History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 104

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To Mr. and Mrs. Chapman were born seven children, four of whom are still living. Following are their names in the order of their ages: Albert, died December 14, 1873, aged thirty-two years; he was unmarried. Reuben resides near his father's home; he married Nettie Riley, of Riley township. Mary died September 11, 1873, aged twenty- eight; she was the wife of Atwell Forgerson, of York township. Emeline and Adeline (twins); Erneline married Henry Kopp, and resides in York township. Adeline lives at home. The next child was a daughter, who died in infancy. Amelia, the youngest, resides at home. Mrs. Chapman died November 8, 1879, at the age of sixty-five.

Mr. Chapman has been one of the successful farmers of this vicinity. Of recent years he has given up the management of his place to his son, who continues doing a thrifty business. Mr. Chapman has been a sound Republican ever since the party was formed. He was a member of the Free-will Baptist church as long as that

organization was in existence in his town- ship. His wife belonged to the Lutheran church.

SENECA D. AND MAHALA E. HITT.

Seneca Dusenberry Hitt was a native of Danby, Rutland county, Vermont, and was born, October 6, 1800. His father Henry D. Hitt, was a native of New York, being of Welsh parentage on his father's side, and Dutch on his mother's side. The mother of Seneca D. Hitt was Mary Nichols, a native of Vermont. General Greene, of the Revolution, was her uncle.

The boyhood of Mr. Hitt was spent on the shoemaker's bench, in business, and teaching school. He married, June 15, 1837, Mahala E. Stafford, a daughter of Palmer and Betsy (Paddock) Stafford, of Wallingford, Rutland county, Vermont. The ancestry of the Stafford family is traced back to a Rhode Island family of that name.

The newly wedded couple left their home in Vermont on the 27th of June, and after a tedious journey of one month and two days; arrived in Bellevue. Mr. Hitt had, the year before, in partnership with his cousin, Henry Nichols, purchased the farm on which he settled, being one hundred and twenty-six acres, twelve of which was cleared. Mr. Hitt, during the earlier years of his residence in this county, made use of his experience at shoemaking to earn a few odd dollars, for ready cash was scarce, and the pioneers were driven to various expedients for earning money. But hard labor and economy triumphed over the rugged opposition of heavy forest and general scarcity. Mr. Hitt purchased, in a few years, Mr. Nichol's interest in the farm, which he continued to improve till death, when, as an heritage to his family, he left an enviable home.

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Mr. Hitt died in January, 1872, in his seventy-second year. He was frequently entrusted with local offices. He was a warm advocate of Whig principles, and after the fall of that party became a Republican. In appearance he was robust and strong, being five feet eight inches tall, and weighing about two hundred pounds,

Mrs. Hitt is still living on the old farm. She is a well preserved woman, both physically and mentally. A naturally happy disposition fills her home with good cheer and hospitality.

The family consists of three children living and one dead.

Mary E. was born April 3, 1840. She was married in 1871 to Silas A. Wood, who died in June, 1872. She is employed as a teacher in the Fremont public schools.

Marion Adelia, was born February 3, 1842. She was married September 27, 1860, to George H. Mugg, a resident of Green Creek township. Their family consists of three children-Elmer E., Luella, and Susan M.

Tamson Lavina was born January 17, 1845. She was married October 23, 1867, to Charles H. Welch. Their family consists of four children-Alice R., Mahala, Adelia, and Charles H., jr.

Seneca D. was born January 16, 1849, died October 2, 1849.

JOHN S. AND ANN GARDNER.

John Gardner was a pioneer in York township. With his family, consisting of a wife and six children, he emigrated from Vermont and settled here while nearly the whole township was original forest. John S. Gardner, the oldest son, was born in Ver- mont, on the 24th of February, 1806, and was consequently seventeen years old

when the family settled in this county. Of a robust constitution he was well calculated for the toils and hardships which life in a new country imposed. Mr. Gardner, by working hard on his father's farm and for himself, accumulated some money which he invested in land then held at a very low price, but as improvements were made, gradually increased in value, making him by the time he had reached maturity, a man of considerable means. Mr. Gardner married, January 3, 1833, Ann Alexander, daughter of Theophilus and Mary Alexander, who came to Ohio in 1825, with a family of eleven children, from the State of New York. Ann was born in New York in 1811.

John S. and Ann Gardner have had a family of seven children, five of whom are living-John A., was born June 25, 1834, was married March 12, 1857, to Emeline J. Bemis; Theophilus E., was born August 6, 1836, married May 20, 1866, to Sarah Ann Thompson, she having deceased, he married Justina Alexander in 1869; Mary E. was born, December 4, 1838; Charles C. was born June 9, 1842, married Rebecca A. Lemmon; Dyer C. was born July 23, 1845, served in the army, married, in 1870, Sarah R. Rowe; Ann, born April 15, 1847, married, in 1868, William Ritter; Julia, horn January 9, 1850, married to Henry Thomas; Mary E., died July 25, 1867; Charles C., died October 26, 1877.

As will be seen by reference to the civil list of the county, John S. Gardner served as county commissioner for the period of four years. He was always prominent in the affairs of his township, and a working member of the Democratic party in the east part of the county. He was strong in physique and capable of doing much hard work. He was a persevering. farmer and pushed work with a diligence which manifested itself in rapidly increasing

Mrs. Ann Gardner.

John I Gardner.

Jeremiah Smith

Mrs. DeLora Smith

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landed possessions. He died May 23,1861.

Mrs. Gardner remains on the old farm. She has an excellent memory for a woman of her age, and narrates in an interesting manner the scenes and incidents of years gone by.

JEREMIAH SMITH.

Among the many courageous men and women who penetrated the forests of Ohio while the State was yet the hunting grounds of the Indians, the sons and daughters of New England hold a conspicuous place. Bravery, generosity, unwavering honesty, united to a strong religious faith, were the virtues that characterized them, and the principles that animated them.

In 1822 a worthy couple, both natives of the State of Connecticut, settled on the South ridge, in York township. Their names were Jeremiah and Experience (Mills) Smith. Enough has been written in this volume to portray the condition of Sandusky county at that date. The trials, difficulties, and dangers which beset these bold representatives of the Yankee nation need not be rehearsed here. Here they lived, reared a family, and died. But one of their children survives, although the family consisted of three sons and three daughters. The names were as follows: Jeremiah, Edward, Barzilla, Lucy, Laura, and Triphena. Jeremiah settled in York township and resided here until the close of his days. Edward died in Lagrange county, Indiana. Barzilla died in New York State, where his parents had lived before coming to Ohio. Lucy married Charles Gardenier, of Montgomery county, New York, and died years ago. Laura married Abel D. Follett, of Bellevue, and now resides in Ventura county, California. Triphena died the year after her parents moved here, aged thirteen years.

Jeremiah Smith, sr., died October 7, 1826, aged forty-nine years. His wife, a most estimable lady, survived until September 6, 1840, when she passed away at the age of sixty-six, universally respected as a woman of Christian benevolence and genuine worth.

Their son, Jeremiah Smith, was among the most worthy and highly honored of the citizens of York township. He was born October 15, 1801. On the 10th of June, 1835, he married De Lora Knapp, daughter of Alvin and Lovisa (O'Bryant) Knapp. Mrs. Knapp's father, John O'Bryant, was an officer in the Revolutionary war. Alvin Knapp was barn at Lebanon Springs, Columbia county, New York, and his wife in the western part of Massachusetts, about fourteen miles from the place of her husband's nativity. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp. lived in New York State until 1833. At. this date they came to Ohio and settled near the centre of York township. They had thirteen children who arrived at maturity, five of whom are yet living. Their names in the order of their ages were; Arad, Chester, Balsorah, Alanson, Kingsley, De Lora, Mary, Wilson, Sarah F., Henry, Martha, Anna, and Amanda. These were all married and all came to Ohio, but scattered to various parts of the country. Those now living are, Chester, in Cass county, Michigan; Wilson, Lucas county, Ohio; Henry, in Decatur county, Iowa; Martha (Alexander), Whitewater, Wisconsin; and Mrs. De Lora: Smith, York township.

Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah Smith, jr., had no children. Mr. Smith died August 21, 1874, in his seventy-third year. He was a man of sterling integrity, friendly and courteous in his manners, pure in motive, and honest and fair in all his dealings. He passed through a long life with, out losing a friend or gaining an enemy by any fault of his own. During the most

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of his years he was a member of the Free- will Baptist church.

JOSEPH AND AMANDA B. BIRDSEYE.

The oldest son of James Birdseye, whose ancestry and operations in this county are mentioned in the foregoing sketch of Nathan P. Birdseye, was Joseph Birdseye. He was born in Ontario county, New York, November z6, 1800. His boyhood was spent at hard work on his father's farm. He had opportunity to at-tend school only a few months during the winter, affording a very limited education.

Mr. Birdseye married, in 1823, Amanda Beach, daughter of Jonathan and Betsy Beach, who were natives of Connecticut. After his marriage Mr. Birdseye purchased a farm in New York, now the site of Rochester, one of the most flourishing cities of the State. Through -the failure of a neighbor to meet an obligation on which Mr. Birdseye was security, this farm was lost. He then looked toward the West as a field for the restoration of his lost fortunes. In 1834 he purchased a farm in York township, on which he settled with his family in 1835. He was a hard worker, and continued making improvements and adding to his possessions. In partnership with his brother, Nathan P., he discharged a contract for macadamizing the pike between Bellevue and Clyde.

Mr. Birdseye, in 1853, sold his farm in York township and moved to Clyde, where he had purchased a tract of land, now embraced in that part of the town lying between the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad track and the turnpike. As the village grew he sold, in town lots, about fifty acres, a part of which was forest at the time of making the purchase.

This operation showed Mr. Birdseye's business sagacity, and leads to the conclu- sion that but for his early misfortune at Rochester, New York, he would have been a very wealthy man

The family of Joseph and Amanda Birdseye consisted of five children-two sons and three daughters. Eliza was born in March, 1824. She died in 1847. Adalaide was born October 16, 1825. She resides in New York City. Emily was born September 27, 1827. She is married to John Bruen and lives in Santa Cruz, California: Her husband is dead. Gould was born November 26, 1829. He re-sides in Clyde. Nelson H. was born October 6, 1832. He resides in Clyde.

Joseph Birdseye died April 19, 1868, and is buried in McPherson Cemetery in Clyde. Amanda B. Birdseye is still living in Clyde. She is of genial disposition, affable in manners, and possessed' of good business qualifications. She manages the estate left by her husband with care and discretion.

Mr. £

Birdseye, in many of his characteristics, resembling his brother, Nathan P. and at the same time possessing many traits of character differing widely from those of his brother. Both were scrupulously honest in all business transactions, and social intercourse. Both were Whigs, and afterwards Republicans, in politics. They were simple in their manners and determined in their convictions. It was a characteristic of Joseph Birdseye never to withdraw a command, nor to modify an opinion deliberately formed. He was uni- formly kind and charitable to the sick or suffering. In him an iron will was coupled with a tender heart.

No family stood higher in York town-ship than the Birdseyes. They were always alive- to the welfare of the community, whether in deeds, of public improvement or acts of private charity:

Joseph Birdseye

Amanda B. Birdseye

Enga by A.H.Ritchie

H. R. Adams

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H. R. ADAMS

Horatio Rogers Adams was born in Montville, Connecticut, May 8, 1802, He was the oldest of three children, and only son of William Adams and Nancy Rogers, who were also natives of Connecticut. When Horatio was about seven years of age his parents removed from Montville to Albany, New York, where they afterwards lived. William Adams was a sea-captain, was the owner of a number of vessels, and a man of enterprise and thrift. His wife died in the fall of 1820 aged about thirty-seven, and some two years afterward he married Delia Olmsted, an estimable lady of Albany, and sister of Judge Jesse Olmsted, the pioneer merchant of Fremont, Ohio. Of his three children by his first wife (his second marriage being without issue) only one is now living, viz: Sophia Adams, who still resides in Albany. The younger sister, Mary, died in Albany. Neither of the sisters ever married.

Horatio being the only child; and his father well-to-do, was permitted to follow his inclinations and grew to young manhood surrounded by the social influences of city life. He attended school but little and employed a part of his leisure in fishing, his favorite sport, and in visiting at his uncle, Isaiah Adams's; a farmer living a few miles out of Albany. During these visits he would help in the work on the farm and it was there, doubtless, he formed the desire for the occupation which he subsequently followed. When about eighteen he made his way to Norwalk, Ohio, where a relative of his mother, Frederick Forsythe, was then living. He left home in company with George Olmsted on the 1st day of October, 1820, coming to Sandusky on the Walk-in-the- water, the pioneer steamer of Lake Erie. Shortly afterward he made a visit to his friends, the Olmsteds, in Lower

Sandusky, now Fremont, being piloted thither through the wilderness by William Chapman, the mail-carrier. There was then no laid-out road west of where Bellevue now stands, which then consisted, according to Mr. Adams' recollection, of but one log- house. We next find him in Columbus, whither he journeyed on foot. He was now thrown upon his own resources and among strangers, and he found it necessary to do something to earn a living. The first job he found to do was to take a horse for a man a distance of thirty miles for which service he received one dollar. Of course he had to walk back, but he was well satisfied with his bargain. It was the first money he had ever earned. A short time afterward he went to Worthington, a little village nine miles north of Columbus, where he found employment for a time in a printing office. In Worthington he first met his future wife; Amy R. Bedell. They were married on the 4th day of May, 1823, and a few years afterward settled on Darby Creek, Madison county. The farm on which they located had been partly cleared by a former occupant, who had abandoned it, and the cleared part had grown over with a heavy undergrowth and practically required a second clearing. The first season he raised a small crop of corn and a few bushels of beans, which found a market in Columbus, twenty miles distant, at fifty cents per bushel. Cotton goods were fifty cents per yard, and other necessaries in proportion. It required a good deal of fortitude and hard toil to keep the wolf from the door during their stay there. While fighting under countless difficulties for a livelihood, Mr. Adams was much distressed by doubts as to the validity of his land title, his farm being embraced in what is known as the Virginia Military District. This tract comprised a large extent of territory lying

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between the Little Miami and Scioto Rivers, and was reserved by act of Congress for compensation of the Virginia soldiers who had served in the Revolutionary war. Any soldier, or his representative, who held a warrant was at liberty to select his lands wherever he chose within the military tract; and in consequence of the irregularity with which many locations were made, some locations encroaching upon others,

considerable litigation ensued. This circumstance decided Mr. Adams upon disposing of his farm at any sacrifice, and consequently, after living there a couple of years, during which he and his always patient and helpful wife experienced every hardship incident to the lot of pioneers, they removed, in the summer of 1830, to Huron county, and located upon a farm rented of Jeremiah Sheffield, near Amsden's Corners, now Bellevue. He contracted with Mr. Sheffield to build a log-house on the farm, eighteen by twenty feet, in consideration of fifty bushels of wheat, and moved into this house on Christmas Day of the above year.

The following season being very wet, his crops were scanty, and he decided upon making another change. He was offered the farm on which he afterwards lived till his death, in York township, Sandusky county, Ohio, for one dollar and fifty cents per acre, but he hesitated about making the purchase, the "oak openings," as they were called, being regarded as almost worthless for farming purposes. Against the advice of some of his friends, he decided to make the investment. That his decision was a wise one, one of the finest farms in the county is a sufficient proof.

To this farm on New Year's Day, 1832, he brought his wife and two children, and all his worldly goods, in an ox-cart, and moved into a log house eighteen feet square, with puncheon floor, clapboard

roof and stick chimney. The farm was then an almost unbroken wilderness, and the prospect anything but bright. But attacking his task with his accustomed energy, he soon had a portion of his land in a condition to be cultivated, from which he managed to support an increasing family, while he continued to enlarge the boundary of his clearing. The next ten years were years of hard work, attended by trials and frequent failures, but instead of tending to discouragement it was an experience which only developed the force and determination of a man by nature determined and forcible. In 1842 he erected the house which was afterwards his permanent home, and which is still occupied by his widow. They took possession of this home on Christmas of that year, and it is a somewhat singular cir- cumstance that on each removal they began the occupancy of their new home on one of the winter holidays.

On the 8th of May, 1874, Mr. and Mrs. Adams celebrated their golden wedding. They had been married fifty years the 4th of May the previous year, but as sickness in the family prevented them from assembling that year, the reunion was postponed until the next year, and held on the 8th of May, which was Mr. Adams' seventy-second birthday. It was a happy occasion to all, and to the aged pair in whose honor it was held, an event second in interest only to their nuptial day. They had lived to see a large farm brought from a wild condition to a high state of cultivation, having increased in value a hundred fold, and to raise a family of children esteemed for their intelligence and moral worth.

Mr. Adams united with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1829, and ever afterward was an active member and devoted Christian. His family was brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,

Enes Ly A.IT Ritchie

Amy R. Adams

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and he recognized no higher duties on earth than those of husband and father.

He contributed with liberality to the support not only of the church to whit h he belonged, but to that of others as well, and there is hardly a church in the region where he lived so long that has not bee n the recipient of his benefactions. His business record was unimpeachable. It was characterized by energy, perseverance, and the strictest integrity, which was an integral part of his nature.

He stood the embodiment of all that was upright, honest and £ honorable. A conspicuous quality of his mind was the faculty of humor. He had a keen sense of the comic and the ridiculous, and he enjoyed nothing, more than a visit with friends, for whose entertainment he would relate in his droll way, some humorous incident, usually in connection with his pioneer experiences. In, manner he was to some extent eccentric and blunt, but he was always courteous, and to those who knew him best he had a nature, as tender and sympathetic as a child's. Mr. Adams, from force of habit continued his labor more or less, on the farm, long after reaching an age when most men are compelled to rest. In June, 1879, where, at work in the field, he was overcome with the heat, which resulted in an affection of the brain, and after suffering intensely, mentally and physically, many months, he died March 22, 1880, aged nearly seventy-eight.

AMY R. ADAMS.

Amy Rosalia Bedell, daughter of Benjamin L. Bedell and Sally Burr, was born in Manchester, Vermont, January 31, 1804. When Amy was quite small her mother married for her second husband Smith Bull, and about the year 1810 the family removed from Vermont to the vicinity of Plattsburgh, New York. There

they lived until the fall of 1815, when they removed to Worthington, Ohio. Mrs. Bull had by her first husband two children, a son and daughter, Burr and Amy. Burr Bedell was born September 1, 1802, and at the time of his death, a few years since, was residing at Clayton, Michigan. By her second marriage she was the mother of, twelve children, viz: Huldah, Mason, Rosetta, Thomas, Smith, Sally, Squire, Alfred, Orrin, Henry, Anna, and Alonzo. Mrs. Bull died in Urbana, Illinois, in October, 1852, surviving her husband some twelve years. She was born in Adams, Massachusetts, August 2, 1782.

The strongest influence in the shaping of the character of our subject was that of her mother, who was a woman of much strength and excellence of character, capacity, and directness of purpose. Her early years were spent in a country home, where her time was divided between a brief attendance at the rude district school and the exacting duties of home life on a farm. After the removal of the family to Ohio, through the perseverance of her mother she was sent out where she could work for her board and go to school. Possessing a naturally bright mind and an insatiable desire for knowledge, the opportunity thus afforded for its gratification was improved to the utmost, and although her education at this time was very limited, she made rapid progress in her studies, and at the age of sixteen she began to teach school. Looking back to this time she says those were halcyon days and remembers them only with tender and grateful emotions. Mrs. Adams taught altogether, though not continuously, for a period of seven years, continuing to teach for a time after her marriage. For a time after she began to teach she continued at intervals to attend school and had recitations to different instructors; so that finally she attained a considerable proficiency

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in the branches of study in use at that day. From the time she began to teach she supported herself entirely by her own exertions. She had a laudable ambition to better her condition in the world, physical and intellectual, and she possessed an equal measure the necessary determination and perseverance to accomplish it. An incident in the beginning of her career as teacher will illustrate this. She went to Columbus for the purpose of securing a school. A friend endeavored for some time to find one for her, but failing to do so suggested as an alternative that she accept a vacant position as chambermaid in a hotel. This suggestion she emphatically refused to entertain, and said she knew she was capable of something better. Considerably discouraged, but no less determined in the attainment of her object, she was about to return to Worthington when another friend interested himself in her behalf and soon brought her the welcome announcement that he had secured for her a room in which to teach and two scholars, and that she could begin the next day. The room was in a small building not far from where the Neil House now stands, and the scholars were his own children. Beginning in this small way the number of her pupils speedily increased and before her first term closed she had a school of sixty scholars, and required an assistant.

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History of Sandusky County Ohio with Illustrations 1882, Part 104

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