USA > Ohio > Putnam County > History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions > Part 60
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Mr. Groff is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Continental. He is identified with the Republican party, but is more or less independent in his voting. Mrs. Groff is a member of the United Brethren church, where the children are also communicants. Mr. Groff has not held any offices, with the exception of that of member of the school board in Wood county, Ohio. He is well and favorably known throughout Putnam county, and is popular with his neighbors, and, in fact, with all in Monroe township.
Mr. Groff was one of the leading factors in the organization of the Farmers State Bank of Continental, of which he is a director. He, with William H. Lowe and Charles E. Wight, were a committee who drew up plans and caused to be erected the Odd Fellow building at that place.
RUFUS E. GILBERT.
Ohio has been especially honored in the character and career of her farm- ers. In every section have been found men born to leadership in agriculture, men who have dominated their communities because of their superior intelli- gence, natural endowment and force of character. Rufus E. Gilbert is a man well known throughout Putnam county. Mr. Gilbert traces his ancestry back to substantial Irish stock, which has been prominently identified with the his- tory of this country, since its earliest days.
Rufus E. Gilbert was born, February 21, 1844, in Summit county, near Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He is the son of Jacob C. and Martha A. Butler Gilbert. Jacob C. Gilbert was born in October, 1807, North Hero Island, New York, and was reared as a farmer. He received a good practical educa- tion, and was married when twenty-five years old, or in 1832, to Mandana Stoughton. She died on July 3, 1832. Upwards of five years later, on January 1, 1838, Jacob C. Gilbert married Martha A. Butler, in Atwater, Portage county, Ohio. She was born on November 16, 1820, in New Haven county, Connecticut, and was the daughter of David and Betsey (Foot) Butler, the former of whom was born in New Haven county, Connecticut, on October 2, 1772, and the latter of whom was born in the same county, on August 9, 1781. They remained in Connecticut until 1829, when they emi-
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grated to Portage county, Ohio, and stayed here until their death. David Butler died on March 29, 1856, and his wife on August 3, 1854. They were members of the Congressional church, and he was an old-line Whig. Mrs. Jacob C. Gilbert's grandfather was Matthew Butler, a native of England, who came to New Haven county, Connecticut, in colonial times. He served in the Continental army during the Revolutionary War, for seven years. He married Ruth Lindley. They had a son, David, who also served in the Revolutionary War, especially as a minute man, at the battle of Long Island. Jacob C. and Martha A. Gilbert had several children : Lucian, Lucius, Rufus E., the subject of this sketch; Martha, Mary E., who married Henry Wing; Adelaid, deceased; Ida M., who married David Owens, and Prosper L.
Jacob C. and Martha A. (Butler ) Gilbert settled first in Summit county, Ohio, where both he and his wife taught school. In fact, they met while both were public school teachers. He then came to Cleveland, Ohio, where he spent three years and removed to Putnam county, Ohio, in December, 1858, settling in Monroe township, on a farm of forty acres. He taught school in Putnam county, and in Defiance county, but most of the time in the former, until his death. On account of poor health he was not able to do farm work. Jacob C. Gilbert died on December 16, 1864, at the age of fifty-seven years and ten months. There were only forty voters in Monroe township when he settled here, and during his life he saw the population of the township grow exceedingly. His wife, Martha A. (Butler) Gilbert, died on the old home farm in June, 1903, at the age of eighty-two years and five months. Of the eight children, heretofore mentioned, who were born to Jacob C. and Martha A. (Butler) Gilbert, only four are now living. Lucius B., who was born on November 2, 1838, and died on August 5, 1839; Lucian De Loss, who was born on September 22, 1840, and died on July 2, 1847; Martha, who was born on August 20, 1847, and died on April 7, 1857; Mrs. Mary E. Wing, who was born on August 9, 1849, and now living on a farm in Monroe town- ship; Sarah Adelaide was born on July 30, 1854, and died on October 3, 1862; Ida M., who was born on September 15, 1859, and who married David Owens, lives at Continental, Ohio; Prosper L., who was born on July 6, 1863, lives near the Columbia river, in the state of Washington.
Rufus E. Gilbert remained in Cleveland, Ohio, with his parents for three years, after they removed to that city. He attended the public schools of the forest city. He came with his parents to Putnam county, Ohio, and assisted his father with the work of the farm.
On August 22, 1862, Mr. Gilbert enlisted in Company H., One Hun- dred and Eighteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, serving in Ken-
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tucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, North and South Carolina, and Vir- ginia, and participating in all the engagements of the Atlanta campaign. He was honorably discharged on May 25, 1865, and returned home to resume the peaceful pursuits, which his courage and the courage of his fellows had secured to this country.
Mr. Gilbert was married on July 19, 1866, to Mary A. Pope, a native of Putnam county, and a daughter of George and Fanny (Weaver) Pope. Mr. Gilbert settled on the farm where they now live. They cleared most of the farm and have added to it, till they now own a hundred and seventy-one acres. Although Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert live on the farm, they are retired and the farm is rented out. They have no children.
Politically, Mr. Gilbert is a Democrat. He was decennial appraiser of Continental and Monroe township in 1890, and was infirmary director for six years. He and his wife are members of the Mount Zion Chapel Christian church, of Monroe township. Mr. Gilbert is a pleasant man, intelligent and an interesting conversationalist. He is a man well liked and favorably known in this section of Putnam county, and bears a high reputation in the com- munity for honesty.
MERRICK SKIVER.
It is a pleasure to investigate the career of a successful self-made man. Peculiar honor attaches to that individual who, beginning the great struggle of life alone and unaided, gradually overcomes unfavorable environment, removes one by one the obstacles in the pathway of success, and by master strokes of his own force and vitality, succeeds in forging his way to the front and winning for himself a competency. Such is the record of Merrick Skiver, a popular citizen of Monroe township, to whose life and character the follow- ing pages are devoted.
Merrick Skiver was born on June 25, 1849, in Highland township, De- fiance county, Ohio. He is a son of Isaac and Mary (Wheeler) Skiver, the former of whom was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, on March 12, 1826, and the latter of whom was born in Germany, on May 14, 1830.
The grandfather of Merrick Skiver was David Skiver, who was born about 1786, in Pennsylvania, and who settled in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in pioneer days. He was married to Sarah Warner. David Skiver was one of the first settlers in Defiance county, Ohio, and lived there at a time when the Indians and wild beasts roamed the woods. For six years the Indians main-
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tained a camp near the Skiver family home. David Skiver was a Jacksonian Democrat, and a man who was prominent locally in politics. Mrs. Skiver was a member of the Christian church and the grandmother lived to the advanced age of one hundred and fourteen years. David Skiver was eighty-four years old at the time of his death.
Isaac Skiver, the father of Merrick, was reared on a farm in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and was a great hunter in his early days. He and his wife were the parents of nine children: Merrick, the immediate subject of this sketch; Margaret, the wife of James Van Vlerah; Regina, the wife of John Alspaugh ; George Henry, of Defiance, Ohio; Josephine, the wife of William Austin, of Benson, Alabama; Clara, the wife of William Davis, deceased; Calvin A., a resident of Highland township, Defiance county, Ohio; Anna Jane, deceased; Emma, the wife of Adam Stork, of Flint, Michigan, and Hannah, the wife of John James. Isaac Skiver died at the age of eighty-four years at the old homestead farm, while his wife died at Defiance, Ohio, at the home of a relative.
Merrick Skiver received a good common school education, and this he has supplemented by home study and by practical business experience, and today he is a well-informed man.
Mr. Skiver was married on August 19, 1873, to Rosella Donaldson, who was born on October 4, 1852, in Union township, Putnam county, Ohio. She is a daughter of Aaron and Sarah A. Donaldson, the former of whom was a native of Fairfield county, Ohio, and who, in turn, was a son of John Donald- son. John Donaldson was born in Maryland in 1784, and married Mary Grubb in 1809, and was a captain in the War of 1812. He died at the age of sixty-four years. His wife, who was born in 1790, died at the age of eighty- two. Aaron Donaldson was born in 1810, removed to Putnam county about 1850, settling on eighty acres of land in Union township. He lived on this farm until 1862, when he removed to a farm in Monroe township, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres. Aaron Donaldson married Sarah A. Sway- zee, a native of Fairfield county, born on December 20, 1827.
Mr. and Mrs. Merrick Skiver are the parents of seven children: Olive, born on April 30, 1875, married Ora S. Hitchcock, June 15, 1902, lives in Toledo, Ohio; Elise, born on August 23, 1877, lives at home; Lavern, born on January 8, 1880, died May 14, 1884; Anna, born on November 7, 1881, died May 1, 1884; Florence, born on January 12, 1886, is at home; Maude, born on May 21, 1888, became the wife of Creede Porter, October 18, 1910, and lives at Defiance, Ohio, where Mr. Porter is employed in a steel mill; Violet, born on April 23, 1894, is at home.
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When Mr. Merrick first settled on his present farm, the land was covered with swamps, and entirely unreclaimed. So ably has he directed its improve- ment and cultivation, that his place is now one of the finest and most produc- tive farms in Putnam county, being equipped with a thorough system of drainage. Mr. Skiver has seen Putnam county transformed from a swampy wilderness into a favored and prosperous farming region. He is, in every respect, a successful farmer.
Mr. Skiver has never been active in political matters, but he served as school director for a number of years. He is not active now. He is a con- genial man, a loving father and a kind husband, and has always been a good provider for the wants of his family. He has a fine farm and believes in progressive methods of farming, his farm proving this better than anything that can be said. He has been a hard worker, frugal in his habits and has acquired more than a substantial competence for his old age.
JOHN W. ERNST.
The success of men in business or any vocation depends upon character as well as upon knowledge. Business demands confidence, and where that is lacking, business ends. In every community some men are known for their upright lives, strong common sense and moral worth, rather than for their wealth or political standing. Their neighbors and acquaintances respect them, the younger generation heed their example, and when they wrap the drapery of their couches about them and lie down to pleasant dreams, posterity listens with reverence to the story of their useful lives. John W. Ernst, a well- known farmer of Monroe township, Putnam county, Ohio, who, until a few years ago, was the proprietor of the leading livery barn at Continental and who is now a prosperous farmer, is a man who belongs to this class.
Mr. Ernst was born on October 1, 1864, in Monroe, Allen county, Ohio. He is the son of David and Mary Jane (Seibert) Ernst. David Ernst was born in 1831, Carroll county, Ohio, and was the son of Henry Ernst, a native of Germany, and a pioneer in Carroll county, Ohio. David Ernst was reared as a farmer, and followed this vocation throughout his entire life. His father, also, was a farmer and a stanch member of the Methodist church. Mrs. Mary Jane (Seibert) Ernst, the mother of David, was a native of Carroll county, Ohio, and the daughter of Samuel Seibert. She was born in 1836, and is still living at Cairo, Ohio.
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To David and Mary Jane (Seibert) Ernst, eleven children were born: Samuel B., Sarah, Oliver A., Saloma, John W., Daniel C., Simon A., Burton H., William, Mary B. and Dollie May.
David Ernst was a soldier in the Civil War. After serving his enlist- ment, he returned home and devoted the remainder of his life to his family and to his home, having, before his death in July, 1892, acquired a substantial competence.
John W. Ernst, the subject of this sketch, was reared on the farm and lived with his parents until he was twenty-one years old. He received a good common-school education and was well equipped for life. In 1887, Mr. Ernst engaged in the livery business in Continental, and continued in this. occupation until April, 1906, when he sold out to Charles Kalt, and retired to his splendid farm of forty acres west of Continental. At the time Mr .. Ernst sold his livery business, he also sold his property in Continental. Mr. Ernst now follows general farming and the raising of grain and live stock. He is a man well known for his sterling character and dependable habits. He is a good judge of horses and now owns a fine white Arabian stallion. He has been closely identified with the history of Continental and was one of the pioneers of this town. He has witnessed many improvements and changes. and has seen the town grow from small beginnings to its present proportions. Mr. Ernst has added to his original forty acres, until he now owns a hundred and five acres, all of which is located in Monroe township, Putnam county.
John W. Ernst was married on September II, 1892, to Mary E. Varner, who was born in Putnam county, Ohio, and who was the daughter of Isaiah Varner. Mrs. Ernst was born on September 26, 1869, in Greensburg town- ship, and died on April 12, 1911, at the age of forty-one years, six months and fifteen days. She became a Christian early in life, uniting with the Methodist Episcopal church, of Continental. During her entire life she was a loving wife and a kind mother, and at the time of her death left a large circle of friends and relatives, including a father, mother, six brothers, two- sisters and five children.
"A precious one from us has gone; A voice we loved is stilled; A place is vacant in our home Which never can be filled.
"God, in his wisdom, has recalled The boon his love had given,
And though the body slumbers here, The soul is safe in Heaven."
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To Mr. and Mrs. Ernst six children were born : George F., who was born on November 1, 1893, married Augusta Wright and lives on a farm in Palmer township, Putnam county. They have one child, Mary Marcelle. The other five children are: Manford Hebrew, born on March 20, 1896; Dewey Dow, born on May 22, 1898, died on July 6, 1899; Otto Kenneth, born on May 23, 1900; Oliver C., born on February 19, 1903, died on Febru- ary 20, 1903, and Fanny Lucile, born on May 12, 1907. Three, therefore, are living on the home farm.
Mr. Ernst, in politics, is a Democrat. He has served both as a member of the town council of Continental and also as a member of the school board. He is one of Monroe township's trustees at present. In his many years' resi- dence in Continental and vicinity, he has come to be one of the best-known citizens in this section of Putnam county. John W. Ernst is a man of temper- ate habits, honest in his business dealings and cordial in his relations with his fellow men.
WILLIAM H. LOWE.
Among the representative farmers of Putnam county is the subject of this sketch, who is the owner of many splendid acres of fine farming land in Monroe township. William H. Lowe is carrying on the various depart- ments of his enterprise with that discretion and energy which are sure to find their natural sequence in definite success. He has always been a hard worker, a good manager and a man of economical habits. He is also for- tunately situated in a thriving farming community, and it is no wonder that he stands today in the front ranks of the farmers of that favored lo- cality. Mr. Lowe has also been a successful carpenter and has several hun- dred buildings to his credit in Putnam county.
William H. Lowe was born on October 23, 1873, in Fairfield county, Ohio. He is the son of Stephen S. and Laura E. (Willison) Lowe.
Stephen S. Lowe was born in July, 1853, in Muskingum county, Ohio, and is the son of Benedict and Lucinda Lowe, who were natives of Ireland. Stephen S. Lowe came to this county, where he remained for one year and then removed to Allen county, Ohio, near Delphos. Here he remained for three years, or until 1881. He removed to Putnam county, Ohio, in 1882, near Cloverdale, when the country was mostly in a wild state. He was a shoemaker by trade and lost his sight and has been blind for the past six- teen years. He now lives with his daughter at Cloverdale, Ohio. He is a
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM II. LOWE.
RESIDENCE OF WILLIAM H. LOWE.
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member of the Catholic church, and in politics is a Democrat. Mrs. Laura E. Lowe was born in 1844 in Illinois and came to Fairfield county, Ohio, when a small child. Her parents settled near Lancaster. She died in March, 1898, at the age of fifty-four years. She and her husband had six children : William H .; Mrs. Lula Spitnale, who lives in Perry township; Stephen, who lives at Charlevoix, Michigan; Mrs. Elizabeth Andrews, of Lima, Ohio; Mrs. Ida Oakes, of St. Joseph, Missouri, and Mrs. Zoe Kippler, of Lima, Ohio.
William H. Lowe came with his parents to Vinton county, Ohio, when about three years old. Subsequently he removed with them to Allen county and finally to Putnam county, near Cloverdale. Here he grew up and at- tended the township schools. He learned the carpenter's trade early in life and did much work in Putnam county. He was a foreman at Toledo, Ohio, for three years, and has two hundred and fifty-seven buildings to his credit. Mr. Lowe came from Continental, Ohio, to Toledo, and settled on his present farm. He has a farm of eighty acres, south of the place where he lives, in Monroe township. He is interested in a partnership arrange- ment, embracing some six hundred acres of land. He removed to the farm where he now lives one year after his marriage and has erected all of the buildings himself. He has a splendid farm and excellent buildings. He is a progressive farmer and believes thoroughly in advanced methods.
Mr. Lowe is a student of farming and has watched with pride the possibilities afforded by the use of modern appliances in the saving of labor with the greatest amount of efficiency. As he has studied he has planned, and today has erected upon his beautiful farm a barn one hundred by forty feet, that not only stores one hundred and sixty tons of hay, but also affords shelter for a sixty horsepower gas tractor, with a gang of eight fourteen- inch plows.
William H. Lowe was married on February 15, 1902, to Iva A. Bib- ler, who was born on November 20, 1876, close to Dupont, in Perry town- ship. She is the daughter of Samuel and Mary (Ridenour ) Bibler. To this union four children have been born, all of whom are living at home. They are Ruhla L., Owen B., Margarite A. and Richard William.
Mr. Lowe is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Free and Accepted Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America, at Con- tinental. He is more or less identified with the Republican party, but is independent in vote. He has never aspired to office. He is not identified with any church, but attends the United Brethren church at Continental, of
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which Mrs. Lowe is a member. William H. Lowe is a quiet man, who makes no pretensions and claims to superior virtue, yet he is.a man of in- telligent and sterling qualities and bears a high reputation in Monroe town- ship, where he has lived for many years.
DAVID WISTERMAN.
To attain a worthy citizenship by a life that is always honored and re- spected even from childhood deserves more than mere mention. It is no easy task to resist the many temptations of youth and early manhood, and to estab- lish a character in the minds and hearts of associates that will remain an un- stained tribute for all times. One may take his place in public life through some vigorous stroke of public policy, and even abide in the hearts of his friends and neighbors, but to reach the same position by leading a consistent upright life, without craving for exaltation merely for selfish ends, is worthy of the highest praise and commendation. A man who has lived after this. fashion is David Wisterman, a well-known farmer of Monroe township, a. veteran of the Civil War, and a valiant, courageous and valuable citizen in times of peace. Mr. Wisterman has always been ready to assist in public movements with laudable preferment, and from many standpoints deserves the high esteem with which he is held by the people of Putnam county, where he is so well known.
David Wisterman was born on March 6, 1838, at Kalida, Ohio. He is- the son of George Joseph and Elizabeth (Cigler ) Wisterman.
George Joseph Wisterman was born in 1797, at the head of Lake Geneva, near Seneca, New York, and here grew to manhood. In his youth he received a liberal education, having been prepared for a minister in the Lutheran church. He was well known as a German and Latin scholar, and taught school for a time during his younger days. He studied medicine under the direction of Doctor Shingler, and practiced this profession for many years. He also learned the trade of the journeyman tanner, and upon coming to Putnam county, in 1836, he followed this occupation. In the meantime, how- ever, he had lived in Wayne county for a time. He built a tannery at Kalida,. the first one in this section of the state. In 1846, he sold the tannery, and settled on a farm in Greensburg township, near the Blanchard river. Sub- sequently, he operated a saw and grist-mill on the river, some five miles from the farm. In 1849, he went to California, returning three years later, and
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settling on the old farm in Greensburg township, where he died in January, 1853. He was an old-line Whig in politics, and for a number of years filled the office of justice of the peace. George Joseph Wisterman was twice mar- ried, the first time to a Miss Pontius, by whom he had three children, Henry, Joseph and Isabella, all of whom are now deceased. Joseph owned about a quarter section of land in Wayne county, where Massilon, Ohio, now stands. After the death of his first wife, George Joseph Wisterman married Elizabeth Cigler, who was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on September 30, 1817, and who migrated from Pennsylvania to Wayne county, Ohio, with her parents, Henry Cigler and wife, who were natives of Pennsylvania. From Wayne county, Ohio, they came to Putnam county, settling at Kalida, where Eliza- beth Cigler was married to George Joseph Wisterman. Eight children were born to this marriage: Sarah, who died on February 28, 1852; David, who is the subject of this sketch; Elizabeth is deceased; Isaac lives in Florida; Jonas and Mary live in Kansas; Mrs. Catherine Croft Moree lives in Bowling Greene, Ohio; Mrs. Susan Miller lives in Florida, with her brother, Isaac. George Joseph Wisterman died in January, 1852, at the age of fifty-six; his wife died at the age of seventy-five years.
The paternal grandfather of David Wisterman was George Joseph Wis- terman, Sr., born in Wurtemburg, Germany, and who came to America in 1795, settling near Buffalo, New York, where he married a Miss Brosius. He was a fine German and English scholar and a profound student of Greek, Hebrew and Latin. For many years he was a leading Lutheran preacher in New York state, and was known far and near for his scholarly attainments.
David Wisterman, the subject of this sketch, lived in Kalida, leaving there, however, at the age of eight years, and removing with his parents to Greensburg township, Putnam county, Ohio. He stayed in Greensburg township for one year, and then removed to Perry township. He attended school in Perry township, and after having finished his education, taught for thirty-eight terms, mostly in Putnam county, though some of his profes- sional work was done in Paulding county, in Bureau county, Illinois, and in Defiance county. Mr. Wisterman educated himself by home study, prin- cipally. He attended Kenyon Normal School, however, at Gambier, Ohio, an institution endowed by Lord Kenyon of England. It was one of the best schools in the country at that time and one of the first great colleges in the West. Mr. Wisterman also attended McCoy's commercial school, at Colum- bus, Ohio, and was a student there in 1861, when the war broke out.
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