USA > Ohio > Richland County > History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908, Vol. II > Part 54
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ALFRED WILSON.
Alfred Wilson, a representative of farming interests of Springfield town- ship, was born in England on the 4th of September, 1839. In that country his parents spent their entire lives, and Alfred Wilson remained there until about eighteen years of age, when, in 1857, he crossed the Atlantic to the new world, induced to this step by the favorable reports he had heard concerning America and her opportunities. The following year he arrived in Richland county. He was one of seven children, four of whom are now living. His brother Henry C. is now living in Oklahoma, while Charles and his sister are residents of England.
After arriving in this country Alfred Wilson worked at farm labor until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when, his patriotic spirit being aroused by the attempt of the south to overthrow the Union, he joined the army as a member of Company I, One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served for three years and was in a number of hotly contested engagements. At Font Gibson he was wounded in the right arm and still carries the ball in his shoulder. He was always faithful and loyal to the military service assigned him, whether it called him to the lonely picket line or stationed him in the face of danger on the firing line.
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When the war was over Mr. Wilson returned to Ohio and began farming on his own account on rented land, thus beginning the cultivation of the place upon which he now resides. Later he purchased the property, becoming owner of ninety-six acres on section 6, Springfield township. This he improved and as the years have passed he has converted it into an excellent farm, its well kept appearance indicating his careful supervision and practical methods.
In 1865 Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Nazor, who was born in Ontario, this county, in 1841, her parents having come from Pennsylvania. Mrs. Wilson was one of a family of eight children and by her marriage has become the mother of two daughters and four sons: Annie G., the wife of Wesley Taylor, of this county ; Samuel H., who is living in Morrow county, Ohio; Charles M., a resident of Crawford county ; Jennie M., the wife of Frank Wentz, of this county; William A., deceased; and Lee Byrd, who is married and resides at home.
The parents are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church and attend its services. Politically Mr. Wilson is a republican and has served as school director for several years, but otherwise has never sought nor desired office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs, in which he has met with signal success. No native-born citizen of America was more loyal to the stars and stripes than Mr. Wilson, who, proving his fidelity during the dark days of the Civil war and in the days of peace, has been numbered among those who have stood for progress and improvement along all lines proving of benefit to the community.
CAPTAIN ABRAHAM CAHILL CUMMINS.
Captain Abraham Cahill Cummins, son of William and Jane (Cahill) Cummins, was born October 29, 1836, on a farm near Shelby, Richland county, Ohio. His paternal grandfather, David Cummins, was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1782, and emigrated with his parents to Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1790, where he grew to manhood. He removed with his family to Richland county, Ohio, in 1817, when the father of our subject was eight years old, and here the latter grew to manhood and passed the greater portion of his life, filling many positions of honor and trust.
At the age of sixteen Abraham Cahill Cummins matriculated at Wit- tenberg College, Springfield, Ohio, and graduated therefrom in the class of 1858. He immediately came to Mansfield and entered the law office of Ex- Governor T. W. Bartley as a student, being admitted to the practice of law in 1860. Subsequently he entered into a partnership with his preceptor, which continued until the outbreak of the Civil War.
On the night of the 17th of April, 1831, a meeting was held by the citi- zens of Shelby to raise troops to respond to President Lincoln's first call. This was one of the first war meetings held in Ohio, and was presided over by William Cummins, father of the subject of this sketch. The meeting did not adjourn until a full company was enrolled, and on the following day-April
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18, 1861 -- the company proceeded to Columbus and reported for duty. The officers of the company were: Abraham C. Cummins, captain; Tilman H. Wiggins, first lieutenant, and Henry B. Gaylord, second lieutenant. 'This was the second company that left Richland county for the war, and was composed of the very best young men from Shelby and vicinity, and was afterward known as Company D, Fifteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer In- fantry. It saw service in West Virginia until the following August, when, its time having expired, it was mustered out of service August 29, 1861.
In September, 1861, Captain Cummins and others recruited a company for three years' service under President Lincoln's second call for three hun- dred thousand troops. The officers of this company were: Abraham C. Cummins, captain ; Andrew M. Burns, first lieutenant, and George W. Cum- mins (a brother of the captain), second lieutenant. This company became Company I, Fifteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and veteranized and remained in the service until the close of the war. Captain Cummins resigned from this company in the latter part of April, 1862, and returned home, but shortly thereafter he recruited a company for three months' service, of which he was commissioned captain. His first lieutenant was
Homer C. Ayres and his second lieutenant was James Smith. This company was known as Company H, Eighty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, and did garrison duty largely at Cumberland, Maryland, and at the expiration of its term of service was mustered out at Camp Delaware, Ohio, after which Captain Cummins was appointed adjutant of Camp Mans- field, a camp then used as a rendezvous for men who were drafted into the United States service. Charles T. Sherman was colonel commanding this camp. After the closing of Camp Mansfield Captain Cummins served for a time with Major Hoyt Sherman, paymaster U. S. A., and later became con- nected with a military commission which was appointed to adjust the pay of the Home Guards of Missouri, who did loyal service for the Union without going through the formality of being mustered into the United States service. At the close of the work of this commission Captain Cummins was appointed chief clerk to the depot quartermaster at Little Rock, Arkansas. He after- ward became chief clerk to the quartermaster of the Seventh Army Corps and the Department of Arkansas, which position he held until the close of the war.
In 1869 Captain Cummins was elected mayor of Mansfield and served one term. In 1871 he was elected trustee of the Mansfield water works, and was reelected for seven continuous terms, filling the office from 1871 to 1893. In 1897 he was appointed by Hon. Huntington Brown, mayor of Mansfield, a member of the board to build a sewage disposal works and a crematory to dispose of the garbage of the city, and was reappointed and served on this board until the present municipal code went into effect. Captain Cummins is a charter member of Mclaughlin Post, G. A. R., and has upon several occasions been its delegate at department and national encampments, and has served two terms as commander of his post. He is a member of the organization of the survivors of the Fifteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and has twice been honored as its president, which office he is
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filling the present year. He was trustee and secretary of the board that built the memorial building and opera house, and continued as such for several years after its erection. He was a delegate to the national convention that met in St. Louis, Missouri, and nominated Grover Cleveland for the presi- dency. In 1876 he was a candidate for congress and was the unanimous choice of his county, but, after a hundred and fifty ballots, was beaten by a few votes in a congressional district where his election would have been as- sured. In all, Captain Cummins has officially served his adopted city in various positions for a third of a century, which shows the confidence and esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens.
Captain Cummins was a member of the board of commissioners from Ohio at the Columbian Exposition, held at Chicago in 1893, and was a mem- ber of the committee that erected the Ohio buildings at that wonderful World's Fair.
In 1905 Captain Cummins was appointed by Governor Myron T. Her- rick a trustee of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Sandusky, Ohio, vice General Thomas T. Dill, deceased, for the term ending in 1910.
On October 13, 1864, Captain Cummins was united in marriage to Miss Mary S. Newman, a daughter of Andrew S. Newman and a granddaughter of Jacob Newman, one of the first settlers in Richland county and one of the founders of Mansfield, who departed this life November 23, 1877. From this union five children were born, all since deceased.
PETER GELSANLITER, JR.
Peter Gelsanliter, Jr., who carries on agricultural pursuits on section 26, Sandusky township, was born on the farm where he still resides, on the 26th of May, 1863, his parents being Peter and Mary (House) Gelsanliter, natives of Germany. They emigrated to the United States in 1834, pur- chased land in this county and established their home here. The father now makes his home with his son Peter, the mother having passed away in 1888. Their family numbered seven children, as follows: John, who is deceased; two who died in infancy, Peter, of this review; Elizabeth, who has also passed away; Susan, the wife of Kunard Sprou, of Richland county, and George, deceased.
Peter Gelsanliter acquired his education in the common schools and has always made his home on the farm where he was born, here owning thirty-two acres of land on section 26, Sandusky township. In the conduct of his agricultural interests he has met with a well-earned and creditable measure of success, owing to his untiring industry and progressive methods.
Mr. Gelsanliter has been twice married. He was first wedded in 1891 to Miss Matilda Eichler, whose birth occurred in Crawford county, Ohio. The two children of this union, John and George, are both deceased. The mother passed away in 1899, and in 1901 Mr. Gelsanliter married Miss Miranda Beach, also a native of Crawford county, Ohio. She was one of a
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family of five children, and her father is still living, but her mother is deceased. By his second wife our subject has three children: Ethel; Ray, who is deceased; and Leola.
In his political views Mr. Gelsanliter is a democrat and has served his fellow townsmen in various positions of public trust and responsibility. He has served as justice of the peace, constable and superintendent, and has like- wise acted as a school director for several years. For four terms he has been trustee and is still the incumbent in that position. Both he and his wife are devoted and faithful members of the Lutheran church, taking an active and helpful interest in its work. Throughout his entire life, or for a period of forty-five years, he has been a resident of this county and is well-known and esteemed as one of its worthy native sons.
PATTERSON T. GATTON.
Patterson T. Gatton, successfully engaged in the livery business in Mansfield, was born in Washington township, Richland county, November 24, 1865. His father, Aaron Gatton, was likewise born in Washington town- ship, Richland county, his natal day being August 27, 1845, while his parents were Thomas and Sarah (Gatton) Gatton. The former was born in Mus- kingum county, Ohio, and was but five years of age when his father, James Gatton, who had come from Maryland, was called to his final rest. Thomas Gatton was bound out to a man named Beavers, who misused him, and for this reason his brother brought him to Richland county about eighty years ago. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted for service in the Civil war as a member of Company C, Sixty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and died from blood poisoning resulting from a wound which he received at the battle of Stone River, Tennessee. His wife, however, still survives, having now attained the age of eighty-eight years. Their family numbered four children: David, who is a practicing physician located in Mahaska county, Iowa; Rachel, who resides with her mother; Aaron; and John.
Aaron Gatton was educated in the common schools of Washington town- ship and remained at home until the time of his marriage to Miss Mary J. Shively, of Richland county. This union has been blessed with five children, namely: Patterson T., of this review; James A., born August 27, 1870, who is a dealer in horses and is also engaged in the livery business in Mansfield; Harry, a horse dealer of Bellville, Ohio; Nancy A., at home, and Sadie, the wife of Charles Grice, a street car conductor of Mansfield. Aaron Gatton gives his allegiance to the democracy where national questions and issues are involved, but at local elections casts an independent ballot.
Patterson T. Gatton acquired a common-school education, and began dealing in horses when but fifteen years of age, having continued in this line of activity to the present time. He has met with a gratifying and well merited measure of success in his undertakings and is widely recognized as one of the
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most prominent and best known dealers in the county, making extensive shipments.
In 1887 Mr. Gatton was united in marriage to Miss Etta Muttis, of Rich- land county, by whom he has two children: Carl, who is engaged in the livery business in Mansfield in connection with his uncle; and Beatrice, at home.
Mr. Patton casts his vote for the men and measures of the republican party and gives stalwart support. to every movement calculated to advance the general welfare or promote the upbuilding of his native county. He has gained many friends throughout the community and is well known as an enterprising and public-spirited citizen, an honorable and upright business man and a devoted husband and father.
JOSEPH HAVERFIELD.
Joseph Haverfield, who is living retired on his valuable farm of eighty acres in Weller township, was born on this place on the 28th of February, 1831, his parents being James and Mary (Allen) Haverfield, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Scotland. The father emigrated to this country in an early day and participated in the war of 1812. Entering a tract of eighty acres of land from the government, situated in Weller town- ship, Richland county, Ohio, he erected a log cabin thereon and made his home here until the time of his demise. His family numbered nine children, as follows: William, James, John, Allen, Joseph, Ellen, Nancy, Jane and May. With the exception of the subject of this review all are now deceased.
Joseph Haverfield acquired a common-school education and remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority. He first rented and subsequently purchased the old homestead farm of eighty acres, on which he has since resided, being successfully engaged in the work of the fields until 1905, when he retired from active life. His agricultural interests were ever carried on systematically and energetically and the fields annually returned to him golden harvests in return for the care and labor which he bestowed upon them.
Mr. Haverfield also has a creditable military record, having enlisted in 1861 as a member of Company M, Second Ohio Cavalry, and serving for three years. He fought the bushwhackers in Missouri, and while the command was in that state there were two companies of Indians in his regiment. He also participated in the battle at Knoxville and in many other hotly contested engagements, never faltering in the performance of any task assigned him. Being honorably discharged in September, 1864, he returned to his farm in this county and once more took up the pursuits of civil life.
In 1855 Mr. Haverfield was united in marriage to Miss Louisa McMillan, who was born in Richland county March 1, 1833, and who passed away June 29, 1896. She had become the mother of nine children, namely: May J., deceased; Elizabeth, residing at Mount Vernon ; Alexander, who makes his
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home in North Dakota; Joetta, who has also passed away; Emma C., the wife of Frederick Johnston, of Aliceburg; James A., residing in this county ; Cynthia, the wife of Oliver Stull, of Seattle, Washington; Nettie, who be- came the wife of W. A. Pittenger and resides in Richland county, and Rhoda, the wife of Edward Pugh, of Mansfield. Mr. Haverfield also has twenty-two grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
Politically Mr. Haverfield is a stanch republican and has served his fellow townsmen as trustee, assessor and constable. He still maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades through his membership in Jacob Ward Post, No. 467, G. A. R. Having been a resident of this county through- out his entire life, covering a period of seventy-seven years, he has witnessed the greater part of its upbuilding and development, and his useful and honor- able career has made him worthy the respect and esteem which are everywhere accorded him.
HARRY C. LEWIS.
Harry C. Lewis, a wide-awake and enterprising young man, who for the past three years has been proprietor of the Irwin Hotel in Plymouth, is well known not only to the local trade but also among the traveling public. He is a native son of Richland county, his birth having occurred on a farm in Madison township, February 12, 1872. The paternal grandfather, Fletcher Lewis, was born in Richland county and spent his entire life here, passing away when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-nine years. He was numbered among the prominent pioneers of this section of the state and lived here when Mansfield contained but twelve houses. At the time of his demise he was the third oldest native-born resident of the county. His maternal great-grandfather, David Bell, came to Richland county from Maryland at a very early period in its history and helped to clear the land on which the west portion of the city of Mansfield now stands. His son, Samuel Bell, the grandfather of our subject, was a youth of seventeen years at the time of his parents' removal from Maryland to this county. The parents of our subject, John D. and Harriet (Bell) Lewis, were farming people of Springfield town- ship, this county, and the mother is a representative of the Bell family, for which the city of Bellville was named. Their family numbered six sons and two daughters, of whom our subject is the second in order of birth.
Harry C. Lewis, whose name introduces this review, was reared under the parental roof, spending his boyhood and youth in much the usual manner of farm lads. He was a lad of twelve years when his parents removed from Madison township to Franklin township, where he was reared to the age of eighteen years, when a removal was made to a farm in Springfield township. He continued under the parental roof until he reached mature years when he engaged in farming on his own account, operating rented land. He then engaged in the livery business for two years in Galion, after which he once more resumed farm labor, which he followed for four years. He afterward
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acted as superintendent of the A. J. Twitchell fruit farm in Springfield town- ship for five years, on the expiration of which period he came to Plymouth and took charge of the Irwin Hotel. Mr. Lewis has proven himself well fitted for the place which he now occupies, for he is ever courteous to his patrons, studies their wishes and demands and has, therefore, won a large and extensive patronage. He was formerly manager of the Farmers Farm Com- pany of Pittsburg, owning five thousand acres of land situated two and a half miles west of Plymouth, and employing about one hundred and forty men in the operation of the same. However, Mr. Lewis now gives his entire time and attention to his hotel interests.
On the 15th of February, 1893, Mr. Lewis was married to Miss Martha Hartpee, a native of Springfield township, and a daughter of Corrington and Abigail (Williams) Hartpee, both of whom passed away in Springfield town- ship, where the father was numbered as a pioneer settler. He served in the Civil war as a member of Company G, Fifteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, continuing at the front for three years and four months. He participated in many important engagements, including Shiloh, Stone River, Lookout Moun- tain, Missionary Ridge, Murfreesboro and many others. By her marriage Mrs. Lewis has become the mother of one daughter, Mabel.
Mr. Lewis has been a lifelong democrat, and fraternally is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a genial landlord, hrs hostelry ranking favorably with those of many a larger place, and its pro- prietor neglects nothing that can add to the comfort of his guests.
JOHN W. BAUGHMAN.
Prominent among the prosperous and most industrious farmers of Rich- land county is John W. Baughman, of Jefferson township. He was born in Monroe township, Richland county, Ohio, in 1838. He is a son of Aaron and Katharine (Schrack) Baughman, and is the great-grandson of Abraham Baughman, who was born on the Atlantic ocean as his parents were en route from Wurtemburg, Germany, to America, in 1755, and who, upon their arrival in this country, settled in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, but later came to Ohio. Upon coming to this state Abraham Baughman settled in Monroe township, Richland county, where he was one of the first, if not the very first, pioneer settler in Richland county. Aaron Baughman and his twin brother, Moses, were born in the Mansfield blockhouse in 1812, where the parents had gone for protection from the Indians. Moses died in infancy and Aaron lived to a good old age.
John W. Baughman acquired a good common-school education, and through reading and experience in later years has constantly added to his knowledge, being well informed on all subjects of importance. He was reared to farm life and has found it to be congenial to his tastes, believing it to be "the most useful as well as the most honorable occupation of man," as George Washington expressed it.
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Nothing is more noticeable in tracing the biographical history of a nation than the diversity of talents and character brought to bear upon patriotic work; common laborers, farmers and mechanics stand side by side with pro- fessional men, statesmen, ministers and judges in defending their common country. With that single patriotic impulse which has inspired men in the past to perform heroic deeds, John Baughman entered the ranks of the Union army and fought for his country during the war of the rebellion. On August 12, 1862, he enlisted for three years in Company B, One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered out of the service June 19, 1865, at Camp Chase, Ohio, by order of the war department. The One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment was organized in Mansfield, Ohio, in October, 1862. It was consolidated with the One Hundred and Four- teenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in 1864. The official list of battles in which the One Hundred and Twentieth Regiment bore an honor- able part has not been published by the war department as yet, but the follow- ing list has been carefully compiled: Chickasaw Bayou, Mississippi, Decem- ber 28-29, 1862; Arkansas Post, Arkansas, January 11, 1863; Thompson's Hill, Mississippi (Port Gibson), May 1, 1863; siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 18th to July 4, 1863; Big Black River, Mississippi, May 17, 1863; Jackson, Mississippi, July 9-16, 1863; Transport "City Belle" (near Snaggy Point, Red River, Louisiana), May 3, 1864. The year 1864 opened with an expedition from New Orleans under General Banks and Admiral Porter to the region known as the Red River country. Banks was defeated at Sabine Crossroads on the 8th of April and was forced to retreat. He repulsed an attack at Pleasant Hill on the 9th, but continued his retreat, and the expedi- tion proved a failure to the Union cause. Red river is the southernmost of the larger affluents of the Mississippi, and is formed by several forks, rising in the canyons of the desert called El Llano Estacado, in northwestern Texas, and has a total length of twelve hundred miles, five hundred miles of which are navigable. One cause of the failure of the Red river expedition was the low stage of water at the time. On the 3d of May, 1864, while on this Red river expedition Mr. Baughman was taken prisoner near Snaggy Point. He was taken to Camp Ford prison, in Smith county, Texas, where he was kept a prisoner for over thirteen months.
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