USA > Ohio > Putnam County > History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions > Part 50
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146
.
520
PUTNAM COUNTY, OHIO.
Mr. Zimmerly is a supporter of the principles of the Democratic party and has always taken an intelligent interest in the political affairs of his community, although he has never aspired to public office. He and Mrs. Zimmerly are both members of the Swiss Mennonite church, of which he is pastor.
Christian Zimmerly is one of the earliest settlers now living in the southwest part of Putnam county and is one of the county's best known and highly respected citizens. He is a type of the clean, high-minded citi- zen that, in many other sections, is all too fast disappearing. As a Christian minister, he is highly esteemed, and as a citizen and a man, there is no resi- dent of the county who is more highly respected or better known.
CARLETON P. PALMER.
It is the progressive, wide-awake man of affairs that makes the real his- tory of a community. His influence, as a potential factor in the body politic, is difficult to estimate. The example such men furnish, of patient purpose and steadfast integrity, strongly illustrates what is in the power of each to accomplish. There is always a full measure of satisfaction in adverting, even in a casual way, to their achievements, in advancing the interests of their fellow men, in giving strength and solidity to the institutions which make so much for the prosperity of the community. Such a man is Carleton P. Palmer, the cashier of the Continental Bank, of Continental, Putnam county, Ohio, and, therefore, it is eminently proper that a review of his life be given among those of the representative citizens of this county.
Carleton P. Palmer was born on July 22, 1877, at Toledo, Ohio. He is a son of Paul B. and Stella (Donaldson) Palmer, the former of whom was born in 1847 at Toledo, Ohio, and who is a son of Nicholas Palmer and wife. Nicholas Palmer was a native of Plymouth, England, and came to America in the early thirties, being a pioneer settler at Toledo, Ohio. His wife also came from Plymouth, England, with her parents, who built the first house on what is now Summit street in the city of Toledo. It was a pioneer log cabin, built when Toledo was scarcely a promising village.
Paul B. Palmer was a teacher in the first business college in Toledo, but followed agricultural pursuits most of his life. He is now living retired in the city of Toledo. During the active years of his life he was an influential citizen of his community and a man who enjoyed the respect and esteem of all with whom he came in contact.
CARLETON P. PALMER.
521.
PUTNAM COUNTY, OHIO.
Carleton P. Palmer spent his boyhood days on his father's farm, in the vicinity of Toledo. He was graduated from the Toledo high school with the- class of 1896. After his graduation he engaged in the profession of teach- ing and became township superintendent of the schools in Richfield town- ship, Lucas county, Ohio. He continued in this capacity until 1900, when. he came to Continental and took a place in the Bank of Continental. He began here as a bookkeeper, but a year or so later became cashier and has held this position since that time. Mr. Palmer has proved himself an able business man. He quickly grasped the details of the banking business, and is naturally courteous and accommodating to the patrons of the bank. Nev- ertheless, he is firm, as one should be who handles money for others.
Mr. Palmer was married to Mae Edwards on November 19, 1908. She- is the daughter of Joseph Edwards and wife of Leipsic, and to this union: one son, Carleton Paul, Jr., has been born.
Mr. Palmer is a prominent Mason, having attained to the thirty-second degree in that order, and is also a member of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Although a comparatively young man, he is one whose counsels are widely sought in financial and commercial transactions, and a man who- has easily taken foremost rank in the commercial life of Continental and Monroe township. Mrs. Palmer is popular in Monroe township and active in many enterprises which call for the talent of women. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and contributes liberally to its moral up- lift in the community.
ISAAC S. RICKARD.
There are many excellent farmers in Van Buren township, Putnam county, Ohio, and among these may be mentioned Isaac S. Rickard, who has- been engaged in agricultural pursuits in this township since 1894. As a lad he was compelled to help support the family on account of his four elder brothers serving in the Union army, and the experience he gained in his youth has been of invaluable benefit to him. Thrown early on his own resources, he has developed a self-reliant spirit and a resourcefulness which has made- him the prosperous farmer he is today. He is a man of high ideals and sterling integrity and a great worker in the church.
Isaac S. Rickard, the son of Andrew Jackson and Hannah (Rockwell) Rickard, was born in Chautauqua county, New York, July 12, 1852. His. father was born in New England and moved from New York to Medina, Ohio, in 1854, but remained in that city only a short time. He then removed
522
PUTNAM COUNTY, OHIO.
with his family to a farm east of East Milan, in Erie county, Ohio, where he farmed for a time.' His next move was to a farm west of East Milan, on which he lived until 1861. In that year he moved to Wood county, Ohio, located on a farm near Bowling Green, and lived here during the Civil War. Later, he settled on a farm east of Bowling Green and lived on this farm until the death of his first wife. A few years later he married Mrs. Porter, but there were no children born to his second marriage. To his first marriage there were born eleven children, eight sons and three daughters, Ellen T., the wife of Henry Gross, and has eight children; Zina, who married Martha Sopher, and has eight children; Jacob, who is married and has one child; George W., who married Phlena Sopher, and has four children; Orange J., who married Jeanette McDonald, and has nine children; Elizabeth, the wife of William Sheets, and has five children, one of whom is deceased; Isaac S., of Putnam county; Phillip W., who married Julia Rathburn; John F., who married Emma Rathburn, and has one child, deceased; Lydia, who died at the age of nine, and Nathan B., who married Flora Taft, and has two ·children.
Isaac S. Rickard spent his boyhood days in Wood county, where he received a limited education in the rude district schools. When the Civil War broke out, though he was only nine years of age, he began to take an active part in the support of the family, his four elder brothers having gone to the front when it became necessary for him to take part of the burden of the family support on his own shoulders. He remained at home until he was married, at the age of twenty, and then began working on a farm near Toledo, Ohio. During the twenty years which elapsed from the time of his marriage until he permanently located in Putnam county, he lived in several places. After working a short time near Toledo, he moved to Miami, Ohio, thence to Milan, in Erie county, and worked in the latter place for about nine years. His next change took him to Wood county, where he located four miles northwest of Milton Center, and where his wife died. After her death he moved to Milton Center, in which place he remained until his second marriage in the fall of 1893. In the following year he moved to Putnam county and located in Van Buren township, where he has since resided.
Mr. Rickard was first married on November 24, 1873, to Madora Jane Sheets, the daughter of Albert Sheets. She was born in Wood county, Ohio, March 12, 1855, and spent her girlhood days in the same county. To this first union of Isaac S. Rickard were born four children, Melville, who mar- ried Julia Cuisno, died January 9, 1915, they have one daughter, Sadie; Fanny M., the wife of Hiram Cain, has two children, Emma, and Madora,
523
PUTNAM COUNTY, OHIO.
deceased; Albert, who died at the age of nine, and one who died in infancy. The first wife of Mr. Rickard died in May, 1887, and on August 20, 1893, he was married to Mrs. Sarah C. (Simonds) Eastom, a daughter of Justice and Lourana (Morehead) Simonds. She was born near Gilboa, Putnam county, Ohio. There were no children to this second marriage.
Justice Simonds, the father of Mrs. Rickard, was born in New Hamp- shire, February 10, 1809, the son of Jonathan and Sophia (Sanborn) Simonds, who were of New England stock and natives of New Hampshire. When Justice Simonds was a small boy, his parents moved to Medina, Orleans county, New York, and here he was bound out to learn the trade of a millwright. In Orleans county, New York, the mother of Justice Simonds died, and, after growing to maturity, Justice Simonds moved from New York state to Putnam county, Ohio, where he continued to follow his trade as a millwright. Among other pioneer buildings, he helped to construct the Charles Harmon mill on the Blanchard river. Justice Simonds was married in 1840 to Lourana Morehead, a daughter of Alexander Morehead. She was born on May 8, 1822, and died in July, 1895. Justice Simonds and wife were the parents of nine children, Sanborn, who died in infancy; George, who married Mollie Foltz, and died June 25, 1908; Sarah, the wife of Mr. Rickard; Jeanette, the wife of David Redding, who died in January, 1911; Elmira, the wife of Andrew Fike; Mary Ann, deceased, who was married, respectively, to Martin Wert, James Boyer and William Tuller; Eliza, the wife of William Bryan; Louminda, the wife of Charles Farquharson; John, who died at the age of twenty-one.
After his marriage, Justice Simonds lived for several years on a farm near Gilboa, but, in 1860, removed to another farm three miles north of Leipsic, where he lived until his death, April 25, 1885. Sarah Simonds, the wife of Mr. Rickard, was first married to Frank Eastom, March 21, 1863, and to her first marriage one son, George, was born. He married Bertha Steffer, of Hamilton, Ohio, September 20, 1895, and now makes his home in Denver, Colorado. George Eastom and wife are the parents of four children, Frank, Helen and George are living, and Bertha is deceased. George Eastom is in the real estate and machinery business in Denver.
Mr. Rickard and his wife are loyal members of the Methodist Episco- pal church. Mr. Rickard was ordained in the ministry of the Church of Christ, about twenty-five years ago, but has since transferred his member- ship to the Methodlist church. He has preached for four or five years, but has devoted the greater part of his life to farming, although he has always been very active in all church work. He is a man highly respected and honored in his community, where he has lived a life of usefulness.
524
PUTNAM COUNTY, OHIO.
CHRISTIAN DAVIS.
The specific history of the great Middle West was made by the pioneers, and it is not necessary to trace it back farther than a generation in order to reach the pioneers who were instrumental in founding this great territory. In fact, there are many men yet living who played important parts in the foundation and development of Ohio and neighboring states. Those pioneers who built their rude homes in the forests, which then covered this. country, and turned the wilderness into broad stretches of fertile and culti- vated fields, were hardy and industrious men of the finest type. To have established, or to have aided in the work which established, a home amid such surroundings, and to cope with the many privations and hardships which were the inevitable concomitants, demanded an invincible courage and forti- tude, strong hearts and willing hands. All those were characteristics of the pioneers, whose names and deeds should be held in perpetual reverence by those who enjoy the fruits of their toil, and among that number is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch, and who for many years has been numbered among the most prominent citizens of Put- nam county.
Christian Davis was born in Monroe county, Ohio, April 8, 1843, a son of Michael and Catherine (Stauffer) Davis. Michael Davis, his father, was born in Pennsylvania in 1875. Little is known of his early life in Penn- sylvania, except that he left there in the early days and came to Wayne county, Ohio. There he met the subject's mother, Mrs. Catherine (Stauffer ). Lugibihl, to whom he was married.
Mrs. Davis was born in Basel, Switzerland, where she spent her youth and where she was married to Mr. Lugibihl. To that union was born one daughter, Catherine. Shortly after her birth, Mr. Lugibihl died, and his- wife and child came to America, where she entered the employment of Mr. Bixel, of Wayne county, Ohio, in which position she worked until her mar- riage with Mr. Davis.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Davis moved to Monroe county, where Michael Davis had purchased a small farm. There they lived for about ten years, when Mr. Davis died, at the age of forty-seven. Four children had born to Mr. and Mrs. Davis, Fannie, deceased, who was the wife of Anthony Sawin, and to whom three children were born; Rebecca, deceased, who was the wife of Andy Foy, to whom three children were born; John, who married Magdalena Moser, and to whom one son was born, and Christian, the subject of this sketch.
525
PUTNAM COUNTY, OHIO.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Davis moved to Putnam county and settled on forty acres of farm land one and one-half miles southwest of Pandora, in Riley township. This land she had purchased previous to mov- ing to Putnam county, with money which she had earned and saved prior to her marriage to Mr. Davis. About five years later, when the subject of this sketch was nine years of age, Mrs. Davis was married a third time, her third husband having been Jacob Hipscher. Mr. and Mrs. Hipscher lived together until 1883, when Mrs. Hipscher came to live with her son, Christian, with whom she remained until her death in 1891, thus ending a useful and eventful life.
At the age of nine years, Christian Davis left home and went to live with his uncle, Christian Basinger, where he remained for nearly two years. He then lived with Abraham Detwiler, with whom, also, he remained for two years. After having left Mr. Detwiler's home, the subject shifted for him- self, working on the various farms and at various other occupations until he was twenty-six years of age. When he was about twenty years old, in 1863, he went with a friend, Henry Griswire, to Ontario, Canada, where they remained three years. From there the subject of this sketch went to Michi- gan, where he worked in the pineries for about a year.
When Mr. Davis was twenty-six years of age he married Elizabeth Schmitz, who was born in Baden, Germany, August 17, 1844, a daughter of Abraham and Christina Schmitz. After his marriage, Mr. Davis and Nick Shively erected a saw-mill in Riley township, which they operated for four years. At the end of that time Mr. Davis sold his share in the mill and bought forty acres of farm land, two miles west of Pandora, Riley town- ship.
There was a small frame house and a barn on the farm when he settled there, in which he made his home. Later he purchased another farm of forty acres, which adjoined his original holdings on the north. He built a larger house on his new land, and still occupies it. Sometime after this he bought out the heirs of his mother's farm of forty acres, which he eventually sold. He still retains his farm of eighty acres.
To Mr. and Mrs. Christian Davis eight children were born, as follow : Gideon B., who was born on August 28, 1869, and died in 1908; Katharina, who was born on March 19, 1871, and died 1893. She was the wife of Amos Gratz and the mother of one child, Clyde, who died when two years of age; Christina was born on May 28, 1872, and is the wife of Seth Bas- inger, to them three children, Ula, Clyde and Clitus, have been born; Itha, born on June 3, 1874, is the wife of Lawn Scheets and has four children,
526
PUTNAM COUNTY, OHIO.
Edna, Lella, Mahala and Evangeline; Emma, born on December 15, 1876, is unmarried and lives at home; Karolina, born on December 30, 1878, died on January 18, 1880; Elizabeth, born on June 30, 1880, is the wife of Rayton Core and has two children, Arlena and Raymond; Mina was born on September 20, 1883, and is the wife of Hiram Basinger.
Mr. Davis has always done general farming and has been very success- ful. A few years ago he devoted considerable attention to the buying and feeding of cattle for market, a business in which he met with great success.
Mr. Davis is a supporter of the Democratic party. For several years he has served his community as a school director, and has also been for a number of years a supervisor, conducting the affairs of both offices to the complete satisfaction of the citizens.
Mr. Davis is one of Riley township's best-known citizens and is highly respected by all his neighbors. He is a man of many sterling qualities and of unquestioned integrity.
GUY R. COIT.
It is not an easy task to describe adequately the career of a man who has led an eminently active and busy life and who has obtained a position of rela- tive distinction in the community with which his interests are allied. Biog- raphy, however, finds a most perfect justification in tracing and recording the main point in such a life history. With a full appreciation of all that is demanded, and with a satisfaction that is keenly felt, the biographer under- takes to point out a few facts in the career of Guy R. Coit, a well-known real estate and insurance dealer, at Kalida, Ohio, and at present the mayor of Kalida.
Guy R. Coit was born in Vaughnsville, Ohio, in Sugar Creek township, November 20, 1880. Mr. Coit left Vaughnsville, Ohio, at the age of four years and grew up in Kalida, where he received his education. He worked at different occupations until 1903, when he started in the real estate busi- ness at that place. He is still actively engaged in this business. He is also engaged in the loan and insurance business and has had a lucrative patron- age from the time he started. Mr. Coit was cashier of the Peoples Banking Company at Kalida for about twenty months, and city clerk of Kalida during 1907 and 1908. He has been councilman for some years and is now mayor of Kalida, having been elected to this position in the fall of. 1911.
Guy R. Coit, was married on August 1, 1905, to Effie Downing, a native
527
PUTNAM COUNTY, OHIO.
of Jackson township, Putnam county, Ohio, and a daughter of John L. and Lydia (Sybert) Downing. John L. Downing, at present a stave jointer at Piggott, Arkansas, was born near West Cairo, Allen county, Ohio, February 21, 1859, and was married in. 1877 at Vaughnsville, Ohio, to Lydia Ann Sybert, who was born in 1857, near Bluffton, Allen county, Ohio. 'John L. Downing was the son of John Downing, who was born near West Cairo, Ohio, in 1820 and who died in 1861. John Downing married Rebecca Fos- ter, who was born in 1823, in Allen county, Ohio, and died in 1864. They had the following children: John L., of Piggott, Arkansas; Mary C., of Winfield, Kansas, and Harrison, who died in infancy. John Downing was the son of Adam Downing, who was of Irish descent and a pioneer in this section of the country and who is believed to have fought the Indians. Adam Downing married Sarah Allen, who was of Welsh descent and a native of eastern Ohio.
Mrs. Lydia Ann (Sybert) Downing was the daughter of Barney and Effie (Long) Sybert, the former of whom died in 1861, and the latter in 1890. They were the parents of the following children: William, Ann, Clint, George, Hobert, Henry, Benjamin, Louisa, Alice, Sarah, Lydia, Dan- iel and Hiram.
John L. and Lydia Ann Downing were the parents of the following children : George, born in 1877, who lives at Piggott, Arkansas; Joe, born in 1880, who married Blanche Sellers, lives in Boynton, Arkansas, and has five children; Armena, Georgia, Lavern, Zelma and Mary; Mrs. Louisa Mack, born in 1882, who lives at Nimmons, Arkansas. She was married at. Defiance, Ohio, in 1900, and has four children, Georgia, Russell, Jessie and Clarence ; Mrs. Pearl Little, born in 1883, is married and has nine children, Jemima, Gladys, Hazel, Beulah, Vellam, Genevieve, Clayton, Edna and John; Grover, born in 1885, married Grace Palmondon in 1905, and has two chil- dren, his wife died in 1908; Mildred, who lives at Boynton, Arkansas, mar- ried Girty Strats and has one child, Viola; William Wallace, born in 1886, who lives at Malden, Missouri, married Mary Jaunt in 1907, and has three children, Franklin, Leonard and Sherman; Effie, born in 1887, married Mr. Coit.
John L. Downing is a member of Jonathan Lodge No. 115, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Monett, Arkansas.
To Mr. and Mrs. Coit five children have been born, Guy, Dorland, Doyle, Fremont and Helen. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons at Kalida. He is also a member of the chapter and council. He is. one of the leaders in the councils of the Republican party in this section of
528
PUTNAM COUNTY, OHIO.
Ohio, and to him perhaps more than to any other man, the state leaders of the party look for a substantial vote from Putnam county. Mr. and Mrs. Coit are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Kalida, where he is a trustee of the church and has taught a Sunday school class for the past seven years. Mr. Coit's family are also members of this church. Guy R. Coit is a "mixer" and a man who attends strictly to his own business. He has a host of friends and is widely known throughout Putnam county. He is known as a booster for all city improvements and, although he is progressive in spirit, he is a quiet man and a deep thinker. He is a man who has suc- ceeded largely because of his capacity for devoting himself to details.
PETER A. AMSTUTZ.
The two most strongly marked characteristics of both the east and the west are combined in the residents of Ohio. The enthusiastic enterprise which overleaps all obstacles and makes possible almost any undertaking in the comparatively new and vigorous western states is here tempered by the stable and more careful policies that we have borrowed from our eastern neighbors. The combination is one of unusual force and power. It has been the means of placing this section of the country on a par with the older east, and at the same time producing a reliability and certainty in business affairs which are frequently lacking in the west. This happy combination is also possessed, in a notable degree, by, Peter A. Amstutz, for several years now the efficient cashier of the Farmers Banking Company of Pandora. He is too well known to the readers of this volume to need any formal introduc- tion here, for his name is deeply fixed in the financial, commercial, profes- sional and industrial history of this section of the state. Mr. Amstutz, him- self, is filling a large place in the public affairs of his community. He is rec- ognized as a man of strong and alert mentality, deeply interested in every- thing that pertains to the welfare of the community. He is a progressive and enterprising business man and a representative citizen of Riley township and Putnam county.
Peter A. Amstutz was born on February 9, 1868, in Riley township, Put- nam county, Ohio, the son of Abraham M. and Catherine (Hilty) Amstutz, the former of whom was born on September 20, 1844, in Richland township, Allen county, Ohio, and the latter was born on April 19, 1848, in Richland township, Allen county, Ohio.
Abraham M. Amstutz is the son of John and Barbara (Tschantz) Am-
PETER A. AMSTUTZ,
529
PUTNAM COUNTY, OHIO.
stutz. John Amstutz was born in Switzerland and came to America in 1840 with his wife and three children. They settled in Richland township, Allen county, Ohio, near Bluffton. John Amstutz was a farmer in Switzerland and the Amstutz family was an old one in the community from which he came. It is related that the name Amstutz originated from a family by the name of Stutz who lived on a hill, the German prefix "am" meaning "on the," being prefixed' to the name Stutz and resulting in the final Amstutz, which means "on the hill." Another explanation of the name Amstutz is given, which says that Stutz means a '"steep hill," or rather "a bluff" or "precipice." Perhaps a John Stutz lived at or near to this bluff or preci- pice, and, to distinguish him from other Johns, it was said that he was John Amstutz, meaning the John who lived by the precipice.
John Amstutz and his little family were fifty-two days on a sailing ves- sel in coming to America. They came directly to Allen county, where John Amstutz settled on a farm just north of Bluffton. After two years he re- moved to a farm one-half mile south of Columbia, later called Pendleton, and, still later, Pandora. Here he made his future home, clearing the land and draining it. He built an adobe house of mud and straw about 1855, a part of which is standing today. The mud and straw were mixed by oxen trained for the feat. In addition to being a farmer, John Amstutz was a minister in the Mennonite church and was an active minister until the time of his death. He was also a mechanic of considerable ability, and in the early days he made spinning wheels for spinning both wool and cotton. After spending a most useful life, he died at a ripe old age, in 1858, on the old homestead south of Pandora.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.