USA > Ohio > Putnam County > History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions > Part 49
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Benjamin B. Hilty was born in Richland township, Highland county, Ohio, March 8, 1850, on the old Hilty homestead. He is a son of Peter and Elizabeth ( Neuenschwander) Hilty. The family history of Mr. Hilty's parents is to be found in the sketch of Isaac Hilty, a brother of Benjamin B., found elsewhere in this volume.
Benjamin B. Hilty spent his childhood and youth on the old homestead in Richland township, Highland county, Ohio. Here he attended the typical log-cabin schools, and here he remained until twenty-three years of age. The farm of one hundred and twenty acres was only about two-thirds cleared
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when his father first acquired it, and Benjamin B. helped to clear and de- velop this farm with the exception of twenty acres.
At the age of twenty-three years, Mr. Hilty was married to Susannah Steiner, who was born on May 12, 1855, in Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio, a daughter of Peter and Barbara (Schumacher) Steiner. Susannah Steiner is a sister of Peter P. Steiner, whose life history is found elsewhere in his volume. Her mother was a sister of Peter Schumacher, the history of which family is to be found in the sketch of Christian Schumacher.
To Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin B. Hilty eleven children have been born, Samuel B., born on April 12, 1874, is unmarried and resides at Pandora ; Helena B., born on June 10, 1875, died on July 3, 1905, at the age of twenty- one; Albert B. and Clara, twins, born on November 30, 1876, Clara dying at the age of six months, while Albert married Elizabeth Welty, and they have four children; Edward, born on July 15, 1878, married Martha Som- mers, and they have four children; Mary, born on December 10, 1879, is the wife of John A. Sommers, and they have one child, and live at Pan- dora; Sarah, born on May 20, 1881, is the wife of Albert A. Bury, and they have four children, and reside at Pandora; Cyrus and Willis, twins, were born on June 24, 1883, the former died at the age of two months, while Willis died at the age of twenty-one years; Lewis B., who died at the age of a few months, and Ellen, born on May 22, 1887, is the wife of Philip Amstutz. The mother of these children died on October 3, 1888. She was a member of the Mennonite church, a kind and faithful wife and a devoted mother.
After his marriage, Benjamin B. Hilty worked on his farm of seventy- five acres, on the old Ridge road, one and one-half miles east of Pandora. This farm had a two-room log house and a small frame barn on it at this time, and only about twenty acres of the land had been cleared. The land was covered with water for a considerable portion of the year. Mr. Hilty proceeded to clear up his land, and it was only by dint of untiring industry and perseverance that he succeeded. It was in this old log cabin that all his children were born, and it was here that Mrs. Hilty died. After her death, Mr. Hilty broke up housekeeping for a few years. The children were placed with neighboring relatives. Later, when they were grown older, Mr. Hilty gathered them together in a new frame building adjoining the old log house which he had built, and here he and his children again took up their resi- dence. One month after coming together again, this house was destroyed by fire. Soon afterward Mr. Hilty built a larger frame house, containing eight or nine rooms. In addition to this improvement he built a large and
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commodious barn and other outbuildings, in keeping with the surroundings. In addition to this he purchased a farm of seventy acres two miles north of Pandora, which he gave to his son. Along with his farming activities, Mr. Hilty has been operating a threshing outfit for the past seventeen years. About a year after his wife died, he engaged in buying and selling live stock a part of the time. He was associated in business with Samuel B. Krohn. At the end of two or three years he engaged in the manufacture of tile, which business he continued for four years.
Before engaging in the live stock business with Samuel B. Krohn, Mr. Hilty made a trip to Switzerland, where he visited the scenes of his father's. birthplace. It was after disposing of his tile business that he returned to his- old business of threshing, in which line he is still engaged. Besides farm- ing and his work along other lines, Mr. Hilty has been an extensive breeder of thoroughbred Belgian horses and has made a notable success in this busi- ness. Out of all his enterprises, Mr. Hilty has made considerable money and has a substantial competence for his declining years.
Mr. Hilty is a member of the Mennonite church, of which denomination Mrs. Hilty was also a member. He is a Democrat. He has served his township as supervisor and also as school director. He has always led an active life and is well and favorably known. He enjoys the respect of the community in general and, as a citizen of the township, his character and reputation are above reproach.
WILLIAM W. EDWARDS.
On what more fitting page can those beautiful words "In Memoriam" be arrayed than on a page of the history of the county in which the person in whose tribute the words are used lived so long and so usefully ; the county in which his manifold activities came to such ripe fruition, the county in which he was so well loved and throughout which he is so sincerely mourned ? In arraying "In Memoriam" here to the memory of William W. Edwards, long one of the most active and prominent citizens of Putnam county, the biographer is conscious of a sense of peculiar fitness, the sense of doing the right thing in the right place. History is but biography in the mass, for it is the individual that creates the event, and the history of one's time is but the history, in the aggregate, of the individuals who contribute to the events of the period. Many who have lived and labored in the past in Putnam county left the impress of their individuality writ large upon the page of
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their generation's achievements and their names are recalled with veneration and honored as they ought to be by those who, coming after them, have profited by the labors of their lives. These men did well the things which their hands found to do, and, having done their part, passed on, but their memories are as imperishable as the monuments their industry and energy and painstaking care erected, and their names long will live in the annals of the community whose institutions they so earnestly wrought to perpetuate and in which they achieved so large a measure of success. Among this noble band it may be properly said that none was better known or more popularly regarded than he whose name the reader's eye has noted above, and it is a pleasure for the reviewer to set out a few of the salient points in his life, such points as relate to his public activities and which will be valuable as in- formation to the present and coming generations.
In the biography presented elsewhere in this volume, under the name of Joseph H. Edwards, the well-known banker of Kalida, the genealogy of the Edwards family is set out at some length, and repetition here may not be regarded by the reader as necessary. It will be sufficient to say, therefore, that William W. Edwards was born in Licking county, Ohio, December 19, 1847, the son of Thomas W. and Isabel (Huston) Edwards, the former of whom was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1823, the son of Walter Edwards, a native of Wales, who came to America with his parents when he was twelve years of age and located in Muskingum county, Ohio, where he grew to useful manhood and where he reared his family, among his chil- dren being Thomas W., who married Isabel Huston, a member of one of the pioneer families of Licking county, Ohio, and who brought his family to Putnam county in the year 1864, he and his wife spending the rest of their lives in Union township, her death occurring in 1892 and his in 1905, he dying in the town of Leipsic, to which he had retired upon giving over the active life of the farm, some years before his death. The memory of Thomas W. Edwards and his good wife is still held precious in the community in which they so long lived, as they were, indeed, active in good works all their lives. That they possessed extraordinary strength of character is demon- strated by the force of character which they imparted to their children, their three sons, William W., John and Joseph H., who so long and so success- fully were associated together in business in this county and its environs, having ungrudgingly attributed much of their success in life to the training they received under the careful charge of their parents. Of these sons, only Joseph H. now survives, the death of John having occurred in 1901. Two
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daughters of Thomas Edwards also survive, Mrs. S. J. Hoffman and Mrs. C. S. Perry. Two other sons, James and David, died in infancy.
William W. Edwards was fifteen years of age when he came to Putnam county with his parents, and he spent the rest of his life in this county, grow- ing to be one of the most useful and influential, as well as one of the wealth- iest, men in the county. He died May 21, 1913, and was widely mourned, for he was a man who had inspired many warm and enduring friendships.
Though the schools in this county, in the days of his youth, were not what they are now, Mr. Edwards was an apt student and readily absorbed such learning as was afforded in the course at that time prescribed in the country schools, to which was supplemented the instructions received at home from his attentive parents. At the age of seventeen he began teaching school and continued this form of public service for several winters, his summers being occupied in assisting his father on the farm. Evincing, early in life, the peculiar aptitude for business which characterized his later and larger dealings, Mr. Edwards, as a young man, engaged somewhat extensively in the live stock business, in which he made a gratifying measure of success. At the age of twenty-three he formed a partnership with his brother John and I. N. Bushong, in the manufacture of staves, his brother, Joseph H. Edwards, later coming into the firm, at which time, in 1893, it was incorporated under the name of the Buckeye Stave Company, which not only owned mills at several points in this county, but at several points in the neighboring counties in Ohio and at various points in Michigan. The company also engaged in the banking business at Kalida and Continental, and eventually became in- terested in several other banks in Ohio and enterprises of one variety and another, all of which have proved highly successful. A more detailed ac- count of the enterprises in which the Buckeye Stave Company is interested will be found in the historical section of this volume and in the biographical sketch relating to Joseph H. Edwards.
The Edwardses were largely interested in the Buckeye National Bank at Findlay, Ohio, and William W. Edwards was president of this institution at the time of his death. He also was very active in the affairs of the National Bank of Commerce at Toledo, Ohio, in which he was a heavy stockholder, his financial ability and high character giving him a position of virtual leadership in the affairs of that institution, he being the first vice-president of the bank. Upon his death, the board of directors passed a series of resolutions, which were beautifully hand-illuminated, bound and conveyed to the family of the deceased. In part, these resolutions said :
"Perhaps the most prominent trait of Mr. Edwards' character was the- plain, old-fashioned virtue of honesty. And what more or what better could
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be said of any man, especially of a business man, than that he was an honest man? It is pretty near the sum-total of business virtue.
"Shrewd as Mr. Edwards was in all his business deals, and clearly as he saw what was to his own advantage in making them, and accurate as was his judgment of the men with whom he was dealing and the motives by which they were actuated, he never lost sight of the fundamental principle of honesty. He played the game fairly. His word was good.
"His other characteristics were akin to this fundamental trait. He was sincere. He had no patience with shams or false pretenses. One always knew that he meant what he said and said what he meant. He was not a man of many words or high-sounding phrases. His speech was simple and straightforward. One always felt that Mr. Edwards would not say one thing to one's face and another thing behind one's back. So, too, he had a high sense of honor in all trust relations. In these days of complex inter- corporate relations, many young men engaged in large business affairs in which they occupy positions of trust, as officers or directors, are sometimes so blinded by their own self-interest as to sacrifice the interests of one set of beneficiaries to those of another set. Not so of Mr. Edwards. He never lost sight of the duty a director of a corporation owes to its stockholders. How wholesome and far-reaching the effect of such an attitude on his part was, no one can tell, for it was a source of strength to his associates who sur- vive him.
"These three things, then, Mr. Edwards had, honesty, sincerity, fidelity.
"We need hardly speak of his aptitude for business. His success speaks for itself. He was, indeed, in many ways, an ideal of a man of affairs. He was industrious, indefatigable, painstaking, patient of details, losing sight of nothing of importance, and yet with a good sense of proportion. He was a keen judge of men and motives, a prime requisite to success in any busi- ness. And the faculty, his by nature, was developed by a long business ex- perience, until his judgment in any business proposition was almost uner- ring. How we all grew to rely upon it!
"Last, but not least, we must refer to the kindliness which he showed in all his personal relations with his business associates. He was never censorious, even when things seemed to go the wrong way. And he was al- ways quick to appreciate and ready to reward faithful service."
The following extract from the public press comments upon the death of Mr. Edwards also throws an additional ray of illumination upon the high character of the deceased: "Among the sons of men we sometimes find a king uncrowned. This man was such. Giant in the business and com- mercial world, he was yet, withal, a manly man. Son of the soil, inured to
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toil, fearing no task, neglecting no detail, he acquired the habit of accom- plishing that which he undertook. He started at the bottom of obscurity. When his race was run, his life and influence had touched almost every field of endeavor. He made money helping others on their way. His business interests reached half the states in the Union. In many boards and groups of men, when fortunes were at stake, he spoke the final word. In affairs of the farm or city, his was the master hand. Men followed him without ask- ing the reason why. Schools, churches, colleges and universities shared the contents of his purse and felt the magic power of his morally righteous life. Thousands will testify that William W. Edwards was their friend."
William W. Edwards was united in marriage, on May 10, 1888, to Car- rie Donaldson, who was born at Grand Rapids, Ohio, where she resided until her marriage, except during the time she was engaged in teaching school during her young womanhood. She had prepared herself for teaching by a course of instruction in the college at Lebanon, Ohio, and was an excellent teacher. Mrs. Edwards continues to make her home at Leipsic, this county.
By an earlier marriage three children, all of whom survive, were born to William Edwards, as follow: Lillian, who married Dr. B. J. Emory, of Defiance, Ohio; E. C., who is now vice-president of the Buckeye National Bank, of Findlay, Ohio, and vice-president of the National Bank of Com- merce, at Toledo, Ohio, in which sound financial institutions this worthy son of his distinguished father is, in a measure, taking the latter's place; Maude, who married Fred Spencer, of Ottawa, this county.
To William and Carrie (Donaldson) Edwards were born three chil- dren, all of whom survive, as follow: Ruth, the widow of Lawrence S. Lisle, who died on March 15, 1914, leaving a little son, Lawrence William; Catherine, who is now attending Mt. Holyoke College, in Massachusetts, and William Donaldson, aged seventeen, a sophomore at Western Reserve Col- lege.
CHRISTIAN ZIMMERLY.
There is no earthly station higher than the ministry of the Gospel, and no life can be more uplifting or grand than that which is devoted to the amelioration of the spiritual ills of the human race, a life of sacrifice for the betterment of the brotherhood of man, one that is willing to cast aside all worthy crowns and laurels of fame to follow in the footsteps of the lowly Nazarene. It is not possible to measure adequately the height, depth and breadth of such a life, for its influence continues to permeate the lives of
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others through succeeding generations, so the power it has cannot be known until the "last great day when the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible." Add to such a life, which is being lived entirely without the consideration of any pecuniary compensation, that other high calling of tilling the soil, and, still further, the spirit and energy which typi- fied the early pioneers, and the result must inevitably be a man whose citi- zenship is a source of pride to his community and a vast benefit to his county.
Christian Zimmerly was born in Riley township, Putnam county, Ohio, October 6, 1841, a son of John and Anna (Berner) Zimmerly. John Zim- merly was born in Lemoges, France, June 14, 1781, and died in Riley town- ship, Ohio, July 21, 1855, at the age of seventy-four. His parents were both natives of France, and died when he was very young, at which time the children were taken by other families in the neighborhood and by them were brought up.
John Zimmerly came to America in 1832 or 1833, at the age of fifty- one years. He landed in New York, and from there came to Ohio; over the Erie canal and Lake Erie. He settled first in Wayne county, Ohio, where he stayed about a year, and then moved to Putnam county, Ohio, where he made his home for a time with John Diller, whose wife, Elizabeth, was Mr. Zimmerly's sister.
About a year later, Anna Berner came to America. Later she became Mr. Zimmerly's wife. She was the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Grid- ley) Berner, both of whom were natives of France and lived near Dotariet, France. Anna Berner was born in upper Alsace, France, April 4, 1801, and died in Wayne county, Ohio, March 23, 1895. She was three months making the voyage to New York, and spent two weeks on Lake Erie while finishing her journey to Ohio. While on the lake a storm was encountered which very nearly caused the entire party to lose their lives. After having reached Ohio, she remained for a time in Wayne county before she finally came to Putnam county, where she lived in the family of Michael Neun- schwander, one of Putnam county's first settlers, for whom she worked. She was married to John Zimmerly shortly afterward.
Mrs. John Zimmerly's father was Samuel Berner, an officer in Napoleon's army at the time of the famous and disastrous campaign and march into Russia. At that time, when about half of Napoleon's army had perished, as the results of cold and hunger, Samuel Berner and eleven of his comrades escaped and made their way back home, where Samuel Berner died a year latter, from the hardships which he had endured. During those times, Mrs.
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Zimmerly's mother and sisters were compelled to help dig trenches for defen- sive purposes and also to assist in burying the dead.
After his marriage, John Zimmerly entered one hundred and sixty acres of government land, the deed for which was signed by President Mar- tin Van Buren, under the date of March 16, 1837, at the city of Washington, D. C. This farm, which lies about three and one-half miles southeast of Pandora, Ohio, has been in the family ever since that time It was on this old homestead that Christian Zimmerly, the subject of this sketch, was born. A large portion of the farm, during its earlier days, lay under water, a fact which greatly added to the difficulties of its early improvement.
John Zimmerly and his wife endured all the hardest and bitterest expe- riences of the pioneers. Mr. Zimmerly was handicapped by a deformity, one of his legs being shorter than the other, which made it difficult for him to work. His wife assisted him in the woods when the farm was being cleared and, working together, they were able to clear and prepare for culti- vation enough of the land to gain a living. Mr. Zimmerly was a weaver by trade and was also able to earn a little money by doing work of that sort for his neighbors. In that manner they struggled on year by year, clearing a little more land each season.
To add to their difficulties during the early days, they were obliged to go to Perrysburg, Ohio, a distance of sixty miles, to have their grain ground in a mill. Later, they were able to reach a mill at Tiffin, Ohio, which was thirty miles away, and later still their milling was done at Findlay, Ohio, a distance of sixteen miles from their home. Finally, a mill was started in Gilboa, Ohio, only six miles distant and later on mills were located still closer.
Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. John Zimmerly, they were Peter, John and Christian, the latter being the subject of this sketch.
Christian Zimmerly was born on the homestead on October 6, 1841, and played his part in the settling of that section and the development of the farm. From his early days he assisted his parents and brothers in the work of clearing the farm and of conducting the farm work. He tells an interest- ing story of one of his early experiences, which is illustrative of the occur- rences in this section at that time. When he was a very small boy, he and his brothers went one day to bring in the cows. When they were found there was with them a magnificent buck deer. At the sight of the strange animal the little boys became frightened and lost no time in climbing a tree. The faithful family dog, which had accompanied them, attacked the deer and seized the animal by the throat, after which followed a battle royal between the dog and the frightened stag. The commotion, together with
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the cries of the boys, attracted Isaac Cook, a neighbor, who came running to the scene and ended the battle by cutting the stag's jugular vein. Mr. Zimmerly has always retained a most vivid recollection of that experience, which made a deep impression on his boyish mind.
When Christian Zimmerly was fourteen years of age his father died, and the care of the homestead and of their mother was left to the three brothers. They worked hard and improved the farm year by year, manag- ing to keep abreast of their neighbors in the development work.
When Christian Zimmerly was twenty-eight years of age on May 28, 1870, he married Mary Welty, who was born in Riley township, December 20, 1849, a daughter of John and Mary Ann (Gerber) Welty, both of whom were natives of Berne, Switzerland, and who came to America early in life, having setled in Riley township, Putnam county. Previous to his marriage, Mr. Zimmerly had taught school for six years, a profession in which he continued for one year following his marriage.
After their marriage, Christian Zimmerly and wife made their home on the old Zimmerly homestead, and Mr. Zimmerly and his brother, John, bought from their brother, Peter, his share in the farm. These brothers then operated the farm in partnership for a period of eight years, when Christian Zimmerly bought his brother John's share and has since operated the farm independently. He has continued to clear and improve the land until he now has one hundred and sixty acres cleared and suitable for cultivation, including forty acres of native timber.
Christian Zimmerly, in 1874, was ordained a preacher ("cast by lot") in the Mennonite church and, in 1880, he was made a bishop. For forty- two years he has preached to the members of that denomination, giving his services freely and without financial compensation of any sort. He has fol- lowed his ministerial calling in addition to his work as a farmer and has met with marked success in both.
He met with misfortune from fire in 1872, and lost the house which had been erected at the cost of such great effort. Later, in 1899, he met with a similar misfortune, at which time his large barn was burned.
Eleven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Christian Zimmerly, as follow: Sarah, now the wife of Levi Oberly; Caroline, the wife of Amos Augsburger; Mary Ann, the wife of Henry Habbigger; John, who is unmar- ried; David, who married Martha Lehman; Anna, the wife of Joshua Amstutz; Levina, the wife of William Habbegger; Paulina, the wife of Albert Lehman; Ardon, who married Amanda Lehman; Leonard who married Ida Mann, and Homer, who is unmarried and lives at home.
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