History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions, Part 46

Author: Kinder, George D., 1836-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1744

USA > Ohio > Putnam County > History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions > Part 46

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Rev. Francis Nigsch came to the United States in 1866, when he was twenty years of age, and entered the theological seminary at Carthagena, Ohio. He had already received his classical education in his native land and spent five years more at Carthagena, preparing himself for the priesthood. He was ordained by Archbishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1872, and was given a charge in Mercer county, Ohio, which was retained by him for about eighteen months. He was then transferred to the Church of St. Mary, in Auglaize county, Ohio, where he was stationed for seven months. The following three months were spent at Minster, Ohio, in the same county, where he acted as assistant pastor. The next year he was given a charge in the state of Missouri, and from 1878 to 1881 had charge of the congrega- tion at Wapakoneta, Ohio. He was appointed to the pastorate at Glandorf, Putnam county, Ohio, in 1881, where he remained until 1889. Father Nigsch is a progressive and indefatigable man in his labors, and the beneficial re- sults of the church at Glandorf eloquently testify to his ability. He liquidated a church debt of fourteen thousand dollars at Glandorf, and in addition raised a large sum for furnishing the church, an amount probably three times the debt which he paid, when coming to Glandorf.

Father Nigsch traveled extensively in Europe in 1889, and while on the continent he visited Rome, and on June 23 of that year was received by Pope Leo XIII. Upon returning to this country, he again assumed charge of the church at Glandorf, and continued the active discharge of his duties at that place until the end of January, 1897. For the next nine months he was stationed at St. John, Mercer county, Ohio, and in October, 1897, he went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and organized the Church of the Precious Blood, erecting a school building as well as a church. He started the school at Fort Wayne with eight grades and an initial enrollment of one hundred and fifty pupils. The church building was erected in 1898. Before he left Fort Wayne, in January, 1903, he had erected a fine residence for the pastor and also a residence for the Sisters.

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Upon leaving Fort Wayne, Father Nigsch returned to Putnam county, Ohio, and took charge of St. Peter and Paul's church at Ottawa, where he has since been stationed. His long residence in Glandorf had already made him thoroughly well acquainted throughout the county, and it was like re- turning to an old home to be transferred to Ottawa. His ministry here has been unusually pleasant and free from any embarrassing difficulties. No spectacular strides have been made, but nearly every year has seen some sub- stantial improvement in one way or another. The church and the priest's residence have been rendered more comfortable and much improved in ap- pearance. The large indebtedness, necessarily incurred for the many and ex- pensive buildings and improvements of an earlier date, have been wiped out and funds accumulated for future necessities. A male choir was added in 1905, and a children's choir was later installed. The male choir was largely increased in 1913 by the training and instructing of a large number of young men in music. Father Nigsch loves truth much better than polite evasion. He is a man of strong executive and business ability, and withal a man with a warm heart, a kindly humor and an uprightness of character fully in keep- ing with his holy office. He is esteemed by not only those of his own church, but by the general public at large. As a good citizen, he takes an intelligent interest in the general life of his community and never shirks any responsi- bility when he feels that he can render service to his fellow citizens.

JOHN B. FISHER.

For the past score of years John B. Fisher has been engaged in the mercantile business at Townwood, Putnam county, Ohio. Before locating in Townwood, Mr. Fisher was engaged in business in various other places. By careful methods he has built up a flourishing trade at Townwood, and in addition to his business interests, he is also serving as postmaster, a posi- tion which he has held for several years.

John B. Fisher, the son of Andrew J. and Nancy M. (Baker) Fisher, was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, October 30, 1866. His father was born in the same county, June 30, 1839, the son of John and Eliza Fisher, natives of Ohio.

Andrew J. Fisher was reared on his father's farm in Tuscarawas county, and when a young man began to work on the railroad through his county, and continued in this work until 1869, when he moved to Allen

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county, Indiana, where he purchased a farm, and continued to reside in In- diana until 1873, and then moved to Belmore, Putnam county, Ohio, where he took charge of a store. He managed this store until 1875, and then en- gaged in business for himself with Nimrod Speaker. This firm continued together for two years and then the business was sold to George Speaker. Following his connection with the mercantile business at Belmore, Andrew J. Fisher became yard boss for the stave factory at Belmore, which position he retained until the spring of 1893. He then went to Latty, Paulding county, Ohio, where he engaged in the butcher business until 1905, when he retired from active work and moved to Van Wert, Ohio, where he is now living.

Andrew J. Fisher was married, about 1861, to Nancy M. Baker, of Dennison, Ohio, and to this union four children were born: Laura, who died at the age of three; John D., of Townwood; Lydia, and Delia M. Lydia became the wife of William George, of Belmore, Ohio, and is the mother of seven children, John, Nancy, Bernice, Bernard, Delia, Noel and Dale. One of Lydia's sons, John, married Laura Fenstermaker; Delia M., the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Fisher, became the wife of Howard J. Mouser, and has two children, one who died in infancy, and Fred, of Portland, Oregon.

John B. Fisher was three years of age when his parents moved to Allen county, Indiana, and lived in various places where his father was engaged in business. He received a good common school education and early in life began to work in his father's store. His early training in business was received in the store in Belmore and Leipsic. After his mar- riage he engaged in business for himself at Belmore, Perrysburg and Latty, before finally locating in Townwood in Putnam county. He came to the latter place in 1895 and bought the general store of J. F. Fike, and has been engaged in business in this place since that time. He carries a large line of such goods as are carried in stores in towns of this size and has built up a large and lucrative trade throughout this section of the county.

Mr. Fisher was married in June, 1889, to Effie M. Hunter, a daughter of John and Susanna (Sellers) Hunter. Her father was a native of Penn- sylvania and her mother of Ohio. Mr. Fisher and his wife are the parents of five children, Fay, Marie, Carlton J., Paul and Winona. Fay married Prof. W. S. Wallen, of Petersburg, New York, and has one son, Richard. Carlton J. died in infancy, and the other three children are still living with their parents in Townwood.

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REESE F. HICKEY.

No profession has made greater advancement during the last half cen- tury than has that of agriculture, and practically all of the disadvantages which surrounded the pioneer farmer have been done away with because of the multitude of modern inventions which tend to lighten the farmer's labors. It takes less labor now to operate a farm of fifty acres than it did to operate a farm of ten acres fifty years ago, and inventions are coming into use every year which are helping the farmer to increase his sphere of usefulness. Ohio is recognized as one of the best farming states in the Union and no county in the state has better or more progressive farmers than has Putnam county. Among the hundreds of farmers who have made this county famous as an agricultural section, there is no one more worthy of a place in a biographical volume of this character than Reese F. Hickey, the subject of this review.

Reese F. Hickey was born on November 20, 1848, in Licking county, Ohio. He came to Putnam county when three years of age in 1850 with his parents, who settled on the old Kutsinger place one and one-half miles southeast of Gilboa, on Duke's Run, and here the family lived one year when the father purchased the old George Steward farm, one mile farther east. His wife died in 1865 and, in 1866, he married Sarah Harris. It was on this farm of one hundred and seventy-three acres that Reese F Hickey's parents lived for about eighteen years, or until 1870, when Henry and Sarah (Harris) Hickey, moved to the Bacon farm one and one-quarter miles south of Gilboa, which place they had purchased some years before. It was upon this farm that Henry Hickey died one year later, April, 1871.

Reese F Hickey spent his boyhood days on the old Steward farm. This farm was fairly well cleared and improved for that time, and had on it a good log cabin and a rather commodious log barn, as well as a large orchard. Here Reese F Hickey assisted his father with the work of the farm, attend- ing the district schools during the winter seasons, remaining on the farm until: he was sixteen years of age.

Mr. Hickey enlisted for service in the Union army in August, 1864, in Company B, Twenty-ninth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served under Generals Slocum, Ward and Gerry in Sherman's army. After his en- listment he joined his regiment which had just taken the city of Atlanta. This- regiment was a part of the Twentieth Army Corps, and was a part of the First Brigade, Second Division. In the late fall of 1864, his regiment joined Sherman's march to the sea. It so happened that Mr. Hickey at this time.

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had an attack of measles, which detained him for several weeks in the hos- pital, from which place he was sent to Nashville, where he performed some detail work. Later, with a squad of soldiers, he was given charge of several carloads of rebel prisoners, which they convoyed to Johnson's island on Lake Erie.

Subsequently, was placed in charge of a party of deserters from Ohio, who were taken from New York and returned to their command. After reaching New York, Mr. Hickey went by steamer to North Carolina. The steamer on which he sailed was wrecked off Cape Hatteras, and the passen- gers and crew escaped in life-boats to Boody's island. From here they sent information of their predicament, by some fishermen, to the military post at Roanoke island, and shortly a steamer arrived which conveyed them to New- burn, North Carolina. From here, Mr. Hickey went to Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he joined his own regiment, the Twenty-ninth Ohio. From Goldsboro, they went to Raleigh, North Carolina, and from there to Wash- ington, D. C., marching overland all the distance. Mr. Hickey took part in the grand review before President Johnson and the leading generals of the army at Washington. He was mustered out of the service at Blatensburg, Maryland, on the outskirts of Washington, and was then returned to Camp Dennison, Ohio, near Cincinnati, where he received his final discharge.

After the close of the war, Mr. Hickey returned home and helped his father on the old home place, where he remained for about two years.

Reese F. Hickey was married on October 3, 1867, to Evaline McClure, the daughter of Andrew and Mary Ann (Ewing) McClure, who were early settlers and poineers in Putnam county, Ohio. After his marriage, Mr. Hickey moved to a farm owned by his father, known as the George Wilkins farm, and located one and one-fourth miles southeast of Gilboa, and here he lived until 1870, or about three years, when he moved to the Doctor Mowe farm, one mile south of Gilboa, which also belonged to Mr. Hickey's father. This place he later purchased from his father. He sold the farm and moved to Gilboa in 1880 where he remained until 1884. He then bought back the same farm and returned to it, where he remained until 1907, when he again moved to Gilboa. He lived in Gilboa six years, and, in 1913, again returned to the old farm.

From time to time Mr. Hickey has added to his original land-holdings until he is now the owner of about four hundred acres, all of which lies south of Gilboa. Mr. Hickey has always engaged in general farming and stock- raising and has made a pre-eminent success of this combination.

Mr. and Mrs. Reese F. Hickey are the parents of seven children, Mary,

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Thomas, Charles Henry, Roxy May, Daniel R., Mable and Reese F., Jr. Mary is the wife of Casper Harmon, and resides in Blanchard township, and is the mother of two children, Jennie and Edgar; Thomas married Annie Davis, of Glassford, Illinois. His death occurred on November 7, 1914; Thomas Hickey was a graduate of Crawfis College, of Gilboa. He also at- tended school at Normal, Illinois, and was admitted to the Missouri bar after taking a course in law, but he preferred the teaching profession, which he followed until his death at St. Charles, Illinois. At the time of his death, he was parole officer for the state reformatory at St. Charles. In this posi- tion he had been signally successful, had been much sought and honored by various city and county offices during his career, and at one time was mayor of Glasford, Illinois. He also served in Fulton county as supervisor and purchasing agent, and left a host of friends at the time of his death. Charles. Henry, the third child of Mr. and Mrs. Hickey, married Mrs. Mary Swank- house, formerly Miss Geisinger. They lived in Toledo, where he is con- nected with the Willis-Overland Motor Car Company. Roxy May is the wife of William Chester Windmon, and they reside south of Gilboa, and are the parents of six children, Clarence, who died at the age of twelve; Reese, Nancy Evaline, George, Reynolds and Harold. Daniel R. Hickey married Ina Heasley, of Montpelier, Indiana, who are now living in Texas, where he is in the oil business ; Mabel is the wife of Austin White, and resides south- west of Gilboa. They have one child, Mary Magdalene; Reese F., Jr., the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Hickey, married Della Zine, of Ottawa, and has three children, Helen, Ina and Henry.

Andrew McClure, who is Mrs. Hickey's father, was a native of Mary- land, and came with his parents, as a young man, to Licking county, Ohio. His wife, who was Mary Ann Ewing, was born in Licking county. After their marriage they came to Putnam county, about the year 1832, and settled one mile east of Gilboa. He died in 1861, while his widow survived him, until 1869. Mrs. Hickey has spent all of her life, since her girlhood, in Putnam county.

From the beginning of his career, Reese F. Hickey has been prominent in the councils of the Democratic party. He served as township trustee two terms, and as a member of the school board for twenty-one years. He was also township treasurer for two terms and land appraiser in 1890. He was appraiser of real estate for Gilboa in 1910. In addition to these offices, Mr. Hickey has held numerous other positions of trust and responsibility. There is no farmer in Putnam county who is better known than Reese F. Hickey, and no man who surpasses him in popular esteem. He has been very suc- cessful as a farmer and has gained a substantial competence for his declining

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years. He lives in an imposing twelve-room residence and enjoys all of the comforts that are available in his community. For many years Mr. Hickey has been one of the leading members of Lindsay Post, Grand Army of the Republic, at Gilboa.

CHARLES J. RAY, M. D.

Few residents of any community exert an influence which is more beneficial to the community at large than does the local physician. His is the hand which guides his neighbors through sickness to health, and his the knowledge which is always called into play during times of greatest stress and danger. He is always at hand when most greatly needed, ready to answer a call from his neighbors at any time of the day or night. It is with such a man in the person of Charles J. Ray, M. D., of Blanchard township, Putnam county, Ohio, that this sketch deals.

Charles J. Ray was born in Findlay, Ohio, a son of James K. and Sophia (Hoch) Ray. James K. Ray was born in Findlay, Ohio, in 1847, a son of Allen and Catherine (Routson) Ray, both of whom were natives of Colum- biana county, Ohio. The father of Allen Ray was Gian Ray, who was a native of Ireland and who came to America when a young man, in company with his six brothers. He settled first near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but later migrated to Columbiana county and settled near New Lisbon, where Allen Ray was born. It was at that place that Gian Ray was married.

Allen Ray was a farmer and, after his marriage in Columbiana county, he migrated to Hancock county, Ohio, where he bought a farm near Findlay. He died a few years later at the age of thirty, having been a victim of typhoid fever. Allen and Catherine Ray were the parents of five children, who were: Thomas, now living in Bartlesville, Oklahoma; Elise Ray, M. D., deceased, who lived at Findlay; Mary, the widow of William Shetterley, of Findlay; James K., the subject's father, and Albert, deceased, who was formerly city clerk of Findlay.

James K. Ray, the father of Charles J. Ray, received his early education in Findlay and then, in company with his youngest brother, Albert, engaged in the carriage manufacturing business when a young man. When he was about twenty-six years of age, he married Sophia Hoch, a daughter of Adam and Rosina (Heffler) Hoch, both of whom were natives of Badenheim, Darmstadt, Germany. Sophia Hoch, the mother of Charles J. Ray, was also born in Badenheim and came to America with her parents when she was two years of age. The family settled in Hancock county, where Adam Hoch

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engaged in farming. In Germany, the Hefflers were landholders, and the Hochs conducted a tavern at Badenheim, the same tavern still being con- ducted by a Hoch, who is a cousin of Mrs. Hoch.

James K. and Sophia Ray were the parents of one son, Charles James, the subject of this sketch. James K. died at the age of thirty-one, in 1878. His widow is yet living and makes her home with her son.

Charles J. Ray spent his boyhood in Findlay, where he attended the common and high schools, having been graduated from the latter in 1892. He entered the Cleveland Medical College in the fall of 1892, from which he was graduated with the class of 1896. The following fall he located at Gilboa, Putnam county, Ohio, where he is successfully practicing his chosen profession at the present time.

After having practiced for several years, he took post-graduate work at the Chicago Polyclinic and later, in 1908, he took special work in advanced medicine, chiefly in diagnosis, at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, during a period of fifteen months, after which he returned to Gilboa.

Doctor Ray is a member of Ottawa Lodge No. 325, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the American Medical Association. He is a progressive and successful physician of the regular school and is highly esteemed in his community, both as a physician and as a citizen, in which latter capacity he has been honored by his neighbors in having been given several offices of trust, all of which he has filled to the complete satisfaction of an appreciative public.

GEORGE W. CORE.

In every community there are men who rise to the position of leaders in their respective vocations, farming, business or the trades. Men who have succeeded in their struggle for wealth and affluence are most likely to be the commanding figures in the communities where they live. People are generally willing to do honor to the successful man in whatever his success consists. George W. Core, cashier of the Peoples State Bank, of Columbus Grove, Ohio, has been successful in the business world.

George W. Core was born on June 19, 1864, at Cassville, West Vir- ginia, the son of David and Rebecca (Layton) Core. David Core is also a native of Cassville, and was a son of Moses and Elizabeth Core. The Core family is said to have come originally from Scotland.

GEORGE W. CORE.

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When George W. Core was two years old, the family moved to Colum- bus Grove, Putnam county, Ohio, where in 1866 they located on a farm. George W. Core lived on the farm near Columbus Grove, until nineteen years of age. He then took a course in telegraphy, and became a railroad opera- tor. At the age of twenty he went west and spent a short time on a farm in Missouri, after which he went to Orion, Illinois, in the fall of 1884, took a position with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway Company, and was also employed at various places on the northern division of the St. Louis branch of this railway. He was special agent for the St. Louis branch for about two years. In the spring of 1886 he gave up telegraphic work and took a place in the bank at Orion, Illinois, remaining with this financial in- stitution four years as bookkeeper and teller.

In 1890, Mr. Core organized the Farmers Bank of Orion, a private bank, and became cashier upon its organization. He continued in this position until the fall of 1892, when he sold his interests in that bank and came to Colum- bus Grove, and organized the Peoples Bank. It was a private bank until 1896, when a state charter was taken out. It has since been operated as a state bank, with an authorized capital of sixty thousand dollars and present surplus and undivided profits of eighteen thousand dollars. Mr. Core has been cashier from the time the bank was first organized, and still holds that posi- tion. Besides his banking relations, Mr. Core has engaged in various other enterprises. He is largely interested in farming four hundred and fifty acres near Columbus Grove, three hundred and fifty of which adjoin the town of Columbus Grove. For a time he was interested in the electric light plant, both at Columbus Grove and at Paulding, and a principal promoter of the plant at the former place. He is also interested as a third owner of the Northern Ohio Cooperage and Lumber Company, with headquarters at Par- kin, Arkansas. Likewise, Mr. Core was one of the promoters of the Putnam Telephone Company.

George W. Core was married to Lorena B. Dowden in 1893. She was born at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was reared at Fairmount, West Vir- ginia, the daughter of James E. and Ruth (Thomas) Dowden. Her father is a dentist and still resides at Fairmount. Mr. and Mrs. Core are the par- ents of two children, a son and daughter, Ruth K. and Eugene D. Ruth is now in her third year at Vassar College, while Eugene is in his last year in the high school at Columbus Grove.

Mr. Core is a thirty-second degree Mason, and also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is an adherent of the Republican party. He and his family are active members of the Presbyterian church.

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Naturally, Mr. and Mrs. Core are leaders in the community where they live, having a large circle of friends and acquaintances and are popular through- out the county.

WILLIAM KLINE.

The farmer is the bulwark of the nation, and investigation has shown that a majority of our best business men in the city were reared on the farm. George Washington was a farmer and was proud of the fact. Abraham Lincoln was reared on a farm in Spencer county, Indiana. Probably the most democratic governor that Indiana ever had was "Blue Jeans" Williams, who prided himself on being nothing but a farmer. James A. Mount, another Indiana governor, was a farmer. Governor A. L. Harris, of Ohio, has always been interested in the farm. The farmer is not only the bulwark of the nation, but is the salt of the earth. Among the farmers of Putnam county, none is more progressive than William Kline, who has been thoroughly schooled in all the multitude of agricultural details which are necessary part of the information of every farmer. Careful and con- servative in his business methods and affairs, he is, nevertheless, sufficiently schooled in the art of farming to make him keep pace with twentieth cen- tury ideas and methods of agriculture. Mr. Kline is a man well known in the community as a public-spirited citizen, and one, therefore, eminently entitled to representation in this volume.

William Kline was born in Seneca county, Ohio, May 14, 1847. He is a son of John Jacob and Elizabeth (Briner) Kline. John Jacob Kline was born in Wurttemburg, Germany, in 1802, and he was a son of Gottlieb Kline and wife.

John Jacob Kline came to America at the age of twenty-five years, after serving five years in the Prussian army. He landed first in New York City, where he remained for a few months, then came to Seneca county, Ohio, where he purchased sixty acres of land. He was a weaver by trade and, in the early days, he and his wife wove cloth for the people of their neighborhood. The cloth included linen, jean and flannel. They owned two looms and operated them in one room, a log cabin. John Jacob Kline was also a horticulturist of considerable ability. He was a man of splendid mental equipment, a great reader and self-made in every respect. His father, who came with him from Germany, took up a homestead in Hopewell township, Seneca county but only lived for about two years after coming

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History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions, Part 46

Author: Kinder, George D., 1836- Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1744

Author: Kinder, George D., 1836-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1744