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 5
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The land is of marked fertility and has been brought up to a fine state of productiveness under the able management of Mr. Long, who has made many improvements on the place, including the in- stallation of tile drainage, and the expenditure of fully fourteen hundred dollars in the remodeling of the house and other buildings, all of which are now in fine order and indicate thrift and pros- perity. Within the six years that have intervened since he pur- chased this fine property Mr. Long has freed the same from the burden of the mortgage, and his wife has proved his efficient and valued adviser and coadjutor. Prosperity of established order is now theirs, and none can doubt that it has been mnost worthily won. It can be a matter of no slight gratification to them that they have thus gained independence and the prospect of the coming years stretches pleasing to their view, as they may well feel that at last their "lines are cast in pleasant places."
Working and planning with all earnestness, Mr. Long has had neither inclination or time to devote to the turbulence of practical polities, but he is a stanch supporter of the cause of the Republican party and ever ready to lend his aid and influence in support of measures and enterprises projected for the general good of the community. He and his wife are appreciative of the value of educational advantages, have given their children excel- lent opportunities, and are earnest supporters of the public schools. Their labors and accomplishment afford both lesson and incentive to other young couples who are compelled to work out their own salvation, and their success is the logical result of energy, industry, frugality and invincible determination. Both Mr. and Mrs. Long are members of the Methodist Protestant church, in which he is identified with the South Canaan Society and she with a similar organization in Hardin county. They have contributed their quota to the support of religious and benevolent work and have an abiding sympathy for all those in affliction and distress, so that they are ever ready to lend a helping hand to the unfortunate. They have secure hold upon the confi- dence and regard of all who know them and are popular factors in the social activities of their home township.
On the 18th of August, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Long to Miss Martha Thew Key, who was born in Marion county, Ohio, on the 31st of October, 1861, and who is the second in order of birth of the seven sons and two daughters born to Henry and Mary Thew (Wittred) Key. All of the children are living but one who died in infancy and all reside in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Key were born and reared in Lincolnshire, England, and soon after their marriage they immigrated to America. The voyage was a most tempestuous one and the sailing vessel on which the same was made felt to the full the warring forces of the "merciful, merciless, sea," with the result that the jaded and weary passen- gers frequently felt that the stanch little craft would not
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weather the storms that assailed it. After six weeks on the ocean Mr. and Mrs. Key landed in New York City, whence they came as soon as possible to Marion county, Ohio. Upon their arrival their financial resources were summed up in the pitiful amount of two and one-half dollars. Mr. Key secured work digging ditches in Marion county, and received in compensation for his arduous toil sixty-two and one-half cents a day. At the opening of the year 1911 he is found as the owner of a finely improved farm of ninety-five acres, in Marion county, and he and his devoted wife have reared their large family of children to lives of usefulness and honor, while now they themselves are enjoying the gracious rewards of former years of toil and endeavor, secure in the estecm of all who know them. Mrs. Long was educated in the public schools of her native country, and is a woman of genial personality -a devoted wife and a loving mother, and has the affectionate regard of all who have eome within the sphere of her kindly in- fluence. Mr. and Mrs. Long have two children, both of whom have been accorded the advantages of the excellent public schools of their native county. Burton E. is associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm and proves an able and valuable coadjutor; and Zelda B., who likewise remains at the parental home, has much musical talent. She is devoting careful attention to the study of the "divine art," and her ambition is to become a teacher of both vocal and instrumental musie
WILLIAM MCCRACKEN .- Among the many representative eiti- zens of the present generation who are devoting their entire time and attention to the great basic industry of agriculture in Morrow county, Ohio, is Willian MeCracken, who owns and operates the old Joseph Sellers farm, eligibly located in Harmony township. Mr. MeCracken is engaged in general farming and the raising of high-grade live stock and through persistency and well applied endeavor he has made of success not an accident but logical result. He is a loyal and publie-spirited citizen and contributes in gener- ous measure to all projects advanced for the good of the general welfare.
Mr. William McCracken was born in Harmony township, Morrow county, Ohio, the date of his nativity being the 30th of August, 1873, and he is a son of Isaac and Almeda (Sellers) Me- Craeken, the former of whom was summoned to eternal rest, and the latter of whom is now residing in Crawford county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac MeCracken became the parents of three ehild- ren, eoneerning whom the following data are here recorded; Alice is the wife of John George, of Morrow county, Ohio; George - married Miss Anna Stoggle, of Knox county; and William, the youngest in order of birth, is the immediate subject of this review. The father of the above children was born and reared in Morrow county and he was a son of Charles MeCracken, while the mother
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was born on a farm on which William McCracken now resides, she being a daughter of Joseph Sellers.
Reared to maturity on the old homestead farm on which he was born, William MeCracken waxed strong physically and men- tally as a result of his strenuous out-of-door life. His early educa- tional training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the district schools and he remained at home, helping his father in the work and management of the home farm until he had reached his legal majority. Shortly after his marriage, in 1893, he rented a farm in this township, operating the same until 1903, in which year he purchased the old Joseph Sellers estate, the same com- prising ninety acres of most arable land. During his residence on this place Mr. MeCracken has erected a fine, modern barn and he has remodeled the house so that it is now one of the most spacious and attractive residences in the township. While Mr. MeCracken has never manifested aught of ambition for the honors or emolu- ments of public office he is deeply and sincerely interested in all matters which make for progress and development and in politics he exercises his franchise in favor of the Democratic party. He and his family are zealous members of the Baptist church, to whose charities and benevolence he has been a liberal contributor.
Mr. MeCracken married Miss Ollie Warner, who was born and reared in Harmony township, this county, and who is a daughter of Merrill and Mary ( Rolling) Warner, both of whom are deceased. Mrs. MeCracken was born on the 17th of July, 1872, and she re- ceived her education in the district schools of this locality. Mr. and Mrs. MeCracken are the parents of four children, whose names and respective dates of birth are here recorded: Fred, June 26, 1893, is engaged in farming, Morrow county; Aral, August 2, 1895; Iris, October 13, 1898; and Bertha, September 4, 1903, the latter three of whom remain at the parental home. Mr. and Mrs. MeCracken are popular and prominent in connection with the best social activities of their home community and their comfortable and home-like abode is a recognized center of gracious refinement and hospitality.
WILLIAM ELSWORTH WILSON .- In South Bloomfield township, Morrow county, Ohio, William Elsworth Wilson is engaged in diversified agriculture. There in the midst of highly cultivated fields stand good buildings and an air of nearness and thrift per- vades the place, indicating the careful supervision of a practical and progressive owner. He represents one of the pioneer families of the fine old Buckeye state and is numbered among the native sons of Knox county, his birth having there occurred on the 15th of August, 1863. His parents, William and Sarah A. (Hayes) Wilson, were both natives of Pennsylvania, whence they came to Ohio abont 1850, settling in Knox county, slightly east of Sparta. Location was made on a farm of two hundred and twelve acres,
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where Mr. and Mrs. Wilson reared a family of thirteen children, namely : Elizabeth, Annie, Joseph R., Wesley H., William E., John M., Emma A., Oliver D., Clara, Richard B., Arthur M., Bertha M. and Hattie D., all of whom are living in 1911, except Elizabeth, who was summoned to the life eternal in 1904. The father was a general farmer, was a stanch Republican in his political proclivi- ties and during his life time was connected with the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he was a prominent worker. He died about 1896, and his cherished and devoted wife passed away about 1898.
William E. Wilson, the immediate subject of this review, grew up on the old home farm, in the work and management of which he early began to assist his father, and he continued to reside at home until his marriage, in 1888. Immediately after that event he es- tablished his home on a farm in Knox county, where the family home was maintained for a period of eleven years, at the expiration of which, in 1899, removal was made to the fine farm of two hun- dred acres in South Bloomfield township, Morrow county, where he has resided during the long intervening years to the present time. In politics he accords a stalwart allegiance to the principles and policies of the Republican party and he has served with efficiency for eight years on the township board of trustees. His religious faith is in harmony with the tenets of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he a trustee. Mr .. Wilson has been a cooperant factor in many movements which have been of marked benefit to the township and county. Honored and respected by all, the high position which he occupies in public regard has come to him not alone because of his success in business, but also because of the straighforward, honorable policy he lias ever followed. Honor and integrity are synonymous with his name and there is no citizen in Morrow county more highly esteemed than is William E. Wilson.
On the 14th of March, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wilson to Miss Lulu Mitchell, who was born in Morrow county, on the 12th day of May, 1866. She is a daughter of Lewis and Lenora (Osborn) Mitchell, both of whom were natives of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell became the parents of six children-Charles M., Ellen M., Lulu M., Wlliam D., Edwin W., Elmer C., all of whom are living. Mr. Mitchell was identified with the great basic art of agriculture during the major portion of his active business career. Ile and his wife were members of the Disciple church and he was a member of the board of school directors. In polities he was aligned as a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party and he was incumbent of various public offices of important trust and responsibility. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have three children- ITazel G., born on the 9th of March, 1891, as educated in the Sparta high school and she is now residing at home; Ernest H .. born February 8, 1897, is a student in the Sparta high school ;
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and Homer E., whose birth oeeurred on the 20th of May, 1903, is attending school in South Bloomfield township.
Mr. Wilson is one of the leading raisers of fine Delaine sheep, registered, and he is a regular attendant at the state fair of Ohio and other fairs of prominenee. He is a successful and up-to-date farmer, and the pretty homestead of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson is known as the "Idlewild Stock Farm."
AMOS RINEHART has a finely improved and strictly up-to-date farm of eighty acres of most arable land in Troy township, Mor- row county, where he is engaged in diversified agriculture and the raising of breeded horses. Mr. Rinehart is also the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of splendid farming land in Texas and he is a citizen who has ever manifested a deep and sineere interest in all matters touching the welfare of the community in which he has long resided.
In Perry township, Morrow county, Ohio, on the 14th of May, 1866, occurred the birth of Amos Rinehart, who is a son of Michael B. and Margaret (Baker) Rinehart, both of whom are now de- ceased. The father was born on the 11th of April, 1825 and he was summoned to the life eternal on the 6th of May, 1880. On the 13th of June, 1852, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Michael Rinehart to Miss Margaret E. Baker, whose natal day was the 31st of July, 1834, and who passed into the great beyond on the 30th of March, 1910. The family name in Germany was spelled Reinhardt, but in Morrow county it is spelled Rinehart. The original progenitor of the Rinehart family in America was Jacob Rinehart, Sr., great-grandfather of him to whom this sketeh is dedicated. Jacob Rinehart claimed the great Empire of Germany as the place of his nativity and he immigrated to the United States in an early day where he turned his time and attention to farming. He became the father of seven children, whose names are here entered in respective order of birth: George, Conrad, Jacob, Michael, Peter, Betsey and Polly. Conrad Rinehart married and had the following children : Polly, Jacob, Sally, Betsey, John, Yettie, Daniel, Lydia, Susan, Michael and Conrad. Michael Rine- hart, father of the immediate subjeet of this sketch, married Mar- garet Baker, as previously noted, and they became the parents of sixteen children, concerning whom the following brief data are here recorded : Josiah, born on January 23, 1853, died on the 11th of May, 1854; Almeda, born August 27, 1854, is now the wife of George W. Fringer, of Kansas; Louisa, born on the 11th of December, 1885, married Upton Lueas, of Perry county; Lydia, born on the 24th of February, 1857, wedded R. M. Stull and they maintain their home at Troy; Mary S., born on the 19th of May, 1858, is the wife of Emanuel Grogg and they reside at North Woodbury; Levi B., born on the 22nd of October, 1859, married Miss Mattie Feigley and they live in Morrow county; Barbara E.,
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born on the 2nd of February, 1861, is the wife of J. W. Dukman, of Galion, Ohio; George C., born on the 6th of March, 1862, married Lydia Lewis and they maintain their home in Perry township; Sarah A., born on the 13th of July, 1863, became the wife of Daniel W. Feigley, of Perry township; Charles B., born on the 16th of March, 1865, married Emma Lucas and they live at Troy; Amos is the immediate subject of this review; Silas C., born on the 25th of September, 1867, married Della Quay and they are now living at Troy; Adam B., born January 24, 1870, married Maude Shamble and they reside in Troy township; Jacob H., born on the 24th of March, 1872, is single and lives in Cali- fornia; Arthur S., born on the 18th of May, 1873, wedded Miss Nevada Carpenter and they maintain their home in Perry town- ship; and John A., born on the 12th of December, 1874, married Miss Belle Carpenter and they live in Perry township.
Amos Rinehart was reared to the sturdy influence of the home farm in Perry township, this county, and he early became asso- ciated with his father in the work and management of the parental farm. His educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the district schools, which he attended during the winter terms. When he had attained to the age of seventeen years he began to work as a farm hand for different farmers in Perry township and after his mariage, in 1891, he settled on his present splendid estate of eighty acres in Troy township, on which he has continued to maintain his home during the long intervening years to 1911. In addition to his landed interests in Morrow county he is the owner of a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of finely improved land in Texas, and he also has had land hold- ings in the state of Washington. While much of his attention is devoted to general farming he is also deeply interested in the breeding of high-grade horses and in the same has made a great success.
On the 15th of January, 1891, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Rinehart to Miss Wilda M. Ross, who was born on the farm on which she and her husband now reside, the date of her nativity being the 4th of July, 1867. She is a daughter of Robert and Lydia (Snyder) Ross, the former of whom was born in Troy town- ship and who was called to eternal rest in the year 1895. Mrs. Rinehart was educated in the common schools of this locality and she is a woman of rare charm and most gracious personality. She is deeply beloved by all her friends and acquaintances and her home is a center of most refined hospitality. Mr. and Mrs. Rine- hart have two children, Vonnic B., born on the 15th of March, 1892, was graduated in the Lexington high school as a member of the class of 1911; and Robert R., born on the 12th of March, 1900, is now attending the district schools.
In his political convictions Mr. Rinehart is a loyal Democrat in all matters of national import but in local affairs he maintains
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an independent attitude, preferring to give his support to men and measures meeting with the approval of his judgment rather than to follow along strictly partisan lines. While he has never been fired with ambition for the honors or emoluments of political office of any description he is most active and sincere in his support of all projects advanced for the good of the community and county at large. In their religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Rinehart are devout members of the St. Paul Evangelical church and they are interested factors in the various departments of church work. Mr. Rinehart is a man of fine, straightforward conduct, one who is fair and honorable in all his business dealings, and as a citizen he commands the unalloyed confidence and esteem of all with whom he has come in contact.
DANIEL BEERS ELDRIDGE, a prosperous farmer residing a short distance north of Pulaskiville in Franklin township, Morrow county, Ohio, was born in this county and, ,having passed his early life here, returned in later years to renew his identity with the locality He dates his birth in Franklin township December 8, 1828, a son of pioneers of this vicinity. His father, Harvey Perry Eldridge, was a native of New York state, who came in early life to the Western Reserve and made settlement on a section of wild land in Franklin township, Morrow county, which he entered from the government. Here he subsequently married Miss Margaret Beers, whose parents were settlers in the pioneer community. Har- vey P. and Margaret Eldridge were the parents of eight children, one of whom, Judson, died in army service at Corinth, Mississippi. The father died at the age of fifty-two years; the mother at sixty-four.
Daniel B. Eldridge grew up on his father's farm, working in the fields in summer and during the winter attending school at Pulaskiville. In 1861 he married Miss Mahalia Lovett, of this township, and two children were born to them while they resided in Morrow county, a son and a daughter. The former, Elmer Elsworth Eldridge, a young man of great promise, died in 1898, at the age of thirty-four years, at Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he had gone for the benefit of his health. The daughter, Eva, was born in 1876, and is now the wife of Frederick Owens, a druggist and one of the prominent citizens of Almont, De Kalb county, Missouri.
In early life Mr. Eldridge disposed of his holdings in Ohio and moved to De Kalb county, Missouri, where he bought a farm of one hundred and ninety-five acres, near Maysville, the county seat, where he resided for a number of years, and for a time was fairly prosperous. In February, 1889, his wife died and was buried in that county, beside her mother, Sarah Ann Lovett, who had accompanied them to Missouri and whose death occurred some years previous to that of Mrs. Eldridge's. In 1891, two years
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after the death of his wife, Mr. Eldridge came back to the state of his nativity and again took up his abode in Morrow county. Here six years later on the 4th of August, 1891, he married Miss Polly Hart. They purchased a farm of sixty acres, where they now reside in a pleasant country home and where they are sur rounded with all the comforts of life. Mr. Eldridge prides him- self on the fine fruit he raises here, and his Delaine sheep are noted throughout the county. Mrs. Eldridge, also a native of Morrow county, is a daughter of Levi and Leah Hart, pioneer settlers of the county.
ORLANDO D. PHILLIPS .- The ranks of old patriot soldiers, who were so loyal in the defense of their country in her urgent need, are gradually becoming thinned, and thus it is a matter of special gratification to the publishers of this volume to here accord re- cognition to one who fought and bled at the shrine of Union. Orlando D. Phillips has passed practically his entire active busi- ness career in Harmony township, Morrow county, Ohio, where he is the owner of a splendid farm of three hundred and twenty acres of well cultivated land. He is engaged in diversified agri- culture and the growing of live stock and in these lines of enter- prise he has met with unqualified success.
Orlando D. Phillips was born at Granville, Licking county, Ohio, the date of his nativity being the 21st of November, 1845. He is a son of Benjamin and Margaret (Johnson) Phillips, both of whom were born and reared in Licking county, Ohio, where was solemnized their marriage. Benjamin Phillips came to Morrow county from Newark, Ohio, in 1854, and he located on a farm in Harmony township, on which he continued to reside during the remainder of his life. With the passage of years he accumulated a large estate, owning at one time as much as four hundred and fifty acres of fine Buckeye lands. He was a well educated man and was widely renowned as an orator of marked eloquence. He was a stanch Republican in his political proclivities and for a number of years served with the utmost efficiency as a member of the board of county commissioners of Morrow county. He was the father of five children, all of whom are now deceased except Orlando D., the immediate subject of this review. Benjamin Phillips was sum- moned to the life eternal in the year 1891, and his cherished and devoted wife passed away in 1911. Both were highly esteemed in their home township, where they were active factors in progress and development.
On the old homestead farm in Harmony township Orlando D. Phillips was reared to adult age, and as a boy and youth he at- tended the public schools of this section. When but seventeen years of age he became fired with boyish enthusiasm and enlisted as a soldier in Company C, Eighty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. the date of the beginning of his military career being the 29th of
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January, 1862. He was in the Eastern army during the first year and a half of his service and during that time participated in the second battle of Bull Run, the battle of Chancellorsville and the conflict at Gettysburg. Subsequently lie was with Joe Hooker and took part in the battle of Lookout Mountain. He was twice wounded, at the battle of Resaca in the left thigh, and at Atlanta in the lungs. Ile was with Sherman on his memorable march to the sea and throughout his military eareer he saw hard service. Before the close of the war he was promoted to the rank of corporal and he received his honorable discharge and was mustered out of the service on the 3d of August, 1865. One of his brothers, Oliver P. Phillips, gave up his life in the service of his country. Mr. Phillips, of this notice, retains a deep interest in his old comrades in arms and signifies the same by membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he is a valued and appreciative member of Marengo Post. As a reward for his services during the Civil was he receives a pension of twenty-four dollars per month.
When peace had again been established Mr. Phillips returned to Morrow county, Ohio, where he worked on his father's farm until his marriage, in 1867. After that important event he began to farm on his own account and he now owns a splendid estate of three hundred and twenty acres, all of which is in a high state of eultivation. The fine substantial buildings, located in the midst of well cared-for fields are ample proof of the owner's thrift and industry. In addition to his farming operations he raises high- grade stock and everywhere he is recognized as a farmer and busi- ness man of reliable methods and sterling integrity. He and his wife are devout members of the Disciple church at Wildcat and he is affiliated with a number of fraternal and social organiza- tions of representative character. His political convictions are in harmony with the principle promulgated by the Republican party and he is ever on the alert to do all in his power to advance the general welfare of his home community and county.
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