sarah (Lewis) Swetland, five are living in 1911, namely :
762
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
Byram, aged eighty-six; Joseph C., aged Eighty-two years, is men- tioned on other pages of this work; Emily is eighty years, of age ; Warren, aged seventy-six, is the immediate subjeet of this review ; and William, who is represented elsewhere. Lambert died at the age of twenty-two. The Swetland families living in Morrow county are the edseendants of Artemas and Lydia ( Abbott) Swetland, who immigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1810, location having been made in Delaware county, whence removal was made to South Bloomfield township, Morrow county, Ohio, in 1818. Artemas Swetland engaged in farming and resided in South Blomfield town- ship until his death. He was survived by a family of four sons and one danghter: Augustus W., Giles (father of Warren), Fuller, Seth and Marilla. Concerning some of the early adventures of the Swetland family the following extract is here incorporated from an article which appeared in a history of Morrow county, under date of 1880.
"Artemas Swetland, the grandfather of Warren, when a boy was in the fort at the Wyoming massaere and escaped death only by remaining with his father, Luke, who was on picket duty inside. Warren's great-grandfather, Abbott, was murdered shortly after this by the savages. When the Indian scare was over the settlers began to return to their farms. One day, while at work in the field with another pioneer, Mr. Abbott saw the Indians coming and started to run, but was shot, erippled, overtaken by them, and dispatched with a tomahawk. Artemas Swetland was in the war of 1812, enlisting while in Delaware eounty, Ohio. He was one of the first settlers in South Bloomfield township, and his sons, Augustus, Giles and Seth. vividly remember the hardships through which they passed in their new home in the wilderness.
Luke Swetland, the great-grandfather of Warren Swetland, was known during his life time as the Seneea captive. While re- turning home from a mill in the Wyoming Valley, in Pennsylvania, he was taken prisoner by the Seneea Indians and earried off to Seneca Lake, in New York, where he was detained for one year and two days before he managed to make his escape. He was taken into camp and adopted by an aged squaw as her son. Not exactly pleased with that state of affairs he was constantly on the alert for a chanee to make his escape and finally he met with a detachment of Conti- nental soldiers, commanded by Captain Robert Dunkle and Samuel Ransom, in 1777. This force of soldiers gave him the sueeor re- quired and subsequently he was conveyed to New Jersey, where he joined Washington's army and saw active service in the war of the Revolution. He was at Valley Forge during the strenuous winter of 1777-8 and saw a great deal of service before the elose of the war. Relief was sent to Wyoming at the time of the massaere, in 1878, but the soldiers arrived too late to be of any assistance.
As a youth Warren Swetland availed himself of the advantages afforded in the district sehools of South Bloomfield township and
763
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
thereafter he engaged in agricultural operations. He has resided on his present fine estate of one hundred ad eighty-six acres in South Bloomfield township, Morrow county, since 1857 and is still giving the work of the place an active supervision. In connection with diversified agriculture he has devoted considerable time to sheep-growing, being known the county over for his success in the breeding of Delaine sheep. On different occasions he has been re- quested to send samples of his wool to the state wool commission, and he has in his own possession samples from every prominent wool-grower in the world. During his extensive travels he has vis- ited important sheep ranches throughout the universe and each place has contributed some new idea to his vast fund of knowledge in regard to sheep-raising. Mr. Swetland, besides the raising of a fine grade of sheep, has sheared sheep each year himself for sixty- six years without the loss of a single year. Possibly there is not another man in the Middle West who has such a record.
On the 1st of. February, 1857, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Swetland to Miss Margaret A. Thomas, who was born in Chester township, Morrow county, on the 31st of July, 1836, and who is a daughter of Daniel and Mary Ann (Davis) Thomas. The mother was a daughter of David and Margaret Davis and she was born in the little country of Wales on the 6th of December, 1813. She was called to her reward on the 8th of January, 1902, and an interesting fact about her personality is that just prior to her death she wrote her own obituary. She was one of the pioneer teachers in this section of the state, walking one mile and a half to the scene of her labors and receiving in return for her services the meager salary of one and a half dollars per week. David and Margaret Davis, grandparents of Mrs. Swetland, came to America from Wales and landed at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1820. Mary Ann Thomas was born December 6, 1813, and died January 8, 1892. She, with her parents, David and Margaret Davis, and one brother came to Amer- ica in 1820, landing at Baltimore, Maryland, where they resided for six years. Then they started for Ohio, coming via Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania, where Mr. Davis died in 1827. After his death the grand- mother married Henry George, in 1833, and they resided on a farm in Chester township during the remainder of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas were devout members of the Baptist church, in whose faith Mrs. Swetland was reared, but she became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1858. Mr. Swetland joined the Methodist Episcopal church in 1855, and he and his wife are very prominent factors in all activities of a religious nature, he having been class leader and a steward in the Sparta church of that denom- ination for the past fifty years. Mr. and Mrs. Swetland have no children of their own but they raised and educated an orphan girl, named Arrilla Lewis, who is an own cousin of Mr. Swetland and who became the wife of Daniel Potts in 1869. She now resides near Sparta, Ohio.
764
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
In politics Mr. Swetland was originally a Demoerat but he now accords an uncompromising allegiance to the Prohibition party, and while he has never been moved with a desire for political preferment of any description he is ever on the alert and enthus- iastically in sympathy with all projects advanced for the good of the community and county at large. Mr. and Mrs. Swetland have traveled extensively in various parts of the world and they ean relate many interesting incidents in connection therewith. They are both very kind hearted and hospitable, contributing generously of their time and means to all worthy philanthropical movements, and no one who solicits their help is sent away unaided. Their place of abode is known as the "Orphans Home" and they are everywhere known as Uncle Warren and Aunt Margaret. Their broad human sympathy penetrates every nook and corner and nothing but goodness radiates from their hearts. It may truly be said concerning them that the circle of their friends is coincident with that of their acquaintances.
JAMES R. PORTER .- Living on his pleasant homestead in West- field township, James R. Porter is numbered among the successful and enterprising agriculturists of Morrow county, where for many years he has been actively engaged in the cultivation of the soil A native of Ohio, he was born June 9, 1849, in Delaware county, and there brought up and educated.
His father, James Porter, was born in Pennsylvania, and while young came with his parents to Ohio, locating in Delaware county in pioneer days and there spending the remainder of his life, dur- ing his active career being engaged in general farming. He mar- ried Eliza Kane, who was also born in Pennsylvania, and when a child was brought by her parents to Delaware county, Ohio. She died on the home farm in Delaware county, and her body was laid to rest beside that of her husband in the Marlboro ehureh yard. Of the five children born of their union, three are living, as fol- lows: Elizabeth, wife of Lester Olds, of Kansas; Henry W., of Arkansas, and James R.
James R. Porter became familiar with the three "rs" in the district school. Left fatherless at the age of thirteen years, he assumed a large part of the responsibility of the care of the family, and until his own marriage had charge of the home farm. Coming to Morrow county, he located in Westfield township, where he now has a well-improved and highly productive farm of sixty-five acres, which he is managing most successfully, each year gathering abun- dant harvests. He is a general farmer, but pays considerable at- tention to the raising of stock, which he finds a profitable industry, Ile is a Democrat in politics and a strong advocate of all measures calculated to advance the interests of the community.
Mr. Porter married, in 1869, Sarah Claypool, who has passed to the life beyond, her death occurring on the home farm October
765
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
24, 1907. Five children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Porter, namely : Laura, wife of William Blake, of Delaware county, Ohio; Hattie, wife of Frank Mayfield; Bertha, living at home; Addie, who after graduation from the Ashley High School taught school for a time, is the wife of Ralph Riley; and Minnie, who was grad- uated from the Ashley High School and afterwards took a com- mercial course at Valparaiso, Indiana, is now a bookkeeper in Cleve- land, Ohio.
LEWIS MILLER .- The German is rightly regarded as one of America's most valuable sources of immigration, the typical eiti- zen of German birth and parentage bringing to the nation those characteristics necessary to the best civilization. To this class belongs Lewis Miller, a progressive agriculturist and good citizen of Troy township, whose birth occurred in Prussia, Germany, Jan- uary 10, 1838, his parents being William and Margaret (Baker} Miller. Mr. Miller, now a gentleman of venerable years, was but ten years of age when the family made their migration to the new country, of whose opportunity they hoped much, the year of the event being 1848. They found their way to Ohio and located near West Point, Morrow county, where the head of the house seeured land and engaged in farming. Mr. Miller received the rudiments of his education in the excellent schools of the Fatherland and he never found an opportunity to attend school after coming to the United States, what additional education he obtained being gained incidentally. Life in a new land, with strange customs and another language, was indeed strenuous and earning a livlihood was the first consideration.
Mr. Miller remained beneath the home roof until he became twenty-two years of age. About the year 1861 he secured work on a farm and received for his services thirteen dollars a month, a large part of which modest wage he was able to save. Afterward he hired his services to George Lefever and worked for him two years and then for a time worked for other parties by the month. By the exercise of the utmost diligence and thrift he saved eight hundred dollars and with this purchased forty aeres of very desir- able land, for which he paid one thousand dollars and which he eventually sold for one thousand, five hundred dollars. He has become one of the succesful farmers of the locality, owning one hundred and sixty-three and one-half acres at the present time and having sold forty acres to each of his sons.
On March 23, 1865, Mr. Miller laid the foundation of a happy home life by his marriage to Margaret A. Longstreth, who was born in Brush Creek township, Muskingum county, Ohio, October 11, 1844, this worthy lady, like her husband, being a descendant of sturdy German stock. She was reared in Muskingum county until the age of eighteen years and then came to Canaan township to eare for her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs .. Thomas Patten, in their declining
766
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
years. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have reared a large family of children, eleven sons and daughters having been born to them, and seven are surviving at the present day. Carrie B. is the wife of Mima Big- ler ; Ida E., is the wife of Jacob Warrick; Sarah S., is the wife of William Hershiner; Miss Martha J. is at home; Charles L. married Nora M. Carpenter ; Frank L is single and at home; and Amanda M. is the wife of Elmer Sipes. All the children have secured the good common school education afforded by the county. The de- ceased children of Mr. and Mrs. Miller are Thomas L., Rosanna, who became the wife of Harvey Hershner and died February 5, 1893; Mary A., who died March 2, 1893, and George, who died July 21, 1904.
The Miller family attends the Methodist Episcopal church at Steam Corners and are valuable in its work. The head of the house gives allegiance to the Democratic party and is public- spirited and a supporter of all good causes. The family is widely and favorably known in the county in which their interests have so long been centered.
JOHN MCCAUSLAND .- John MeCansland, who for fourteen years has been the genial and efficient post master of Chesterville and who is also the proprietor of a well-managed hardware store, has been in business here longer than any other man in the place. In other days, previous to becoming identified with the grocery business, he was a photographer. This much respected citizen is a veteran of the Civil war, having given his services almost throngh- ont the entire course of that conflict.
Mr. McCausland was born in Congress township, Richland now Morrow county, on the 12th day of July, 1838, the son of David and Mary (MeClaren) McCausland, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Scotland. When young people they answered the beckon of opportunity from the shores of the New World, the year in which they took up their residence in America being 1833. They eventually found their way to Ohio and five years after their arrival upon our shores the birth of the subject occurred. They became the parents of eight children, four of whom died in infancy and the four surviving being James, John, Elizabeth and Margaret. These boys and girls attended the district school in Congress town- ship called Miracle School.
Mr. McCausland assumed the responsibilities of a married man on the 14th day of June, 1864, when occurred his union with Hen- rietta Smith, daughter of John A. and Mary M. (Baker) Smith, natives of the state of Maryland. Mrs. McCausland was one of a family of nine children, whose names were Susanna, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Henrietta, Mary, John, Peter, Horace E. and Alice. After their marriage Mr. MeCausland and his bride located in Chesterville, where the former opened a daguerrotype business and after conducting this for two years he accepted a position as a clerk
767
HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY
in a grocery, and subsequently, when he had obtained a thorough knowledge of the business, he established a grocery business of his own, and in the same enjoyed wide patronage. For the past fourteen years Mr. McCausland has faithfully discharged the duties of the office of post master of Chesterville, his daughter Izola successfully acting as his assistant.
Mr. and Mrs. McCausland became the parents of the following eight sons and daughters: Frank, Britomart, Izola, Gladys, Arthur, Editlı, Wastella and Catherine. The two sons reside in Oregon, where they have a homestead of three hundred and twenty acres. Britomart became the wife of Frank Sheively of Chesterville. Gladys married A. C. Seffner, of Marion, Ohio. Catherine is a trained nurse in Marion and Edith is employed in a department store in Canton, Ohio. Wastella and Izola reside at home with their father and are his devoted companions, the latter, as prev- iously mentioned, being his assistant in the post office. The demise of the wife and mother occurred April 2, 1907, her mortal remains being interred in Maple Grove cemetery in Chesterville. This kind and sympathetic lady is lovingly remembered by hosts of friends.
Mr. MeCausland and his daughters are honored members of the Presbyterian church, in which the father has held the office of ruling elder for twenty-five years. In his long-time business relations with the people of Chesterville he has proved himself well worthy of the confidence and respect in which he is held, his honesty and uprightness being unquestioned.
It is appropriate to add something of the military career of Mr. MeCausland. When the Civil war became a terrible reality and the call for three year men was sent forth he was the first man in his township to enlist, becoming a member of Company E, Twenty-sixth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. His service extended over a period of two years and he was wounded in a skirmish at Horse Shoe Bend at New River, West Virginia. Among the engagements in which he participated were those of Scarey Creek, Gauley Bridge, Sewall Mountain and many others. As to political conviction he was reared a Democrat, but came out of the Civil war a Republican and has given his allegiance to the men and measures of the "Grand Old Party" in the ensuing fifty vears.
SAMUEL E. JAMES .- An effetive exponent of the agricultural industry in his native county and a citizen to whom is accorded that popular approbation which is the accurate metewand of chiar- acter, Mr James merits consideration in this work as one of the progressive farmers and stock-growers of Gilead township, where he is the owner of a well improved farm of eighty-one acres eli- gibly located two and one-half miles northwest of Mount Gilead, the metropolis and judicial center of the county.
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.