USA > Ohio > Seneca County > History of Seneca County, Ohio; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Vo. II > Part 16
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Ernest J. Miller was educated in the public schools in Adams township. As a Democrat he has been elected to membership of the township school board. on which he has served with much ability. He is a member of St. Jacob's church. Socially he is a member of the Mutual Benefit Association of Greenspring. His native public spirit and his natural love for the township of his birth tend to make him helpful as a citizen to all measures which in his opinion promise to benefit any considerable number of his fellow citizens, and no meritorious publie movement fails to have his advocacy and practical assistance. He is popularly regarded as one of the leaders among the younger men of the township and a bright and useful future is predicted for him.
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RESIDENCE OF ERNEST J. MILLER
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY
RUSSELL G. SHANNON is one of Seneca county's honorable and progressive citizens, one whose hand is given to the support of every measure looking toward the advancement and benefit of the whole community. An agriculturist of the highest type, he is also the promoter of public enterprises, being, for instance, president of the Old Fort Telephone Company and one of those instrumental in bringing this great convenience to reality. Ile is the stalwart friend of good education, and he is also well known in lodge circles. having membership in some of the most important organizations. In addition Mr. Shannon has an ancestry of which he is "proud without presumption," on the maternal side being in direct line from the Clan Gregor, famous in song and story, and he is able to claim descent from some of the most famous of Colonial patriots and publie men, as well as from noted Englishmen.
Russell G. Shannon was born March 20, 1870. the son of John and Mary (Clagett) Shannon. his birthplace being Seneca coun- ty. The date of his father's birth was June 28, 1847, and that of Mary, his wife, May 10, 1851. These worthy people, native Ohioans. were united in marriage October 29, 1868. One son, the subject. was the fruit of their union. John Shannon, a much estermed man. who had engaged in farming in Pleasant township, was gathered to his fathers on October 10, 1884. He was the son of George and Mary (Lotsenheiser) Shannon, the father a native of Ireland and the mother, of Stark county, Ohio. To them were born the following eight children: John, William, Mary, Frank. Melissa, Louis, Nelson and Samuel.
Mr. Shannon's mother, whose maiden name was Mary Clagett is the daughter of John and Juliet (Littler) Clagett. West Virginians, who came to the Buckeye state in the year 1832. They were married December 20. 1827. in their native state, and the following is an enumeration of the children born to them: Isaac Henry, born June 14, 1829. in West Virginia, died in Novem- ber, 1900, in Nebraska; Josiah, born August 23. 1831, in West Virginia, died in February, 1870, in Fort Seneca; Hezekiah. born July 1, 1833. in Seneca county, died November 27. 1864, in Pleasant township; Margaret. born March 20. 1835. in Senera county, died in her youth, September 19, 1852; Eliza A., born Feb- ruary 15, 1837, in Seneca county, died June 19, 1861. in Shelby county, Missouri ; Caroline. born September 17. 1839. in Seneca county, died in Virginia ; John William, born June 21, 1842. in Seneca county, died August 3, 1842: James Littler, born August 14, 1844, in Seneca county. died September 17. 1874. in Hardy county, West Virginia; and Mary P .. born May 10. 1851. the mother of Mr. Shannon. is the youngest born of this large family and the only one living at the present day. All but Isaac Henry and Josiah were born on the farm where the subject of this review now resides.
Her father, John Clagett, was the son of Josiah and Eliza- beth (Norton) Clagett. and Josiah was the son of Henry and Ann (Magruder) Clagett. whose marriage occurred in 1756. The father was born in Prince George county, Maryland, in 1730, and died in 1778, while in service in the Revolutionary war. Henry was the son of Thomas and Ann (Belt) Clagett, who were married
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY
in 1724. He, Thomas Clagett, was a prominent man in his day and held several public offices. He was justice from 1730 to 1737 and in the year 1735 acted as vestryman of St. Paul's parish, Prince George county. He was one of the Colonial judges of land commission and was superintendent of the laying out of Upper Marlborough and Nottingham. Thomas Clagett was the son of Captain Thomas and Mary Clagett, who were married in 1700, the former, born in 1678 and dying in 1733, having been captain of the Provincial militia; justice of Prince George county in 1707; member of the Maryland House of Burgesses in 1712; and judge of the Orphans' Court in 1730. £ Captain Thomas Clagett was the son of Captain Thomas (I) and Mary, widow of Richard Hooper, who were married in 1674. He was the first Clagett in America, having emigrated to Calvert county, Maryland, in the year 1671. He was commissioned to lay out towns and ports in that county in 1681 and he served until 1683. In 1692 he held the honorable office of vestryman in Christ Church parish. Calvert county. He was the son of Colonel Edward and Margaret (Adams) Clagett, born in 1605 or 1607. He was an officer in the British navy and his father. George Clagett, was born somewhere about .the year 1570. He was mayor of Canterbury, England, in the years 1609, 1622 and 1632. George Clagett was the son of Richard Clagett, born either in the year 1525 or 1530. He mar- ried Margaret, a daughter of Sir Robert Youder. ITis father, Robert Clagett, was a native of Malling, Kent county, England, and .was born near the beginning of the sixteenth century, probably in the year 1490.
Going back a number of generations it will be observed that Henry Clagett married Ann Magruder in 1756 and here the Scotch element enters and the blood of the doughty Clan Gregor. Ann Magruder was the daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Jack- son) Magruder, the former a member of the Commission of Safety at the time of the Revolution. Samuel was the son of Ninian and Elizabeth (Brewer) Magruder. the former born in Prince George county, Maryland. in 1686. Ninian was the son of Samuel and Sarah (Beall) Magruder and Samuel was the son of Alexander and Margaret (Braithwaite) Magruder, who came from Scotland to Calvert county. Maryland, about the year 1652. He had been an officer in the army of Charles II of England. He was the son of Alexander Magruder, born in Scotland in 1569. who won as his wife Lady Margaret Drummond, daughter of the Lord Averndriel (Clan Campbell) and the widow of Lord Belly- close. Alexander I. was a member of the Clan Gregor. which was an outlaw clan in Scotland from the time of Robert Bruce to the reign of George III. This condition of affairs was in the first place due to the fact that they were involved in the opposition movement against Bruce in the fourteenth century. For this reason and partly because of jealousy roused in the breast of Scotland's first king on account of the claims of the Gregors to royal lineage, they were persecuted with great persistence. This persecution reached its height when David II. one of the successors of Robert Bruce, gave the Gregor property to the Campbell Clan
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It is interesting to know that the wife of Alexander Magruder be- longed to the Clan Campbell.
- The Gregors, or MacGregors. as they came to be called, went into the mountains and waged continual warfare, usually with disastrous results to themselves. They came into their own again when George III of England in 1774 repealed the acts under which this persecution had been carried on. History knows noth- ing to equal the trials of the Magruders previous to the patronage of the English king. Among the things which they were prohi- bited to do was to go in parties of more than four. or to carry any other weapon save a blunt knife. or even to defend themselves when attacked. The severest of their sufferings were at the hands of the Stuarts, but the MacGregors asked no quarter.
A part of their troubles came about in this wise. A govern- ment forester, named Drummond. was killed by three MacGregors. who mistook him for a trespasser. They met and over the dead body swore to make a clan cause of the affair, every MacGregor as- suming responsibility for the deed. Again at the battle of Glen Fruin two hundred MacGregors met to fight the allied forces of the Buchannons and Calhouns, numbering eight hundred. Before the battle a body of students came upon the scene as spectators. . and fearing lest they join the allied forces the MacGregor chief ordered them to be bound and taken to a nearby church until after the fight. when he intended to release them. But the man left to guard them became weary and drawing his dagger deliberately murdered them. This act was by no means sanctioned by the clan. in fact the chief. Alexander. declared that the MacGregors would live to rue the day it happened. In the Glen Fruin fight the MacGregors utterly routed their adversaries. of whom they killed two hundred. losing only two of their own men. In spite of their hardships, the MacGregors flourished, for they were of tough fibre. as indeed they had to be to withstand the persecution of five hundred years. Their descendants in America are many, and wherever they are found they are recognized as the stanchest and finest of citizen stock. They hold enthusiastic national meet- ings, one held in Washington D. C .. in October. 1909, having been a most interesting occasion and attended by Magruders, Mag- ruthers. Gregors, Gregories and those bearing other forms of the name.
It is of such stock as this that Russell G. Shannon comes. Some one has declared "In every nook and corner of the wide world the traveler finds the Scotchman. Everywhere, plodding. patient. determined, steadfast, reliable, prosperous." In the present case none of these adjectives are misplaced. at least not the best of them. Mr. Shannon, whose father died when he was a lad, became useful when young and resided with his mother until his marriage. That event occurred October 26, 1898. the lady to become his wife and the mistress of his household being Verna B. Voorhies. She was born June 21. 1872, and is the daughter of Oliver D. and Sophia (Stahl) Voorhies, natives of Ohio. More of this excellent family will be found in the article under the caption, "Milton Voorhies," contained on other pages of this work.
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Mr. Shannon is well educated. having received his preliminary mental dicipline in the schools of Seneca county and later attend- ing the state university at Columbus and the Valparaiso Normal School. In politics he is a loyal Democrat. He finds pleasure in his fraternal relations, which extend to the Masons and to the Knighted Order of Tented Maccabees. In his calling as an agri- culturist and his identification with public spirited movements he enjoys the respect and consideration of the community in which he makes his home. Mrs. Shannon is a member of the United Brethren church.
GEORGE E. BARE .- The descendant of an early and honored pioneer family of Seneca county. George E. Bare, of Tiffin. now serving as deputy sheriff of the county, holds high rank among the more intelligent and enterprising residents of this city. and is held in high esteem by all that know him. A son of Michael and Virginia (Saul) Bare. he was born. November 18, 1860, in Eden township. and was there reared to agricultural pursuits.
He received very good educational advantages, attending the district schools until about nineteen years of age, in the meantime obtaining a practical knowledge of the various branches under the wise instructions of his father. Completing his studies at Heidel- berg College, Mr. Bare taught school for awhile in Iowa. Re- turning to Seneca county, he took up his residence at Melmore. Ile has been active in public affairs, and in addition to having served as clerk of Eden township. was for six years assessor of that township. Since his election as deputy sheriff. Mr. Bare has devoted his energies to the duties of his position. Fraternally he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Bare married in 1884. Margaret E. IIvatt, and to them three children have been born. namely: Howard. in the employ of Frantz. Sloane Company. of Toledo, Ohio; Charles, who was graduated from the Tiffin High School with the class of 1910; and Ma vie. a pupil in the Tiffin High School.
JOSEPH W. REIFF has been an able representative of the agri- cultural industry in Seneca county and he is now living retired in the attractive village of Bloomville. Mr. Reiff reverts with a due measure of satisfaction to the fact that he is a native son of the Buckeye state and a scion of one of its early pioneer families. He was born in Richland county. Ohio. on June 25. 1837.
Samuel and Elizabeth (Gueable) Reiff. parents of Joseph W. Reiff were both born in Lancaster county. Pennsylvania. from which state they removed to Ohio. first settling in Richland county and later in Wyandot county and in 1843 they established their home in Seneca county. Samuel Reiff was a farmer by vocation. He and his wife died in Bloom township. Seneca county. They became the parents of the following children : Abram. Joseph W .. of this sketch ; Rev. Samuel E., who is a clergyman ; Susan, wife of Elijah Kagy; Aaron, deceased; William; Franklin, deceased ; and Henry M.
Joseph W. Reiff gained his early experiences in connection
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with the practical affairs of life thorough his identification with the work of the home farm. Ilis early educational dicipline was secured in the common schools of Wyandot and Seneca counties and as a youth he served a practical apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade to which he devoted his attention for a number of years. When the Civil war was precipitated upon a divided nation, he manifested his loyalty and patriotism by enlisting as a private in Company K. One Hundred and Forty-fourth Ohio Volunteer in- fantry, with which he identified himself in the year 1864 and with which he served as a carpenter. He became physically disabled and finally was sent to a hospital. in which he became a nurse, a position which he retained until the close of the war. when he re- ceived his honorable discharge. Mr. Reiff became a resident of Seneca county in 1868 and continued to be actively identified with agricultural pursuits in this county until 1901, when he estab- lished his home in Bloomville, where he has since lived retired. In politics he gives an unqualified allegiance to the Republican party and he has shown a deep interest in all that touches the wel- fare of his home county. He has served as school director and also as supervisor of Bloom township and he is known as a broad minded and public spirited citizen. He is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and both he and his wife were zealous members of the Evangelical church at Melmore. Ohio, until 1902 when they united with the Methodist Episcopal church at Bloom- ville. Ohio, and during his membership in both these organizations Mr. Reiff was for many years a Sunday school teacher and class leader.
In 1867 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Reiff to Miss Lavina A. Bever, and no children have been born to this union. Mrs. Reiff is a daughter of George and Sabina (Bretz) Bever and was born in Bloom township. Seneca county, May 12, 1842. Her mother was born in Pennsylvania and her father was born in Virginia. When two years of age Mrs. Bever removed with her parents to Fairfield county. Ohio, and in 1823 the parents with their family came to Seneca county and located near Melmore, where Mr. Bretz. the father. secured for his home one hundred and sixty acres of land, and for each of his children he also obtained one hundred and sixty acres within five miles of his home. Mr. Bever came from Virginia to Fairfield county a few years before the Bretz family removed to Seneca county and with them he came on to Seneca county, where on April 7. 1825. he married Sabina Bretz.
Mr. Bretz had nine children and for each of them, as above mentioned, he secured one hundred and sixty acres of government land in Seneca county. It is interesting to record that three of these farms are still in the possession of his descendants. George and Sabina (Bretz) Bever became the parents of eleven children. eight of whom attained to years of maturity. Samuel Bever died at Nevada, Ohio. October 17. 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Bever were zealous members of the United Brethren church and they were held in high esteem in the community in which they established their home in pioneer days.
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY
ARTHUR W. SAUNDERS .- In his native city of Fostoria the sub- ject of this review holds the position of ticket agent in the offices of the Nickel Plate Railroad and he is also a valued member of the city council, showing that in his case there can be no applica- tion of the Biblical aphorism that "A prophet is not without honor save in his own country."
Mr. Saunders was born at Fostoria, on the 11th of August, 1879, and is a son of George MI. and Geletta O. (Dicken) Saunders. both of whom still reside in this city, where the father has given his attention to the grocery business for many years, being one of the representative citizens of the county. The subject of this re-, view is indebted to the public schools of Fostoria for his early educational training and after leaving school he was here employed for some time in a drug store. At the age of eighteen years he became a messenger boy for the local offices of the Nickel Plate Railroad and through his able and careful services he won rapid promotion, as is shown by the fact that during his connection with this railroad corporation he has had charge of every official desk in Fostoria with the exception of that of agent. He has held his present responsible position since 1906. In politics Mr. Saunders is aligned as an uncompromising advocate of the principles of the Republican party and he has taken an active part in its local work. In 1909 he was elected councilman at large and in January, 1910, he assumed his seat in the city council. He has proved a loyal and progressive member of this municipal body and has put forth every effort to conserve the interests of the city and its people. He is affiliated with Fostoria Lodge, No. 288. Free and Accepted Masons, and with Garfield Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. He is owner of an attractive modern residence at No. 127 North Vine street.
On the 11th of February. 1902. Mr. Saunders was united in marriage to Miss Mary V. Kridler. of Fostoria. and they have one son, Charles D., who was born on the 31st of March. 1903.
GEORGE ALTON NYE .- One of the substantial and representa- tive men of Reed township is George Alton Nye who is bound by every tie to Seneca county, among them being the primary tie of birth, his nativity having occurred in Seneca county on the 7th of October. 1860. Since reaching mature years he has been identi- field in a praise worthy manner with the many sided life of the community, where naturally he is well known. In addition to his activities in the line of general agriculture he likewise enjoys prestige as a breeder of fine horses and stock.
The former seat of the Nye family in this country was the state of New York, and it was in Geneseo county, that state. that the subject's father. George Nye, was born. April 19, 1826. He re- moved to Seneca county with his parents when about six years of age and the family homestead is now the site of the town of Siam. George Nye and his father were this early enough to be among the pioneers, and the privations and joys peculiar to the carly settlers in the Buckeye state were theirs in fullest measure. George Nye was one of the famous "Forty-niners." in 1849 making an over-
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RESIDENCE OF GEORGE A. NYE AND FAMILY
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HISTORY OF SENECA COUNTY
land trip to California in company with a friend, an ox team be- ing the conveyance and the time consumed in the journey, five months and sixteen days. About twenty-three years of age at the time of his migration. he remained in California about seven years and returned with seven thousand dollars in gold dust. Soon afterward he purchased the valuable farm where Mr. Nye now re- sides. The maiden name of his wife. the subject's mother, was Phoebe Taber. She was born in Cayuga county, New York. in 1842 and was one year old when her parents removed from New York to Ohio. George and Phoebe ( Taber) Nve gave a number of good citi- zens to the state. George Alton is the eldest ; G. G. (he had no other name than these initials), married Minna Garchies and resides in Reed township; two children died in infancy; Philip married Alice Finlay and resides in Alabama; Morton, who lives in Alabama, married Lucia Moss; Myrtle became the wife of JJohn Baker, and lives in Shelby; Carrie married Henry Bassett, of Alabama ; and Jessie is deceased. The elder Mr. Nye was sum- moned to his eternal rest February 5. 1901. and the mother sur- vives and makes her residence in Reed township.
Mr. Nye received his education in the district schools and attended them until his twentieth year. In the meantime, how- ever. he had become thoroughly grounded in the vocation which he had chosen and had the advantage of a thorough training in the various departments of agriculture under the instruction of his father. About 1880 he began to assume much of the actual responsibility of farming and in the past thirty years has achieved much success. being enrolled among the representative farmers of the county. He has also won a name for himself as a breeder of Percheron horses and he owns some very fine stock.
On January 21. 1892. Mr. Nye laid the foundation of a happy domestic life by his marriage to Miss Effie Martin. daughter of A. and C. L. Martin. She was born in Erie county and she had been a school teacher for six years prior to her marriage. She came to Seneca county with her husband. Their union has been cemented by the birth of the following children: Roscoe, born Derember 29. 1892; Marshall. September 7. 1894; Harold, de- ceased ; Ethel. September 12. 1897; Edith, January 8. 1900; Rus- sell. June 1. 1902; and Phoebe. March 15. 1906. In his political Views Mr. Nve is Republican and is interested in current affairs and the ultimate advancement of the community. Mr. and Mrs. Nye are members of the Baptist church and they take an active part in its work. They reside on a farm of two hundred and eighty acres.
CHARLES H. BERLEKAMP .- Seneca county looks to her younger generation to maintain her present high standing, and one of the most promising of Pleasant township's young citizens is Charles II. Berlekamp. He is a native son. his birth having occurred April 6. 1885, and his parents being II. B. and Caroline (Cook) Berlekamp, natives of Prussia, the father having cast his fortunes with the United States in 1869 and the mother, in 1870. They were married about a year after their change of residence, and Vol. II-9
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took up their home in Adams township. later removing to Plea- sant township, where the father had made himself the owner of some four hundred acres of land.
Charles H. Berlekamp spent his early days upon his father's farm and received a practical training in the many departments of his calling under the guidance of his father. He received his mental discipline in the schools of Old Fort and the district schools of Pleasant township. On the 21st day of March, 1907, he laid the foundations of a household of his own by his union with Miss Grace V. Bishop. daughter of Rev. W. D. and Millie ( Elsea) Bishop, natives of Hancock county. Ohio, now residing in Rising Sun. The Rev. Mr. Bishop. who is a clergyman in the United Brethren church, has been in the ministry about fourteen years. He was born in June. 1866. and received his education in the schools of Findlay. Hancock county. and at Otterbein University at Westerville. ITis wife was born September 22. 1870. in Find- lay, her parents being Newton and Jane (Lyons) Elsea. Ohioans. The grandparents on the paternal side of Mrs. Berlekamp were John and Eliza (Srathorn) Bishop, who were born near Columbus and both are now deceased. Mrs. Berlekamp who was born March 7, 1889, is one of three sisters and one brother. the names of the others being Maud, Joy. and Thelma. She was educated in the schools of Old Fort and was graduated with the class of 1906.
Shortly after his marriage Mr. Berlekamp bought a farm of ninety-four acres. located near his father's homestead, and he and his wife now make their home there. He is one of those progres- sive agriculturists who keep in touch with the latest discoveries in their honorable profession and welcome, rather than scoff at. any new idea. He is an independent voter. for he believes that the best man and the best measures upon any occasion should ont- weigh mere partizanship. Both he and his wife are members of the United Brethren church at Old Fort and take an active part in its affairs, giving their hand to all its good canses.
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