USA > Ohio > Putnam County > History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions > Part 48
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of what determined energy and grit, combined with good business acumen, can accomplish.
J. C. Phillips was born in Blanchard township, Putnam county, Ohio, November 26, 1858, a son of Eli and Mary (Fenstmocher) Phillips. Eli Phillips was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, October 27, 1823, and died in 1895. He was a son of Samuel Phillips, who was a native of Wales and came to America when a boy.
Eli Phillips spent his boyhood in Coshocton, where he received his early education. When he was a young man he migrated to Wood county, Ohio. He was married about 1854 at Bowling Green, Wood county, to Mary Fenst- mocher, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Fenstmocher. After his mar- riage he settled in Hancock county, near Findlay, where he remained about two years. He then located on the John Crawfis farm, near where Crawfis College now is, and retained that farm for about ten years. From there he went to Lowell, Michigan, where he remained four years and moved to Ionia, near which location he remained until the time of his death in 1905.
Phillip Fenstmocher was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and came to Wood county, Ohio, during the early days. When Eli Phillips was a young man, he and his brother entered eighty acres of land each on the present site of Jersey City, Wood county. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Eli Phillips, as follow: Joseph D., born on January 20, 1856; Rachel, born on June 20, 1857, died on December 23, 1863; John, the subject of this sketch; George K., born on August 12, 1860; Sarah, born on April 5, 1863, he died in 1912; Levi, born on March 19, 1865; Herman and Joshua, twins, born on September 23, 1867; Ensign, born on September 20, 1870; Eliza, born on May 25, 1874; Jason, born on July 12, 1877, and Chetro, born on January 18, 1880.
At the age of nine, J. C. Phillips moved with his parents to Michigan and remained there until he was nineteen years of age. He then returned to Putnam county, Ohio, where he worked on a farm for two years. When he was twenty-one years of age, October 1I, 1879, he married Sarah E. Harris, a daughter of Stacy and Elizabeth (Knisley) Harris.
Stacy Harris was of Irish descent and was born in Licking county, Ohio. His wife was of Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry and was born in Muskingum county, Ohio.
After his marriage, Mr. Phillips remained with his wife's people for one year. He then moved to Ionia, Michigan, where he remained nine months, and then returned to Blanchard township, Putnam county, Ohio, where he has made his home since that time. For a time he farmed some distance
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southeast of Gilboa, Ohio, and, about 1893, he bought a part of the Hickey farm, a mile and a half southeast of Gilboa. His first purchase comprised forty acres, a farm which he has developed and enlarged until at the present time he owns one hundred and eighty acres. In all his farming operations he- has met with marked success.
Mr. Phillips is a life-long Democrat and has always taken an active part in the political affairs of his community. For twenty years he has been a. member of the school board and a supervisor, having conducted the affairs of his offices with marked ability and success.
Mr. Phillips is a member of Ottawa Lodge No. 325, Free and Accepted Masons; Gilboa Lodge No. 459, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and Encampment No. 238, Independent Order Odd Fellows, of Bluffton.
Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Phillips have one son, Leonard, who married Pearl L. Harris, a daughter of Isaac and Rachel (Baker) Harris. Isaac Harris was born in Licking county, Ohio, and came to Putnam county at the age of five years. His wife was born in Putnam county, of German descent.
Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Phillips have three children, Grace Leonore, John Carl and Harvey Kerr.
Mr. Phillips is a man of considerable prominence among his neighbors, having always been found on the right side of any question of local import- ance, and always standing in favor of anything which he considered of bene- fit to the community. He is a man of energy, ability and unquestioned. integrity.
ULRICH S. STEINER.
Men who take an active interest in public questions, especially in re- ligious affairs, adding their wisdom to the wisdom of the community and assisting by their counsel, are ever honored by the people for the good they do. Ulrich S. Steiner, a prominent farmer and evangelist of Putnam county, Ohio, is likewise one of its most representative citizens and a man who has given much of his time to public service. He has been especially successful in religious work and is an organizer of religious affairs. Few- men in Putnam county are better or more favorably known than Ulrich S. Steiner and few men more fairly deserve the respect and admiration of their fellowmen.
Ulrich S. Steiner was born on September 19, 1856, near Bluffton, Rich- land township, Allen county, Ohio, the son of John and Anna ( Burkholder );
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Steiner. John Steiner was born in the canton of Berne, Switzerland, January 23, 1792, and died on March 6, 1865, two miles west of Bluffton, in Richland township, Allen county. John Steiner was the son of Christian Steiner, who was the father of three children and who came to America in 1813, at the age of twenty-one, after a voyage lasting fifty days. He settled in Wayne county, near Orrville, where he remained for several years, and then moved to Richland township. Here he entered land from the govern- ment, and here he built a two-roomed log cabin with a center hall, to which cabin he later added one room, a frame structure, which served for his resi- dence for several years, or until his son, John Steiner, built a story and a half brick house and frame structure. It was in this house that Ulrich S. Steiner was born. John Steiner's first farm comprised one hundred and twenty acres, but to this he later added three hundred and twenty acres. In the beginning, this farm was in a virgin state and heavily timbered, with a dense growth of large white oak trees. John Steiner cleared about three- fourths of this farm, or about ninety acres, during his life time. In addition to other improvements he made on the old homestead, he built an immense barn, ninety by forty feet, with an addition of twenty by forty feet. This barn was constructed in 1857 and is in a most excellent state of preservation today. It is interesting to note that to duplicate this structure by contract today would probably cost three thousand dollars. In those days when they obtained all of the timber on the grounds, it cost only seven hundred and ninety-two dollars.
John Steiner was first married to Mary Stauffer, of Wayne county, and by her he had eight children, one of whom, Ulrich, died in infancy. The seven who survived were: Christian, John, David, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Samuel. By his second marriage, John Steiner was the father of six children, Elizabeth, Anna, Barbara, Ulrich S., Magdalene, deceased, and Daniel.
A very peculiar incident is related in connection with the life of the eldest son. Soon after his birth the child was bitten by a snake, while in bed with its parents, from the effects of which bite he died.
It was on this old homstead that Ulrich S. Steiner was born and spent his childhood days. At the age of eight years he had the misfortune to lose both parents, who died three days apart. After their death, Ulrich S. was taken to be reared by John S. Thur, who lived near Bluffton. Here he remained until twenty-five years of age, at which time he was married. He had been teaching school for eight years prior to this time and had gained a splendid reputation as a teacher.
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Mr. Steiner was married on October 13, 1881, to Susan Schumacher, who was born on December 21, 1861, in Richland township, Allen county. She is the daughter of Reverend Peter and Elizabeth (Suter) Schumacher. A complete history of this family is to be found in the sketch of Christian Schumacher, his brother.
After his marriage, Mr. Steiner farmed and taught school for two years, later devoting all of his efforts to farming. He located on a farm three and one-half miles northeast of Pandora, comprising eighty acres, which has been his residence since that time, with the exception of three years spent in Pandora in the study of the Word of God, which he still has in view. Mr. Steiner has been quite successful as a farmer and attributes this success mainly to the raising and selling of hogs.
To Mr and Mrs. Ulrich Steiner seven children have been born, Estella, the wife of A. J. Abigglen, who lives north of Pandora; John Franklin, who married Madeline Hubscher and both are missionaries in south China, on the island of Hainan; Jesse Edwin, who married Priscilla Diller, and has two children, Esther Orvilla and Mabel Lavon; James Calvin, who is a student in Otterbein University; Martha Elizabeth, Oliver Ezra and Paul David, all of whom are at home.
Mr. Steiner is a Democrat but, though he is identified with this party, he is an independent voter and supports measures and men rather than party emblems. He is now engaged to a considerable extent in evangelistic work. Mr. Steiner is a member of the Missionary church of Pandora, of which his wife likewise is a member. He is one of the organizers of the local church and took charge of their first meeting. He is a man of clean, Christian character and of high ideals.
CHARLES R. BLAUVELT.
Among the men of sterling worth and strength of character who have made an impression upon the life of the locality in which they live, none has achieved a larger measure of popular respect and esteem than Charles R. Blauvelt, the cashier of the Farmers State and Savings Bank, of Continental, Ohio. Mr. Blauvelt is well known throughout this section of Putnam county ; in fact, he was born in Putnam county and has spent his whole life, or prac- tically all of it, in this section. His life-long residence in one locality gives the people an opportunity to know every phase of his character, and that he
CHARLES R. BLAUVELT.
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has been true to life in its every phase is manifest from the confidence and regard in which he is held by those who know him. In a business way, he is a man of unusual attainments and has achieved a splendid success in busi- ness, and especially in banking. Mr. Blauvelt combines many of the traits so necessary to success in this day and generation.
Charles R. Blauvelt was born on May 25, 1878, at Belmore, Putnam county, Ohio. He is the son of Isaac E. and Hannah (Speaker) Blauvelt. Isaac E. Blauvelt was born in Franklin county, Ohio, in 1842, and was the son of Abraham, Jr., and Louisa ( Baldwin) Blauvelt. The family originally came from Holland. Abraham Blauvelt, Sr., came to New York during the American Revolution and founded the town of Blauveltville. He was the father of Abraham, Jr., who was the father of Isaac E. Isaac E. Blauvelt grew up in Franklin county, Ohio, and there married Hannah Speaker, a sister of Nimrod Speaker, whose sketch gives the family history. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac E. Blauvelt moved to Putnam county in 1857 and located on a farm one mile south of Belmore. There he farmed until recent years, when he moved to Belmore, where he now resides. He has been a lifelong farmer and has served as township trustee, on the board of education and has filled other local offices of trust and responsibility.
Charles R. Blauvelt grew up at Belmore and attended Muskingum Col- lege, after having completed a course in the public schools of Ohio. He left college in 1902 and then taught school at Belmore for five years. At the end of this period he organized the bank at Belmore. It is a state bank and Mr. Blauvelt served as cashier of this bank for seven years.
Mr. Blauvelt moved to Continental in January, 1914, having sold out his interest in the bank at Belmore and having purchased an interest in the Farmers State and Savings Bank at Continental, of which he is now cashier. Mr. Blauvelt was mayor of Belmore for seven years and also served on the school board for three years.
In 1901, Charles R. Blauvelt was married to Loretta C. Jones, who was born at Greentown, Indiana, and who is the daughter of J. W. and Elizabeth A. (Covalt) Jones, who still live at Greentown. Mrs. Blauvelt grew up at Greentown, where she graduated from the high school and from the normal academy. Her father was a miller, who moved to Belmore, where he en- gaged in the milling business for some time, but subsequently removed to Greentown, where he now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Blauvelt have five chil- dren, Ralph E., Charles Frederick, Vaugh C., Elizabeth A. and Etta Cathryn.
Mr. Blauvelt is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Blauvelt are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and are bringing up their family in this faith.
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Although Charles R. Blauvelt is a comparatively young man, he has demonstrated, within a very few years, that he is possessed of that initiative and determination which is a certain guarantee of success in life. Mr. Blau- velt has not only been able to achieve a rather exceptional measure of suc- cess, but at the same time he has managed to retain the confidence and re- spect of his fellows, as is evident by the responsible positions of trust with which he has been charged. Few men in this section of Putnam county are better known than he, and few men are more deserving the respect of his fellows. Mr. and Mrs. Blauvelt are popular, socially, in Continental and admired by a large number of people.
JONATHAN J. DARLING.
Jonathan J. Darling has attained pronounced prestige by reason of natural and acquired ability, and also because of his permanent and official position and high standing in the domain of private citizenship. He takes a deep and abiding interest in everything that pertains to the material advance- ment of the town and township where he lives, and every enterprise intended to promote the advancement of Putnam county is sure to receive his hearty support. Jonathan J. Darling is rated as one of the progressive citizens of the community in which he lives, and the high respect in which he is held by all classes of people is a deserving compliment to an intelligent, broad- minded and most worthy man. He is a successful farmer and has made farming pay him handsome returns.
Jonathan J. Darling was born in Riley township, Putnam county, on the old Darling homstead, on June 10, 1850, the son of Joseph and Sophia (Groff ) Darling. His father was a native of Richland county, Ohio, and was born on July 9, 1818. He was the son of Jonathan P. and Catherine (Butler) Darling, natives of Virginia. Jonathan P. Darling was a soldier in the War of 1812 and soon after the close of that struggle, located in Rich- land. county, Ohio. He lived here as a farmer until his death at the age of seventy-one. Jonathan P Darling was a devout Lutheran. He and his- wife were the parents of nine children, Robert, Joseph, Rebecca, Squire,. Abigail, Vincent, Sophia, Aditha and John P. Vincent, who died after his marriage, leaving a wife and seven children. Aditha married Matthew Alexander and became the mother of a family. Joseph Darling, the father of Jonathan J., settled in Hancock county in 1843, and a little later in Riley
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township, Putnam county. He married Sophia Groff in 1840. She was. the daughter of Joseph Groff, a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent. He was the father of eleven children, Elias, Polatus, Eli, Julia A., Sophia,. David, Emeline, Christina, Fiatta, Caroline and James. Seven children. were born to Joseph Darling and wife, Elias, who died of smallpox in Libby prison; Abigail, who married Volney O. Vanstronder, who died on January 25, 1885, leaving three children; Catherine E., who died young; Sophia A., who died in childhood; Jonathan, the subject of this sketch; Joseph and. Sarah, both of whom died young. Mrs. Joseph Darling died on March 28, 1880. She was a member of the Methodist Protestant church. Joseph Dar- ling was a man of considerable local influence. He served his township as- township appraiser and as township trustee, was a pillar in his church and an experienced and successful farmer and a man respected for his unswerv- ing morality.
Jonathan J. Darling spent his childhood and youth on the old home place. He attended the district school, and, after completing the course here, took one term at the Ottawa Normal. Two terms he spent at Ohio Northern University, at Ada, where he continued his academic studies. After finishing his education, he returned home and taught one term in the home- district. He was a successful teacher, but soon took up farming for himself on his father's farm.
At the age of twenty-eight, on February 28, 1878, Jonathan J. Darling: was married to May Youngkin, who was born at Gilboa, December 9, 1856,. and who is the daughter of Jerome W. and Mary Ann (Hall) Youngkin .. Mrs. Youngkin was the daughter of Samuel and Martha (Wamsley) Hall. Samuel Hall was born on April 9, 1803, and died on March 25, 1896. His- wife was born on September 30, 1805, and died in September, 1895. Both Jerome W. and Mary Ann ( Hall) Youngkin were natives of Putnam county. The Halls were pioneers in Putnam county.
After his marriage, Mr. Darling continued farming for about fifteen years, or until 1893, when he moved to Gilboa and entered the hardware business, in which he continued for nine years. He then returned to the- farm, which has been his residence since that date. Mr. Darling has always. engaged in general farming and has been quite successful. At his father's death he inherited eighty acres of the old homestead and has since added forty acres, making in all one hundred and twenty acres which he now owns ..
To Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan J. Darling, five children have been born, Clinnie, Ettie, Jessie, Leo and Lena. Clinnie, who was born on February 27, 1879, is the widow of William Ross. One child, Vera, who resides at home,
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was born to them; Ettie, who was born on December 20, 1881, is the wife of Edward L. Peckinpaugh, and has three children, Edward, Vilroe and Gerald. They reside one mile south of Leipsic; Jessie, who was born on January 31, 1884, is the wife of Harry C. Laub, and has two children, Harold and Raymond. They reside near Milan, Michigan; Leo, who was born on July 30, 1890, died on February 12, 1893; Lena, who was born on October 4, 1893, is a student at Defiance College.
Jonathan J. Darling is one of Riley township's most successful farmers and is well and favorably known. He is a Democrat and served his fellow citizens as treasurer of Blanchard township for four years and made a creditable record. Mr. Darling attends the Methodist Episcopal church at Gilboa. Mrs. Darling and her daughters are members of this church.
HENRY SHERMAN KETNER.
An enumeration of those men of the present generation who have won honor and recognition for themselves and at the same time have honored the locality to which they belong, would be incomplete were there were failure to make specific mention of Henry Sherman Ketner. The qualities which have made him one of the prominent farmers of Riley township, Put- nam county, Ohio, have also won for him the esteem of his fellow citizens. His career is one of well-directed energy, strong determination and honor- able methods.
Mr. Ketner was born on March 4, 1865, in Pleasant township, Putnam county, Ohio. He is a son of Andrew and Mary (Hall) Ketner, the former born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1811, and died in Pleasant township, Put- nam county, Ohio. Andrew Ketner was married in Fairfield county, Ohio, to a Mrs. Pope, and came to Putnam county in an early day, probably soon after his marriage, settling in Blanchard township, in the southwest part of what is known as the Stover farm. Here he entered forty acres of land from the government. He later rented a farm in the southeast part of Ottawa township, owned by a man by the name of Lutz. Later on, he pur- chased eighty acres in the northeast part of Pleasant township, and here he lived the remainder of his life. Before moving to Pleasant township, his first wife died, leaving four children, Silas, Sarah, Matilda and Sissy. After his wife's death, Andrew Ketner returned to Fairfield county, where he married Mary Hall, the mother of H. S. Ketner. Again he returned to
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Putnam county, locating on his eighty-acre farm in pleasant township. The farm was covered with virgin timber at the time Mr. Ketner acquired it, and some of it was covered with water a part of the time, but in spite of these obstacles, Andrew Ketner set to work with a will, built a one-room cabin and a log stable, and with true pioneer spirit, proceeded to improve and. develop his farm. He later added a kitchen and bedroom to his cabin, and this house served as his residence for the remainder of his life. He suc- ceeded in clearing about sixty-three or sixty-five acres of the land, and it was. here that Henry S. Ketner and his brothers and sisters were born, there being six of them, as follow: James, deceased, who married Alice Fuller, also deceased, had two children, Martha, deceased, and May; Priscilla, the wife of Denton Snyder; Elias, who married Etta Hill, has five children, Vic- tor, Zadell, Lena, Walter and Edith, who died at the age of five years; Henry S., with whom this narrative deals; Sylvester, who married Alice- Guisinger ; Charles, unmarried.
It was on the old homestead, in Pleasant township, that Henry Ket- ner was reared, and it was here that he attended the old Butler district school. At the age of fourteen, he left school to help his father clear the land and operate the home farm, where he stayed with his father and mother until he had reached his majority, and the following fall was married. Henry Sherman Ketner was married on August 11, 1887, to Nora Bracy, who- was born in Blanchard township, October 8, 1869, and who is a daughter of John and Sarah (Pence) Jones-Bracy. The latter was born on August 5, 1827, and died in Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio, May 28, 1896. She first married G. W. Jones, and to this union were born eight children, and after his death she was married to John Bracy, and to this union were born two- children, Andrew Duff, who married Annie Harris, has four children, Minda, Howard, August and Harrietta; Nora, the wife of Mr. Ketner. The details- of the Bracy family history are to be found in the sketch of Isaac Bracy, found elsewhere in this volume.
After his marriage, Mr. Ketner and wife located on the farm Mrs. Ketner received from her father's estate three and one-half miles northeast of Pandora, on which they have lived since that time. Mr. Ketner has. always engaged in general farming and stock raising with a very com- mendable degree of success. He is a man of genial disposition and popular in the community where he lives.
Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ketner, Abigail Armeda, born on November 2, 1889, is the wife of Daniel Miller, and they have four children, Verax Gertrude, Glen Harold, Leona Lucile and Wayne Millard;
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Sarah Gertrude, born on April 17, 1892, is the wife of Joseph Welty, and resides in Toledo, Ohio; Alvin Lee, born on January 14, 1895, is unmarried and living at home; Alta May, born on July 28, 1897, is unmarried and living at home; Kenneth Martin, born on February 24, 1906; Marguerite B., born on December 28, 1908, died on December 31, 1908.
Mr. Ketner is a Republican, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Gilboa, and is an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal- church, as is also Mrs. Ketner. H. S. Ketner is one of the influential citizens of Riley township. He is well and favorably known as a progressive farmer and a man who is entitled to the esteem in which he is held by his neigh- bors and fellow citizens.
BENJAMIN B. HILTY.
The biographies of enterprising men, especially of good men, are in- structive as guides and incentives to others. The example they furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity, strongly illustrate what it is in the power of each to accomplish. Some men belong to no exclusive class in life. Apparently insurmountable obstacles have awakened their dormant faculties and served as a stimulant to carry them to ultimate renown. The instances of success in the face of adverse fate would seem to almost justify the con- clusion that self-reliance, with half a chance, can accomplish any reasonable object. Benjamin B. Hilty is a man who has lived to good purpose and achieved a splendid success. By a straightforward, commendable course, he has made his way to a respectable position in the world, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his community and earning the reputation of being an enterprising, progressive man of affairs, which the public has not been slow to recognize and appreciate.
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