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 46
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WINTERS M. BUMP .- A prominent member of the farming community of Bloomfield township, Winters M. Bump is widely and well known throughout this section of Morrow county as an upright, honest man, of sterling worth. Ile is held in high re- spect by his fellow-men, and has a host of friends, among whom is Captain Robert F. Bartlett, editor of this volume. A son of
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Iliram Bump, he was born, January 13, 1843, in Morrow county, which he has always claimed as home.
Born in New York state, June 15, 1803, Hiram Bump came with his parents to Ohio at an early day, and for many years was successfully employed in tilling the soil in Morrow county. He died when in the prime of life, in 1843. His wife, whose maiden name was Sally Hultz, was born, October 12, 1801, in New Jersey, a daughter of Thomas and Leah ( Weatherby) Hultz, who came to Ohio in an early period of its settlement, locating first in Knox county, but afterwards removing to Morrow county.
Winters M. Bump remained on the parental homestead until after the breaking out of the Civil war, when he enlisted in defence of his country, and remained in active service, taking part in many of its more important engagements, until receiving his honorable discharge from the army, June 13, 1865. Returning then to his native county, Mr. Bump has since been profitably engaged in agricultural pursuits. He is an excellent neighbor, a sincere friend, and a genial companion, but he has never as- sumed the responsibilities of married life.
JAMES A. HIXENBAUGH .- A well-kown citizen of South Bloom- field township, James A. Hixenbaugh served with distinction in the Civil war, and has since been actively identified with various pursuits, having been a merchant, mill owner and operator, and. a farmer, in connection with his agricultural labors having for upwards of a quarter of a century threshed much of the grain produced in this part of the state. A son of H. B. Hixenbaugh, he was born, August 31, 1842, in Stark county, Ohio. He is of thrifty German ancestry, his paternal grandparents, Jaeob and Emeline (Aucherson) Ilixenbaugh, having emigrated from Ger- many to the United States in 1819, loeating in Pennsylvania, where their children were reared.
H. B. Hixenbaugh was born, April 4, 1819, in midoeean, while his parents were en ronte from the Fatherland to this country. Leaving home on attaining his majority, he located on a farmn in Stark county, Ohio, and by dint of hard labor improved a good homestead. He married, in 1840, Mary Baxter, who was born in Carroll county. Ohio, in 1819, a daughter of James and Sarah (Harchester) Baxter. Her father, left an orphan when a ehild, was a man of unusual energy and ability, and by his own efforts achieved success in life, in 1840, at the time of his daughter Mary's marriage, having been one of the wealthiest men of Carroll county, where he was owner of eleven hundred and forty aeres of land.
Soon after the breaking out of the Civil war, James A. Hixen- baugh's patriotie spirit was fully aronsed, and he bravely offered his services to his country, enlisting in Company A, Seventy- second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at Columbus. Going with his command to Washington, D. C., he subsequently took an active
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part in the engagements at Cold Harbor and Bermuda Hundred, during the campaign of the spring of 1864 being under fire at times from twelve to fifteen days at a stretch. While at Cold Harbor, Mr. Hixenbaugh was taken ill with the measles, and for nine days was in a Philadelphia hospital. He was afterwards stricken with typhoid fever, sent home on furlough, and subse- quently discharged. Recovering his health, Mr. Hixenbaugh en- listed in Company A, One Hundred and Forty-second Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, for one hundred days, and at the expiration of his term of enlistment, September 2, 1864, was honorably discharged from the service. Not of age when he first enlisted, Mr. Hixen- baugh obtained his mother's consent to do so by promising to abstain from the use of all intoxicating drinks, a promise that he religiously kept. On the second day out, he, with his comrades,
was lined up to receive his portion of whiskey. Taking the cup as it was passed to him, Mr. Hixenbaugh emptied its contents on the ground, and the Colonel, who witnessed the act, commanded him to report at headquarters, and there inquired why he threw it out. On being told, the colonel arose, shook Mr. Hixenbaugh's hand, and said that he was the first soldier he had met who had brought his mother with him to the army, and immediately placed him in a more lucrative position, and later favored him in various ways. The daring bravery of Mr. Hixenbaugh in saving the lives of himself and twenty comrades by stamping on the fuse of a shell that fell within two feet of where he was standing was warmly commended, and gave evidence of his coolness and courage in the face of danger.
Returning to Knox county, Ohio, after his discharge from the army, Mr. Hixenbaugh began farming in Mount Vernon, which he has seen grow from a small hamlet into a thriving city of nine thousand souls. Subsequently disposing of his farm, he opened a general store in Sparta, Morrow county, where he was engaged in mercantile pursuits a few years. Selling that business, he was engaged in the manufacture of lumber and shingles for seven years, owning and operating a saw mill and a shingle mill success- fully. Until thirteen years old Mr. Hixenbaugh was unable to speak a word of English, but beginning then to attend school in South Bloomfield township, he soon acquired a good knowledge of the English tongue. For twenty-six years, he ran a threshing machine in and around this township, beginning at the age of sixteen years, when horse power was used, and finishing with the traction engine.
Mr. Hixenbaugh married, November 24, 1864, Nancy White, who was born, August 15, 1847, in Ohio, the parents migrating from Pennsylvania to this state in 1833. Her mother died when she was sixteen months old, and she was reared by her father, with whom she remained until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Hixen- baugh have three children, namely: Minnie, born February 2,
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1867, is the wife of II. T. Burely, of Mount Vernon; William B., born August 5, 1869, is a resident of Sunbury, Ohio; and Floy, wife of R. Mellinzer, of Mount Vernon, was born April 5, 1885. A strong supporter of the principles of the Republican party, Mr. Ilixenbangh has served on the local school board, and has held the various township offices within the gift of his fellow-eitizens. He is a member of Crayton Orr Post, No. 501, Grand Army of the Republie, and draws a pension of twenty-four dollars a month for his services in the army. Although he has usually been sneeess- ful in his active career, Mr. Hixenbaugh has met with some handi- caps, among others having been unfortunate enough to lose two thousand, six hundred and sixty-five dollars through the failure of the James Trumbull Bank at Mount Gilead.
ELMER S. STULTZ .- Most of the successful men of America are self-made and it is one of the glories of our republic that this is so. It shows that opportunities are afforded to the citizen of the United States and that they possess the courage, determination and strength to make the best use of the advantages which surround them. An enterprising and progressive citizen of the younger gen- eration in Morrow county Ohio, is Elmer S. Stultz, who is prepar- ing himself to launch forth on the sea of life as a representative of the pedagogie profession. He was born at Richmond, Jefferson connty, Ohio, on the 10th of Jannary, 1890, a son of Adam and Delilah A. (Harper) Stultz, both of whom were born and reared in Ohio. George and Mary A. (Fendrick) Stultz, paternal grand- parents of him to whom this sketeh is dedicated, were natives of Germany, whence they immigrated to Ameriea abont the year 1845, locating at Columbus, Ohio. George Stultz was a shoemaker by trade and he was identified with that line of enterprise at Columbus during the remainder of his life. Ile died in 1880 and his wife passed away in 1895. Adam Stultz attended the public schools of Columbus until he had attained to the age of fifteen years, at which time he entered upon an apprenticeship at the turner's trade. In 1885 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Delilah A. Harper, who was born in this county on the 16th of January, 1865, a daughter of William H. and Mary J. (Bower) Harper. Mr. Harper was a carpenter by trade and for a time he condneted a general merchandise store at Bloomfield. Mrs. Adam Stultz was summoned to eternal rest on the 21st of October, 1902, being survived by her husband and three sons: Albert L., born June 3, 1886, is now employed in a railroad office at Crestline, Ohio; William H., born August 11, 1888, is engaged in business at Sparta ; and Elmer S., the immediate subject of this review.
Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Stultz es- tablished their home at Monnt Gilead, where he was identified with the work of his trade for a period of ten years, at the expiration of which removal was made to Richmond, Ohio, where they remained
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seven years and whence they came to Sparta, in 1902. Mr Stultz is a Democrat in his political proclivities and while he has never been ambitious for the honors or emoluments of publie office he is most loyal and public-spirited in his support of all measures and enterprises advanced for the general welfare. His religious faith is in harmony with the tenets of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1895 he affiliated with the local lodge of the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has filled all the official chairs and in which he is treasurer at the present time, in 1911.
Elmer S. Stultz was reared and educated at Mount Gilead and at Richmond, later supplementing his preliminary training by a course in the high school at Sparta, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1907. For the past three years he has been engaged in teaching in this township and he is gradually fitting himself for work as a high-grade teacher. In the fall of 1911 he will begin to study in the Ohio State University. He is a young man of most exemplary habits, is highly esteemed in this town and it may be said eoncerning him that his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances. He is a successful and popular teacher and his entire career thus far has been active, progressive and determined. He carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes and he is a young man whose strong individuality is the strength of intergrity, virtue and deep human sympathy.
ALBAN YOEMANS .- One of the best known and most influential of the citizens of Cardington and Morrow county is Alban Yoe- mans, agriculturist, lumberman, dealer in horses, in short one of the most active men of affairs in the locality. His various voca- tions have been such as to give him an unusually wide acquain- tance; in his early days he was a sawyer, then an engineer; he has shipped horses for years, which has brought him into contact with many men; and he has that geniality and magnetism which makes a man not easily forgotten. His strenuous life has agreed with him remarkably well and to-day he has the appearance of a man of not over forty-five years of age, when in reality he can lay claim to nearly twenty more.
This gentleman who has spent so many years within the bor- ders of Morrow county is a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred not far from the city of Philadelphia, June 17, 1847, and he was the third in order of birth in a family of ten children, equally divided as to sons and daughters. Of this number only three are living at the present day, and all are Morrow county residents. Hannah Jane is the widow of Panl C. Wheeler, and Margaret is the wife of A. E. Criswell, an agrienltur- ist. The parents of Alban Yoemans were Thomas and Nancy (Goodmau) Yoemans. The former was born in Lincolnshire. England, about the year 1818 and died in 1900, at a very advanced
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age. He sailed with his parents from Liverpool when he was but a child and the little party of immigrants to the freedom and opportunity of the new world were three weeks crossing the ocean. They arrived at Baltimore, Maryland, and went thence to Chester county, Pennsylvania. The head of the household was a stone
mason by trade and soon found work to do. Young Thomas was reared to manhood's estate in Chester county and he followed the example set by so many of the easterners and came to Ohio, where he looked about him and finally located in Morrow, here purchasing a farm upon which he spent many years and reared his large fam- ily. The family lived in a log cabin at first and although they came about the Civil war period, many conditions, compared with those of the present, were still rather primitive. Politieally
Thomas Yoemans was an old line Whig. He voted for the first Republican presidential candidate, General Fremont, and until his demise he continued to give unswerving allegianee to those prin- ciples. He was everywhere known for his strietest integrity and honesty, these virtues being the keynote to his life. He made a firm stand for right principles and he was of benevolent nature, with ever a kind word and a kinder deed for the poor and unfor- tunate. He did the state the greatest serviee within his power by teaching his children to lead useful and honorable lives. In the matter of religious convietion he was a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a member for over fifty years and for a long period holding the office of deaeon in the church. It is indeed gratifying that so fine a citizen should have been granted so long a life. His wife was born May 8, 1820, and died July 24, 1896. She was a native of the Keystone state.
Mr. Yoemans was a lad about fifteen years of age when the family located in Morrow county. For sneh educational advan- tages as it was given to him to enjoy he is indebted to the publie schools. He is, however, to a great extent, self-educated and self- made and his sueeess is owing to his extreme honesty and never- tiring energy. As suggested in preceding paragraphs he has had varied experience in the world of affairs. He began his struggle to gain foothold in the business world when about twenty years of age and he was empty handed, without a ten dollar bill to his name. His first experienee was in the lumber business. Then the walnut trees stood thick upon the broad acres of Morrow county and he prepared for commerce hundreds of thousands of feet of beautiful walnut lumber, selling it for a pittance, compared to modern priees for this prized commodity He ereeted a saw-mill east of Cardington and for fifteen years was engaged in eonducting that. He has sold first-class walnut lumber for forty dollars per thousand, where the same commodity will now sell for one hundred and thirty dollars per thousand.
It was about the year 1878, that Mr. Yoemans first engaged in the shipping of horses in which he has sinee conducted extensive
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operations. He dealt in horses-driving, draft and street- car-and his first large shipment was to Cineinnati. His operations in this line steadily inereased and he eventually became known as one of the most extensive, if not, indeed, en- titled to the superlative term, of the shippers of the state of Ohio. For fifteen years, his dealings with the people of Morrow and ad- joining counties amounted annually to one hundred and twenty- five thousand dollars. He shipped extensively to Boston, New York City, Newark (New Jersey), Buffalo, and St. Louis. He has had a wide experience and is rightfully accounted as one of the most suceessful men of his township. He is and always has been an extensive property owner, having owned three farms in Mor- row county, and to-day he owns one of the most beautiful and well improved agricultural properties hereabout, the same -being situated not far from the corporate limits of Cardington. Having so mueh to do with the equine species, he erected one of the finest and best equipped barns in all Morrow eounty .. It is a wonder in the exeellence of its fittings and well repays inspection, for Mr. Yoemans is one of those who believe that "Order is Heaven's first law," and here everything has a place and is found in its place.
Alban Yoemans, although very young when the first guns were fired at Sumter, was nevertheless one of the brave boys who went to the front at the time of his country's danger. He enlisted from Mt. Gilead, in May, 1863, in Company G, of the One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, his captain being John Baxter. The regiment was sent to Fort Williams, south of Wash- ington, D. C., to guard the forts and there a large portion of his term of service passed. He received his honorable discharge August, 1864, and at onee returned home to don civilian's garb.
In September, 1869, Mr. Yoemans was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Sipe and their union has been blessed by the birth of four children. Ella is the wife of Ralph Shockley and resides in California; Cora, widow of Henry Hutchinson, makes her home with her father. Edson Leroy died at the age of twenty-one years
and in the fullness of his promise. Ida, the youngest daughter is at home. Mrs. Yoemans was a daughter of Jobe and Hannalı Sipe, a native of Morrow county, educated in the public schools and reared upon her father's farm. She was a member of the United Brethren church and devout in her religious belief. The demise of this worthy lady occurred in May, 1879. Mr. Yoemans chose for his second wife, Huldah Ann Barge, daughter of Lewis and Susan Barge, and a native of Morrow county, Ohio, and their union, solennrized in the year 1882, resulted in the birth of three children, only one of whom is living at the present. This is Lewis B., a blacksmith by trade. The second Mrs. Yoemans was removed from those scenes in which she had passed a life of use- fulness and honor, March 5, 1907. The subject is a stanch adher- ent of the Republican party and cast his first vote for General
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Grant. He has ever stood firmly for the cause of the Grand Old Party, but has never aspired to any official position. He was once, however, prevailed upon to accept the duties of sheriff and his energy and diligence in carrying out its various duties was ad- mirable, and his cleverness as a detective of wrong doing was widely heralded. .
Athough so long in the horse business, Mr. Yoemans was free from any of the habits which frequently accompany the vocation. HIe never smoked a cigar, has never used tobaceo in any form; has eschewed gambling and betting and was never intoxicated in all his life. His influence is admirable and this is particularly well for Morrow county, that one so widely known and one so widely admired, especially by the young, should be of such exemplary life.
The beautiful farm upon which the Yoemans home is made has changed hands but once since it was entered from the government so many years ago. It is adorned with a commodious and modern home and is a favorite gathering place in Morrow county.
BENJAMIN F. THUMA has long been numbered among the able exponents of the great basic industry of agriculture in Mor- row county and he is the owner of a fine farm of one hundred acres in Perry township. There he continued to maintain his home until April, 1910, when he was appointed superintendent of the Morrow County Infirmary in Gilead township, an office of which he remained incumbent until the newly elected Democratic Board of the Morrow County Infirmary appointed his suceessor to fill the position. In this office he gave a most effective admin- istration, the while he had due appreciation of the necessities and misfortunes of the county wards entrusted to his care. He showed an abiding and helpful sympathy for the inmates of the infirmary, but never allowed this to interfere with proper discipline and his executive poliey and discriminating service well justified the official preferment conferred upon him. He is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of the county and is well entitled to re- cognition in this publication.
. Mr. Thuma views with due satisfaction and pride the fact that he can claim the fine old Buckeye commonwealth as the place of his nativity and that he is a scion of one of the old and honored families of Morrow county. He was born on the homestead farm of his father in Perry township, Morrow county, Ohio, on the 25th of January, 1854, and is a son of Simon and Eliza (Shuler) Thuma, natives of Pennsylvania. Simon Thuma, whose aneestors came from Switzerland, was one of a family of fourteen children, ten boys and four girls, two of whom died in infancy. He was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1817 and in 1835 he eame on foot to Perry township, Richland county, Ohio, and worked at the blacksmith trade. He was married to Eliza Shuler in the year,
-
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1842. She also was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1824, and was one of a family of six children. She eame with the family to Perry township, Richland county, Ohio, in the vear 1832. Mr. and Mrs. Thuma lived in a log hut three miles northeast of Johnsville, where two children were born; Estervilla, June 18, 1844 and John Wesley, March 17, 1846. In the spring of 1846 they moved to Johnsville where they lived for one month only, until a log house eould be built on the farm of one hundred and fifty acres in the woods one mile southwest of the village. Here were born William Otterbein, May 18, 1848; David Edward, March 8, 1851; and Benjamin Franklin, the subject of our sketch, January 25, 1854. The father died October 18, 1855, of pneu- monia. He was an earnest Christian, a member of the United Brethren church and a strong anti-slavery advocate. He was numbered among the industrious agriculturists of Morrow county, where he reclaimed and developed a productive farm and where he continued to reside until his death, secure in the high regard of all who knew him. The mother remained on the farm and raised the family until they were able to take care of themselves, being left a widow at the age of thirty-one years. With' the deter- mination of a loving mother, the children were brought up with strict diseipline which was highly appreciated and commended in after years. Living a christian life from childhood, she resigned this life at the age of eighty-four years and was buried beside her husband in Shauck cemetery.
B. F., as he was usually known, left his parental roof when sixteen years of age, to accept a position in a general store of S. W. Wagner & Brother, later clerking for his brother, John Wesley. in the drug store. He became a practical pharmacist and for several years conducted a drug store of his own at Butler, Ohio. In 1876 he disposed of the drug business and went back to his native town. In 1877 he entered the employ of Talmage Brothers, of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, for the sale of the Champion mowers, reapers and binders in the northern part of Morrow county and in Rich- land county, with whom he remained until the year 1883, when he purchased the stove and tin store of Johnsville and conducted the business successfully. A few years later he took in plumbing, pump and general machine work, and is generally known as an all round mechanic. After the election of President Mckinley, his name was mentioned in connection with others for postmaster at Shauck, and he received the appointment. As soon as his daugh- ter, Marie Avalie, became eighteen years old, she was sworn in as his assistant and conducted the office nearly eight years and was praised by all for her accuracy and ability.
In 1896, after the death of his father-in-law, Abraham Miller, Mr. Thuma purchased part of the farm and now has one hundred acres of as good fertile land as the county has. The improvements are all new and on his own plans, he built one of the first silos
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in the county. Ile made dairying a specialty and owns one of the finest Jersey herds in the country and prides himself in trying to do things well and advocates alfalfa hay and ensilage with con- fidence of its economical essentials in the economic production of milk and believes the salvation of our country depends on intensive agriculture. Bringing to bear marked energy and mature judg- ment, he has achieved special success in all departments of his farming enterprise. His farm is located in section 4, Perry town- ship and is one of the valuable farm properties of the county and shows forth thrift and prosperity as the direct result of the efforts of its owner. Mr. Thuma has ever been unflagging in his alle- giance to the Republican party and has been an aetive worker in its local ranks. Since retiring from the position of superinten- dent of the infirmary he has devoted his time with his son, Mark, to his farm and the stock industry.
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